Sugar Used In Bottling - Does It Matter?

[toddyboy]

hi guys,

long time drinker, first time brewer.

as you can tell, this is my first post on the forum. i've had a coopers home brew kit in the garage for about 3 years now. my mrs told me to either use it or throw it out. i went for option number 1 B)

i opened the box, went through the book, watched the video and am ready to head to the supermarket to get my ingredients.

my question is...

what is the difference between, brew enhancer, brewing sugar and the carbonation drops?

depending on what i've read, it will tell me a different story. the malt tells me to use brew enhancer 1 with this product. the book tells me to use 1kg of brewing sugar and carbonation drops. do i need all of these, none of these, a combination of some or all of these?

i'll be brewing the coopers bavarian lager if that makes a difference.

thanks!

 

[danman]

gday toddyboy and welcome to the forum.
not a pro but from what i gather the BE1 (brew enhancer 1) may be made of malt,dextrose and possibly dried corn syrup. all these ingredients help to make a more flavoursome beer with better head retension than just using sugar in your primary fermentation.
where do you live mate,theres got to be a homebrew shop nearby?
great place for advice and good place to waste money!
cheers,Dan

 

[ironxmortlock]

hi guys,

long time drinker, first time brewer.

as you can tell, this is my first post on the forum. i've had a coopers home brew kit in the garage for about 3 years now. my mrs told me to either use it or throw it out. i went for option number 1 B)

i opened the box, went through the book, watched the video and am ready to head to the supermarket to get my ingredients.

my question is...

what is the difference between, brew enhancer, brewing sugar and the carbonation drops?

depending on what i've read, it will tell me a different story. the malt tells me to use brew enhancer 1 with this product. the book tells me to use 1kg of brewing sugar and carbonation drops. do i need all of these, none of these, a combination of some or all of these?

i'll be brewing the coopers bavarian lager if that makes a difference.

thanks!

Hi Toddy and welcome to the forums. :beer: I've got some of the Cooper's Bavarian lager maturing in bottles right now. I can't wait to drink it!

To answer your question, brew enhancer and brewing sugar serve the same purpose. To put it simply, while your beer is sitting in the big barrel, the yeast eats this stuff and that makes your booze and some flavours. Brewing sugar is generally just dextrose. This is supposed to give you a clearer, better tasting beer than if you used standard sugar. Brew Enhancer can substitute for sugar or straight dextrose (brewing sugar). These enhancers contain various blends of dextrose, maltodextrin and malt. Many people swear by them as they supposedly make for nicer flavours and they give better head.

Carbonation drops come in at a separate stage of making beer. This is when fermentation is complete and you're ready to put the brew into the bottles. In order to get bubbles in your beer you need to add some sugar to the bottle when you fill it up. You can measure in the correct amounts of plain old sugar or you can use the convenient invention called "carbonation drops". These are just sugar but congealed into the correct dose which makes bottling a little easier. You put one in a stubby to carbonate it properly or two into a tallie.

To make things easy for your first batch I recommend that you use whatever kit you'd like, beer enhancer 1 or 2 and then use the carbonation drops to prime the bottles. (prime = add sugar to bottles so that the beer will develop bubbles)

I hope this answers you question and have fun making your first brew! :beer:

 

[toddyboy]

Hi Toddy and welcome to the forums. :beer: I've got some of the Cooper's Bavarian lager maturing in bottles right now. I can't wait to drink it!

To answer your question, brew enhancer and brewing sugar serve the same purpose. To put it simply, while your beer is sitting in the big barrel, the yeast eats this stuff and that makes your booze and some flavours. Brewing sugar is generally just dextrose. This is supposed to give you a clearer, better tasting beer than if you used standard sugar. Brew Enhancer can substitute for sugar or straight dextrose (brewing sugar). These enhancers contain various blends of dextrose, maltodextrin and malt. Many people swear by them as they supposedly make for nicer flavours and they give better head.

Carbonation drops come in at a separate stage of making beer. This is when fermentation is complete and you're ready to put the brew into the bottles. In order to get bubbles in your beer you need to add some sugar to the bottle when you fill it up. You can measure in the correct amounts of plain old sugar or you can use the convenient invention called "carbonation drops". These are just sugar but congealed into the correct dose which makes bottling a little easier. You put one in a stubby to carbonate it properly or two into a tallie.

To make things easy for your first batch I recommend that you use whatever kit you'd like, beer enhancer 1 or 2 and then use the carbonation drops to prime the bottles. (prime = add sugar to bottles so that the beer will develop bubbles)

I hope this answers you question and have fun making your first brew! :beer:

awesome! thanks for your help.

i've been reading other threads on bulk priming and racking... whoa! think i'll stick with this simple stuff to start with then maybe try some of this other stuff when i'm a bit more experienced