Sugar question

[Mismost]

I asked the guy at the local home brew store what the difference was between table sugar and dextrose. He said dextrose will ferment and table sugar will not....I think that is BS, but what does a newbe know?

He went to explain that with table sugar you had to cook it first and then it would ferment.....I kinda think the BS got deeper.

What is the real story?

 

[brettg20]

Yeast don't consume table sugar as they do dextrose, he is correct

 

[rodwha]

That's a full load of BS to be precise.

I used the carb drops initially as I feared batch priming wouldn't be evenly distributed and I didn't really look into it until the day I found I forgot to order carb drops.

So I watched videos and tried it with table sugar and it worked quite well and was SO much cheaper. I used table sugar for a couple of years.

I switched to corn sugar as a friend who brews felt it created smaller bubbles and was worth checking out. I forgot to really consider this.

I recently asked about this and it seems corn sugar is a more simple sugar but takes just a touch more for the same volume of carbonation.

I'm on the fence about whether or not I care enough to buy more corn sugar when I run out.

 

[BowAholic]

Yeast don't consume table sugar as they do dextrose, he is correct

Why can I add 1 1/2 cups of table sugar to a bottle of room temp apple juice, along with a small amount of yeast, and get a very high ABV sparkling wine? There's nothing in the bottle for the yeast to eat except the sugar...?

 

[photobru]

Yeast will ferment table sugar. Boiling it with citric acid will convert it to invert sugar, but this is unnecessary.

I use table sugar for priming, and have recently added it as a fermentable to boost ABV and lighten body.

 

[progmac]

Table sugar is fine. I've used it to bottle dozens and dozens of batches. I also use it in Belgians, west coast ipa, etc as a fermentable.

However unless you use ultra fine sugar it doesn't dissolve as easily as dextrose. So just double check that your sugar solution is fully dissolved before adding it to your bottling bucket.

There was a time when boiling the sugar wasn't done by many Brewers as a matter of course. Back then, Lhbs corn sugar made a lot of sense because it dissolves very very easily.

 

[rodwha]

That friend used to make Mr Beer kits and poured uncooked plain table sugar into each bottle to carb them. It doesn't need to be cooked either.

 

[lowtones84]

Yup, table sugar is totally fine. I usually use raw sugar (turbinado, demerara) to be honest, which still works just fine. I don't know about the whole "smaller bubbles" deal...I've heard that mentioned before, but it doesn't make any sense to me.

 

[schematix]

Yeast will ferment both just fine. Only advantage I can think to dextrose is that it does dissolve much easier than table sugar. I only keep it around for making apfelwein because it's next to impossible to dissolve table sugar into an already sugar laden apple juice.

 

[beergolf]

Default
Yeast don't consume table sugar as they do dextrose, he is correct

Totally wrong.

I switched to corn sugar as a friend who brews felt it created smaller bubbles and was worth checking out. I forgot to really consider this.

the type of sugar has nothing to do with bubble size. It is recipe driven.

 

[BigFloyd]

I asked the guy at the local home brew store what the difference was between table sugar and dextrose. He said dextrose will ferment and table sugar will not....I think that is BS, but what does a newbe know?

He went to explain that with table sugar you had to cook it first and then it would ferment.....I kinda think the BS got deeper.

What is the real story?

The guy at the LHBS was either yanking your chain or he's so bloody ignorant that you ought to be very careful about following any advice from him.

 

[Calder]

It's freaking sugar!!!!! Of course it ferments!

Yes, corn sugar/dextrose is easier for the yeast to consume. However, yeast is fully capable of breaking down sucrose to the same level. You will not be able to tell the difference between the two sugars. Save some money and quit buying corn sugar.

Why can I add 1 1/2 cups of table sugar to a bottle of room temp apple juice, along with a small amount of yeast, and get a very high ABV sparkling wine? There's nothing in the bottle for the yeast to eat except the sugar...?

Sorry to have to tell you, but your analogy doesn't stand up. Apple juice has a lot of sugar, and will ferment well on it's own. You should probably have said how can you get a dry cider/wine if sugar is non-fermentable.

 

[oakbarn]

Back in the day, we used to add table sugar, water and yeast and make something to distill in a trash barrel. The table sugar DID ferment but what we were doing (out the USA) was making "Flash", not beer. It could be "easier" to ferment a more simple sugar, but bottling I do not do. I am a Kegger!