Sugar Used In Bottling - Does It Matter?

[ironxmortlock]

In my Brewcraft kit I got a bunch of Brewcraft promotional materials. One such piece was a pamphlet entitled "Good beers can be GREAT BEERS". The gist of it was not to use sugar in your brew. I've taken this to heart and have been using dex. and malt extracts but I noticed the Brewcraft kit supplied "carbonation drops" which are made from regular sugar.

My question is, does it matter what kind of sugar you use in secondary fermentation? If so, what do you recommend?

Thanks,

M
:beer:

 

[Stuster]

It's doesn't matter IMO. I tried dextrose and sugar and didn't notice any difference at all. (But many people will swear otherwise.) Table sugar is cheap, and cheap is good. :super:

 

[blakeebsary]

yea ive tried both as well, havent noticed a difference at all in taste. hahaha, cheaper is betta!

 

[blackbock]

The whole 'don't use white sugar under any circumstances' line is a bit of a furphy. Sugar has it's place in some beer, just not as the main source of fermentables. Some styles actually benefit from the addition of sugar, as a flavour enhancer, not just as a source of cheap alcohol.

The common line that we hear about sucrose causing a 'cideriness' in beer is also a bit overstated. I think this probably originated from some brewers who used stale extract and overdid the sugar, combined with poor quality kits and low hopping levels.

 

[Steve]

When I used to bottle I tried everything, malt, dextrose, sugar, mixtures of both and I could never notice the difference. I just used plain ole white table sugar coz it was cheaper and did the job. So I recommend just using sugar.
Cheers
Steve

 

[petesbrew]

I've been using those 1kg bags of Dextrose from coles, which gets me through 7 or 8 batches. I find it dissolves a bit quicker than sugar, but I'm not knocking sugar at all. Will use the carb drops as well if I'm feeling lazy.

 

[gundaroo]

im big on the carb drops,i feel they are easier and more convinient.i have also read on here somewhere where other brewers are using jelly beans for extra flavour.

 

[ironxmortlock]

...other brewers are using jelly beans for extra flavour.

Lol!

The gelatin in the jelly beans also has the added advantage of bonding with suspended matter and sinking it to the bottom. Think of it as "secondary finnings". B)

 

[pickledkiwi2]

Lol!

The gelatin in the jelly beans also has the added advantage of bonding with suspended matter and sinking it to the bottom. Think of it as "secondary finnings". B)

I was told that Black jelly beans were the go for bottling stouts.
The last Muntons Irish Stout I bottled 2 weeks ago I bottled half the brew with black jelly beans and the other half with plain dex. It will be interesting to see if there is any real difference when tasting time comes around.
Beers. :beer:

 

[petesbrew]

I was told that Black jelly beans were the go for bottling stouts.
The last Muntons Irish Stout I bottled 2 weeks ago I bottled half the brew with black jelly beans and the other half with plain dex. It will be interesting to see if there is any real difference when tasting time comes around.
Beers. :beer:

Oh, now you've got me all excited.... Natural confectionary company jellybeans in a few of my latest toucan draught stubbies... will be interesting with the different flavours! :blink:

 

[Trough Lolly]

If all you're doing is carbonating the beer, then dextrose or sugar is fine - a simple sugar that readily converts to alcohol and CO2. If you want to carbonate and add some body to the beer, use a more dextrinous sugar such as liquid or dry malt, or jellybeans!

Cheers,
TL

 

[sokodan]

If all you're doing is carbonating the beer, then dextrose or sugar is fine - a simple sugar that readily converts to alcohol and CO2. If you want to carbonate and add some body to the beer, use a more dextrinous sugar such as liquid or dry malt, or jellybeans!

Cheers,
TL

Would you use 2 as per the carb drops for a largie ??

 

[discoloop]

Hmm.... This jelly beans thing is interesting. Does one bean equate to one carb drop?

Edit: And do they take any longer to carbonate?

 

[phonos]

I've never done this before, I would do it by weight. I think generally its 7g per longneck for sucrose. But I doubt jelly beans are fully fermentable, so I'd try maybe 10g per longneck and see how you go.

 

[petesbrew]

Okay, so I primed about 10 stubbies with Jelly Beans - Natural Confectionary company ones.
I cracked one open today, 6 days on. Yeah I know, I'm very impatient!

Anyway, it was flat as. Absolutely bugger all carbonation. The jelly bean was still there, minus the food colouring.
i'm assuming first off it has something to do with the brand I chose... no added sugar?
Maybe the cheapy No frills ones would be better off.

Not sure about the ones I primed with Dextrose. I'll give them the full fortnight.

 

[ironxmortlock]

Okay, so I primed about 10 stubbies with Jelly Beans - Natural Confectionary company ones.
I cracked one open today, 6 days on. Yeah I know, I'm very impatient!

Anyway, it was flat as. Absolutely bugger all carbonation. The jelly bean was still there, minus the food colouring.
i'm assuming first off it has something to do with the brand I chose... no added sugar?
Maybe the cheapy No frills ones would be better off.

Not sure about the ones I primed with Dextrose. I'll give them the full fortnight.

Good on ya mate! Thanks for the experiment. :super:

I'll keep my eye out for the "now with 7g of added sugar" for my next batch. :lol:

 

[petesbrew]

Good on ya mate! Thanks for the experiment. :super:

I'll keep my eye out for the "now with 7g of added sugar" for my next batch. :lol:

By the way, although flat, the beer didn't taste bad at all! Should've labelled what flavour jelly beans were there though.

 

[reveler]

By the way, although flat, the beer didn't taste bad at all! Should've labelled what flavour jelly beans were there though.

next time try with Jelly Belly beans, that way you can mix the flavours up based on their recipes

 

[danman]

my last stout benifitted vastly from using Chiko Babies instead of priming suger. yes you heard right!
used 2 babies per tallie and the choc flavour was f@ken amazing. carbonation was a bit low but in a stout i dont mind that. never using suger again in a stout. the babies dissolve a bit but you are still left with 2 little drowned soldiers at the end.
i suggest using Chikos to anyone that likes stout,you wont be dissapointed
Cheers,Dan

 

[ironxmortlock]

my last stout benifitted vastly from using Chiko Babies instead of priming suger. yes you heard right!
used 2 babies per tallie and the choc flavour was f@ken amazing. carbonation was a bit low but in a stout i dont mind that. never using suger again in a stout. the babies dissolve a bit but you are still left with 2 little drowned soldiers at the end.
i suggest using Chikos to anyone that likes stout,you wont be dissapointed
Cheers,Dan

Lol, nice idea!

The brew after next is going to be a toucan stout. I might give the chiko-prime a go in a few bottles. :beer: