Should I use sugar or Malt?

[bearkluttz]

When i buy a kit (ie. Coopers, muntons etc...) from the LHBS they always reccomend that i use an extra LME instead of the 2 LBS of corn sugar that the reciepe calls for. I have found that this gives the beer a SUPER MALTY taste that i do not particularly enjoy. Does anyone else agree with their advice or should i use the corn sugar. Perhaps their advice is spot on, and i'm not doing something correctly. Thoughts, comments, concerns...

 

[BlindLemonLars]

Well, I think most of us (in this forum anyhow) like and prefer that "super malty" taste, it's something we strive for. Corn sugar is usually a cost-cutting ingredient, a cheap means of increasing alcohol content. It will certainly make a beer with less malt character and a thinner mouthfeel. But if that's what you prefer, you should use it. Or maybe split the difference.

It's also possible that the substitution of extract for dextrose is damaging the balance of the recipe, in which case additional hopping might be helpful.

In any case, you should brew the beer you like, the way you want to brew it. You're the one who needs to be happy with the end results.

 

[Revvy]

We recommend a 1-1 swap with dry malt extract for every pound of sugar a kit says to use....If you use the sugar you will have thin and cidery beer...you could try to strike a balance with your tastebuds (or leearn to appreciate malty beers )...

Try swapping out only one pound of the sugar with the dme....

You could also try fiddling with the hops to strike a better balance...

 

[brewNdrink]

When i buy a kit (ie. Coopers, muntons etc...) from the LHBS they always reccomend that i use an extra LME instead of the 2 LBS of corn sugar that the reciepe calls for. I have found that this gives the beer a SUPER MALTY taste that i do not particularly enjoy. Does anyone else agree with their adive or should i use the corn sugar. Perhaps their advice is spot on, and i'm not doing something correctly. Thoughts, comments, concerns...

Try this... for the Coopers kits I use 1.5 lbs pale liquid malt extract and 1 cup of corn sugar. This will produce a lite but still tasty beer with enough body to have a nice foamy head, but not as "thick" if it were full 3.lbs pale malt extract that is recommended. It will produce 3.5 - 4% alc, depending on the kit.

Especially if you want a liter summer beer, this is a good compromise, AND it's cheaper to make.

Stay away from the 1 kilo/2 pounds/6 cups corn sugar beer! They taste like green apple cider. If you must use only corn sugar use max 3 cups. Any more than that and it's not even worth the bother (unless you want a cidery beer).


Tony.

 

[david_42]

All good advice, but in the end make what you prefer. Since it sounds like you've made batches using extra DME, make a batch using half corn sugar and half DME. If that is still too malty, then try a batch using just corn sugar. Generally, corn sugar won't produce a cidery flavor, but table sugar will.

 

[Evan!]

All good advice, but in the end make what you prefer. Since it sounds like you've made batches using extra DME, make a batch using half corn sugar and half DME. If that is still too malty, then try a batch using just corn sugar. Generally, corn sugar won't produce a cidery flavor, but table sugar will.

I believe you can use up to 25% simple sugar (table sugar, corn sugar, etc.) before you run the risk of cidery off-flavors being imparted on the beer.

 

[deadsound]

Anyone ever actually make a Coppers can with just Corn Sugar? I havemade the Standard Stout with 2# muttons dark DME... Very Strong flavor..it was stout, not smooth at all, different buy still tasty. Wonder if it would be more balanced with the Corn Sugar. Do you think Coopers puts Corn sugar in there Beer?

 

[Mutilated1]

I have made several Cooper's kits with just Dextrose ( Corn Sugar ). You won't get cidery flavors if you stick to 2#s per can. Personally I don't like to use DME with the draught or lager style can kits - it throws the flavor off balance and keeps the beer from finishing dry and crisp. I've had good results with DME and Cooper's Ale style kits though.

I make Cooper's can kits about as much as I make All Grain beers, usually do one of each. Sometimes 2 can kits while cooking 1 all grain batch. I get good results with Dextrose, or even better with Cooper's brewing sugar. Austinhomebrew has a 1% alcohol boost that works really well with a Can kit too - I have no idea why they don't sell it with their can kits, it works much better than a DME/Dextrose blend. I haven't had the best of results with Cooper's brew enhancers 1 & 2 though.

One thing I like to do is brew a big All Grain beer, and then usually after I sparge, I've got a gallon or so left over that won't go in the pot, or I can sparge again and get another gallon or so of lower gravity wort from the leftovers. Not being one to waste anything, I boil that extra leftover wort for 45 minutes or an hour and make a can kit with it and a couple pounds of Dextrose.

A beer I just finished drinking recently, I made with about a gallon and half of left over extra wort ( 1.020 ) from an IPA I was making. Boiled it for an hour in the kitchen on the kitchen stove while the big beer was outside on the porch coming to a boil on the burner. After an hour, dumped in 2#s of dextrose less priming sugar for a couple batches, a Cooper's Lager Can and maybe 1/4 ounce of leftover Liberty Hops I had in my freezer. Poured the whole thing over a 10# bag of ice and topped it off with cold tap water. Pitched the yeast slurry from a previous batch I just bottled and stuck it in the fridge for a couple of weeks. The beer was fantastic and didn't even last a weekend.

 

[paul_h]

I normally make beers with all malt, but I tried a coopers pale ale kit with DME and it came out to sweet. It improved with age but as I was trying to replicate the real thing, the next brew I did with 700g DME and 300g dextrose. Came out a lot closer, not as sweet, didn't need so long in the fermenter and bottle conditioning, and still had good body and good head retention.
I wouldn't use all dextrose or syrup, as you lose head retention and body and make the beer too thin and watery. Experiment with a mix.

 

[grasshopper1917]

Yea I agree with all of these guys - I make a heck of alot of coopers canned kits and I personally love them. Feel free to experiment and find the right balance - some style you may want more sugar some more malt. I find it is always good to have a combonation of both.

In anycase -- have fun and enjoy

Cheers

Grasshopper

 

[Germey]

We recommend a 1-1 swap with dry malt extract for every pound of sugar a kit says to use....If you use the sugar you will have thin and cidery beer...you could try to strike a balance with your tastebuds (or leearn to appreciate malty beers )...

Try swapping out only one pound of the sugar with the dme....

You could also try fiddling with the hops to strike a better balance...

Sure, we get all anal about not using sugar, unless we are talking about a Belgian beer. Then all of a sudden "sugar to dry out the finish" becomes an acceptable thing. Of course, to appease the raging EAC inside, we make it all complicated using expensive "Candi Sugar" or spend time making an invert.
On the other hand, the Belgians have no use for any of this style nonsense