Why not add sugar?

[newbies13]

My understanding of sparging is that you are shooting for maximum sugar in your wort.

My question is why not just add sugar of some kind directly to the wort? I assume it would add an odd flavor?

 

[FuzzeWuzze]

You can, but typically things like sugar are fully fermentable, where as wort depending on the temperature you mash at can have varying levels of fermentability.

Adding sugar would likely just increase the alcohol content and make the beer more dry...in some styles thats wanted...in others not so much.

 

[RM-MN]

Another reason is that we want the yeast to eat the maltose because that makes beer but yeast are lazy and would prefer to eat sugars that are easier for them to digest like corn sugar or table sugar and once their bellies (LOL) are full don't want to work on the maltose. If we liked the flavor of beer made with just sugar, there wouldn't be much purpose in our brewing.

 

[unionrdr]

But if you're brewing something with a good malt backbone,but also a lot of hops,then some sugar is a good thing. I added a pound of demerara sugar to my Maori IPA & it tasted pretty good at bottling time.

 

[ThatSimpleman]

Thinking about making a extract "pale piss pilsner" ale for non snobs at July 4 party. My question is in addition to using some dme would 2# of table sugar dry it out too much? I kinda want to hold back a bit of dme to 'big beer' an IPA recipe, any feed back welcome. Cheers

 

[unionrdr]

2lbs in a lighter beer like that would be a touch much imo.

 

[homebrewdad]

Some styles (Belgians leap to mind) really benefit from simple sugars, as they get them to the correct level of dryness.

Others? Not so much.

My advice would be to get the basics of your recipe down before you start tinkering. Adding sugar to boost alcohol content (and dry out the beer) without planing for and balancing it will likely end up with you making inferior beer.

 

[tre9er]

Never liked the results using sugar, even inverted, brown, white, etc. Dried it out way too much. I know some styles use it, and to be honest, I'm not a fan of some of those beers, either.

 

[TexanRudeboy]

I believe you don't want too high a percentage of simple sugars in your wort. Yeast work from simple to complex sugars. If they eat too much simple sugar early then they don't produce the enzymes to break down larger sugars later and you could get a stuck fermentation.

 

[unionrdr]

I used a pound of demerara sugar in my Maori IPs (PM),& it went from OG1.060 down to FG1.010. With dry pitched US-05 yet. So it can work...

 

[Cyclman]

20% is a typically cited maximum. I just made 2 lbs. of Belgian Candi sugar for a Bourbon Barrel Quad I am brewing tomorrow.

 

[ThatSimpleman]

So I did what I was told not to. Extract winged recipe for a requested IPA. 90 min 'hop tea' boil added 1/2 sugars at 60 min other half 10 min mark. 3.6 lbs DME, 2# cane... the recipe called for english yeast which always tastes sweet to me, hoping cane sugs will dry it out for my palate.

Working the learning curve, will update in 4 weeks.

 

[Malty_Dog]

I used demerara in a saison to get the desired dryness, as per the recipe. I think a recipe can be made too "thin" if adding too much simple sugar though. Correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[ThatSimpleman]

Ok tried sample 22z and hit the hop profile dead on. Not sure if lightness/ thin mouth feel is from cane sugar or lack of malto dex (3 tbs). Poor head retention makes me think the later. Picks next bottle, cheers.

 

[Whippy]

I have frequently used white table sugar, honey, and corn sugar in certain beers, but I feel you must be careful with fermentation and ensure your beer does not ferment too fast. From my experience, it is way easier to get "boozy" defects in your beer when using sucrose or honey adjuncts than when using all malt.

I like to limit sugar for styles like a Belgian Strong, Imperial Stout, or IIPA or something strong like that, and then only when planned for carefully to account for the effects I will get from it.

I am first to embrace the use of sugar, but kind of sparingly.

 

[ThatSimpleman]

So the Twilight was a hit, preferred 6/7 blind taste tests. Then it happened, my beer buddy tries one @ 52` f and says " good hop profile but I get a bubble gum residual", then I knew he was right so ... every bottle gone as I donated remainder to open cooler at bbq contest. If I do again it will be a more moderate addition. Learning this none exact science one buzz at a time. Cheers

 

[newbies13]

Yeah, it's interesting how much diversity there is in beer making and yet a lot of people are always happy with their brews. Makes me want to try something... crazy. haha.