Sugar Alternatives

Substitute at what stage? You can certainly use honey or fruit, but depending on when you add it, you might not get the effect you desire. Often sugar is a better choice. There's a persistent myth that using sugar in beer causes "cidery" off flavors. That's been pretty much disproven. There are certain styles of beer and brands of extract that pretty much require the use of sugar.

---------->Denny

I would want to add the fruit or honey to give the beer the flavour. If I was to add it before fermenting, then I would need to reduce the amount of sugar or I assume the beer could end up too sweet and have a higher alcohol content.

If I was to add it to my keg after fermenting, then I assume this would increase the carbonation?

When would be the best time to add things like this to maximise the flavour?

With delacate aromas and flavors, I like to add them to the secondary fermenter. They will likely cause a little extra fermentation, but little enough so that the flavors and aromas don't get carried away by the CO2 produced during fermentation. Some people heat honey or fruit to pasteurize it, but I never do for fear that will drive off the flavors I'm going for or set the pectin in the fruit. By the time beer gets to secondary fermentation, the alcohol content and low pH makes it pretty resistant to infection. I add jsut enough warm water to the honey to dilute it enough to pour, add it to the secoindary and rack the beer onto it. For fruit, I freeze it first, then thaw it the day before use. That breaks down the cell walls of the fruit. Add that to secondary, rack the beer on it, and wait a couple weeks.

--------->Denny

Again thanks :) I guess the quantities are all down to personal preference?

Never thought about freezing the fruit, great idea and certainley makes sense...

honey meed is known worldwide. many guys have just started drooling over their keyboards. too many recipes to prefer one. personally i am quite fond of a british buckwheat honey meed.

Could somebody give some opinion on the use of normal sugar vs. dextrose. I am also still under the "persistent myth" that sugar will not do the job. Saying that, I have been using sugar for priming the bottles. Sugar or dextrose for priming?

Thanks

Tertius

From what I've read, you would use sucrose (white table sugar) in slightly lesser amounts. I never did a weight/volume comparison, but wonder whether sucrose is slightly denser than dextrose, hence would weigh more per volume. Perhaps use the same weight as the dextrose. Of course, still dissolve whatever sugar in hot water and boil a few minutes before priming.

follow a recipe until you learn the basics, is my best suggestion. taste is not really a sugar consideration. hops add taste. sugar adds alcohol sweetness usally means dead yeast or yeast over worked to their max.

quality is your first idea getting your buddy hammered in one beer is second, when you have the basics dealt with.

appreciate the freezing comment i will think of that

I'd always used dextrose until about a year ago when I ran out in the middle of bottling a very large batch. I then used table sugar. I measured by weight (and used the same for each), so the difference in volume didn't matter.

I could tell absolutely no difference between the two sugars in the final product. However, it did seem that the table sugar ran a day or two behind in carbonating - which seems to make sense because the yeast have to break it down before they eat it. But that was only a day or two difference - nothing that matters really.

The type of sugar makes absolutely no difference to the finished beer flavor. I've tried each numerous times and you'd never know the difference.

-------->Denny

On Wed, 20 Apr 2005 04:17:36 GMT, "dug88" said in alt.beer.home-brewing:

Diabetes, maybe. A hangover? There aren't any fusel alcohols (what gives you a hangover) in sugar.