Residual Sweetness

[damoncouper]

Just wondering what I could use to add residual sweetness to a fermented beverage? I have heard that lactose can be used but I am hesitant to use that as one of the main drinkers is lactose intolerant. Can you use artificial sweeteners?

 

[newguy]

Don't use artificial sweeteners. I'm assuming you are talking about beer (you said 'beverage'). There are a few ways to get a beer with some residual sweetness. In order of ease:

1. Use a low attenuating yeast, such as wyeast 1968. If you do AG, mashing at a temperature on the high end of the sacch range (68-70C) will increase residual sugars as well.
2. Use a lower hopping rate. Investigate the maltier/sweeter styles such as helles, dunkels, bocks, Scottish ales, dubbels, etc.
3. Crash chill when the beverage gets to the sweetness that you want. Also add finings to help drop the yeast out of suspension. Doing this forces you to force carbonate as there won't be any yeast cells left. Filtration or pasteurisation is required to 'lock in' the sweetness so that rogue yeast cells or bacteria won't continue to eat the available sugars.

Hope this helps.

 

[Thirsty Boy]

Or... you could use artificial sweeteners.

But they will of course effect the flavour of the beverage. If you are talking beer, I actually suspect that it might work out pretty well, because you aren't actually looking to make it "sweet" sweet... just to enhance the sweetness thats already there.

If you are after a sweet cider or perhaps a ginger beer or something where you really want it to be properly sweet... then I suppose it will all depend on whether or not you are OK with the taste of artificial sweeteners; and which artificial sweetener you use.

For instance, I never liked diet coke, could pick it a mile away and didn't like it at all, but coke zero, now that stuff is fine with me. It doesn't taste artificially sweetened to me at all.

Mind you, the disclaimer to this post is that while I drink a LOT of soft drink, a naturally sweetened one has not passed my lips in at least 3 years. It might be (probably is) me getting used to it, but IMHO I feel that the latest versions of artificial sweeteners are much more palatable than the old ones.

I have no input whatsoever on which ones you could use or how much to use etc; but I certainly wouldn't rule them out if doing the things that newguy suggests wont solve your problem

Thirsty

 

[sah]

Just wondering what I could use to add residual sweetness to a fermented beverage?

Sugar

1. Use a low attenuating yeast, such as wyeast 1968. If you do AG, mashing at a temperature on the high end of the sacch range (68-70C) will increase residual sugars as well.

I agree with all of newguy's suggestions except the higher mash temp, dextrin's aren't sweet tasting.

regards,
Scott

 

[lowtech]

but coke zero, now that stuff is fine with me. It doesn't taste artificially sweetened to me at all.



I have no input whatsoever on which ones you could use or how much to use etc; but I certainly wouldn't rule them out if doing the things that newguy suggests wont solve your problem

Thirsty

Whew.. for a minute there I thought you were going to suggest adding coke zero to the beverage for sweetening.
Might go with a stout. :unsure:

 

[Thirsty Boy]

Whew.. for a minute there I thought you were going to suggest adding coke zero to the beverage for sweetening.
Might go with a stout. :unsure:

not quite... but an artificially sweetened plain lemonade???? that might work quite well and would allow you to just keep on dosing the stuff in till you got the sweetness you were looking for.

 

[Tim F]

If you want sweet sweet try saccharin. You can get a 5% solution at the supermarket for a few bucks in the sugar aisle. I add 8 drops per 750ml to my very dry bitey ginger beer and it's lovely! You can't really pick it as being out of place unless you overdo it.