Why add sugar to lighten, then carapils to get body back?

[meadmazer]

Hello all

I havent done an all grain yet, so I would like to ask, why add sugar to an all grain to get more alcohol, then add in crystal or carapils or whatever to get body back? Why not just add more grain to get the ABV, and mash at the higher temps to keep some body? What is/are the difference/s?

Eric

 

[WoodlandBrew]

It does seem counter productive. Mashing at a higher temperature will add the unfermentable sugars that carapils and crystal have, but not the other things they do for the beer. The Carapils will also help with head retention. Crystal adds a toffy or caramel flavor.

 

[duboman]

IMO the main reason is because sugar is neutral and only boosts the ABV without adding additional components that the specialty grains add. It is also basically 100% fermentable so there is no adjustment required for mash temp or anything like that.

 

[BrewinHooligan]

Sugar = cheap alcohol. It will thin the beer, but like you said adding carapils will fix that some. Some styles are better with the sugar, especially Belgian beers. A better recipe would have the correct grains mashed at the proper temp instead of trying to offset sugar with specialty grains IMO.