Simple Sugar And Attenuation

[cpsmusic]

Hi,

I've seen mentioned in several places that the addition of simple sugar increases the attenuation. I'm a bit unclear about this. Does this mean adding simple sugar on top of the existing grain or does it mean replacing some? If it's the former, how does adding simple sugar increase attenuation?

Cheers,

Chris

 

[razz]

Hi Chris. Adding sugar will increase the starting gravity but the final gravity won't change ( or very little) as the sugar is fully fermented out by yeast. It's good for a high gravity ale, such as a belgian, where the final gravity is kept lower than a 100% malt bill. For instance, an all malt bill may start at 1.080 and finish at 1.020, replace some of the malt with sugar and the gravities can become 1.080 and 1.015. This is where the attenuation is greater, it will also be drier than the 1.020 ale.
Sorry, I forgot about the former bit. If you simply add sugar then the starting gravity will be higher but the final gravity won't change, thus higher attenuation.

 

[cpsmusic]

Hi Chris. Adding sugar will increase the starting gravity but the final gravity won't change ( or very little) as the sugar is fully fermented out by yeast. It's good for a high gravity ale, such as a belgian, where the final gravity is kept lower than a 100% malt bill. For instance, an all malt bill may start at 1.080 and finish at 1.020, replace some of the malt with sugar and the gravities can become 1.080 and 1.015. This is where the attenuation is greater, it will also be drier than the 1.020 ale.
Sorry, I forgot about the former bit. If you simply add sugar then the starting gravity will be higher but the final gravity won't change, thus higher attenuation.

So when it's suggested to "add some simple sugar" to increase attenuation, what's really meant is "substitute so simple sugar for malt" - is that right?

 

[razz]

In a word, yep