First you get de sugar. Then you get de power. Then you get de women !

[MichaelT10]

Which brings me to my question/s. I was thinking of doing some "experimentation" and trying out different types of sugar other than dextrose or malto-dextrine so I gather some on here have tried plain old refined white sugar, how does that go ? What about raw sugar or caster sugar ? or raw caster sugar ? or demerara sugar or pure icing sugar ? or treacle ? or golden syrup ? or fructose ? or even stevia ? has any one on here tried brewing with any of these "exotics" ?

 

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My second question is, I understand by using the standard 23 litres ingredients with less than 23 litres of water should equate to a stronger ABV % but does adding more sugar/dextrose (whatever) to the fermenter make for a stronger alcohol wise brew ? Say 1.5 klios of sugar instead of a kilo ? [roll] [innocent]

 

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Oh and a 3rd question same as first but at the priming stage instead ? [happy]

[Snags]

If you want to experiment so bad, try adding 100gms of every sugar you've listed. . . and let us know how it turns out. . . [cool]

[MichaelT10]

If you want to experiment so bad' date=' try adding 100gms of every sugar you've listed. . . and let us know how it turns out. . . [cool']

 

There's a thought ! Hang on a second ... you're just being sarcastic lol [wink] [tongue]

[Snags]

Haha, yeah mate.

 

I don't think you're supposed to go more than 1kg sugar for the Avg kits. I think it's usually more like a 2 or 3 parts malt to 1 part sugar for a decent drop, and decent body.

 

I think reducing the volume of water to around 20-21 ltrs is more common for upping the alcohol content.

 

[Muddy Waters]

This thread should probabaly be in brewing blether rather than recipe resource as recipes resource should be a resource for....recipes [biggrin]

 

I think you be better of reducing your simple sugars to less than 20% of your total fermentables and experimenting with more malts.

 

I've used dark brown sugar in PB2's Scotch Ale and it really adds a caramel dimension to the beer (in a good way).

[Trusty1]

Oh and a 3rd question same as first but at the priming stage instead ? [happy]

 

 

Priming MUST be done to the recommended dosage otherwise you'll get bottlebombs!! You can add as much 'sugar' (whatever the type you like) to primary fermentation, but should remember that you want to drink whatever it is you are brewing! Things need to be in balance, and this includes the yeast, including the type, amount and temperature at which you are asking it to perform and the duties you are requesting from it! (the more 'sugar' the more stress the yeast is under, the more chance of funky tasting beer!!)

 

There are homebrewers out there who never sway from their tried and true recipe of a can of goo and 1kg of white sugar with the pack yeast brewed at the temp that the shed presents. Find whats good and run with it. You can't go wrong with adding some malt ()dried or liquid) to the equation, though.

[Guest]

At first I suggest to try the recipes on this site for some idea of what to expect.

 

The Irish Ale is nice and uses Golden Syrup

The Extra Smooth Bitter is another but uses Molasses.

 

Honey is another good one to use. That is something with homebrewing, you can do whatever you want. You should try them all then tweek them the way you would expect.