Sugar advice, quick!

[Brew_4iT]

Ok, I kind of messed up but haven't started the brew yet. The problem is I have one of those Wyeast packs that I already activated and was ready to commence forth with my wort.

I thought I had more dextrose that I ordered and forgot to buy DME as well. As it stands right now I have 2 and 1/2 pounds of brown sugar, 5 ounces of dextrose, and a bunch of regular cane sugar. I do also have maple syrup, real maple syrup.

Should I make candy sugar out of the cane sugar I have? What would be the best ratio for 5-5.5 lb.s of wort, and one can of coopers malt extract. (I know it's pretty basic but just wanted to get a fast brew going while I do a Hoegaarden witbier clone)

 

[noggins]

whatcha makin?

 

[Brew_4iT]

it's a coopers Irish stout

 

[Yooper]

it's a coopers Irish stout

You don't happen to have a bag of dry malt extract around? That's a better choice than any of the sugars. Sugar is a cheap "booster" and thins and dries the beer and I don't like it in a beer.

If you don't have any corn sugar, a pound of regular sugar would do. I'd rather use less, and have a slightly lower ABV than a full kilo of sugar. If you have a 3.3 pound of the Coopers, and a pound of sugar, you could add together and make only 5 gallons instead of six gallons, and have a decent but lower alcohol beer.

I'm not a fan of those Cooper kits, though, and haven't had anything very good out of them, so you may get better advice from others who like them.

 

[noggins]

I used to throw all kinds of adjuncts into those coopers kits with mixed results. I always liked em, but then I'm not real picky. You'd probably be straying away from the style by adding too much of the wrong kinds of sugar, but as far as the beer goes it'll brew up fine.

Sorry I can't answer about the ratios of sugar to extract, how much LME is in the coopers can? Maybe someone else can give you more info..

 

[Brew_4iT]

Would brown sugar be a slightly better alternative? I do also have maple syrup, but my plan is to do a fast fermenting beer (Wyeast should help right?) so I have something to drink in a few weeks while my Hoegaarden clone is being aged.

 

[noggins]

Well table sugar supposably gives homebrew a cidery type flavor, though I've never really noticed it. Honestly, if I were you, I'd throw in all the brown sugar and all the syrup, as long as the syrup doesn't have any weird chemicals or preservatives in it. I did that before and the end result was pretty good. I think I used a jar of honey also... aah, those were the days. No rules to follow, just throwin a buncha crap in a bucket and turnin it into "beer". It's all up-hill from there though

 

[janivar123]

Might be to late now but using less water can make good beer, 9 litres on a 1.8 kg LME set or was that the 1.5 kg set?

 

[Irishpenguin13]

Youre good to go brotha! Try it. The only time I use corn sugar is for my imperial ipa's though. But remember, brew and learn, theres always next time.