White Sugar Instead Of Dex ?

[ASYLUM_SPIRIT]

Hey all

I'm planning to make another Brigalow Cider, my first attempt turned out quite well by all reports.



I want a slightly sweeter taste next time, so Im going to toss in some lactose, on top of the kit and 3l of juice.

However on a local homebrew website mentions to add white sugar instead of dex, has anyone tried this or recommends this???

This is whats on their website.

"To make it 'medium sweet' or 'sweet'. As we require a full fruity flavour we recommend the use of white sugar, which contains fructose, instead of dextrose (a single glucose sugar)."

Whats your thoughts??



CHEERS!

 

[QldKev]

I'm no cider guru, and only make a couple a year. But I prefer white sugar over dex in a cider anyday. Same with dried malt, never add it to a cider.

 

[ASYLUM_SPIRIT]

I'm no cider guru, and only make a couple a year. But I prefer white sugar over dex in a cider anyday. Same with dried malt, never add it to a cider.

Ok cool thanks for the reply mate, seems like White sugar might be worth a try.

I mean it sounds right, because adding white sugar to beer can make it cidery, so you would think white sugar in cider will add more cidery flavours.

 

[manticle]

White sugar in beer doesn't necessarily make it cidery. It can make it thin and dry and if you couple that with acetaldehyde from unconditioned beer or unhealthy/insufficient yeast it will contribute. Acetaldehyde tastes different to cider but it does/can have a granny smith apple character so thin, dry and appley gets called 'cidery'.

I don't use the cider kits to make cider (and for around the same price/slightly more, you could make a far better juice based cider with no need to add any sugar at all) but white sugar will make half a bee's ****'s worth of an ant's bum's difference to the final sweet/dryness balance of your cider.

The lactose will help, yeast choice will help and if you do go with the kit, the aspartame they add to it will help. White sugar vs dex? Not so much.

No reason you can't give it a shot of course.

 

[ASYLUM_SPIRIT]

White sugar in beer doesn't necessarily make it cidery. It can make it thin and dry and if you couple that with acetaldehyde from unconditioned beer or unhealthy/insufficient yeast it will contribute. Acetaldehyde tastes different to cider but it does/can have a granny smith apple character so thin, dry and appley gets called 'cidery'.

I don't use the cider kits to make cider (and for around the same price/slightly more, you could make a far better juice based cider with no need to add any sugar at all) but white sugar will make half a bee's ****'s worth of an ant's bum's difference to the final sweet/dryness balance of your cider.

The lactose will help, yeast choice will help and if you do go with the kit, the aspartame they add to it will help. White sugar vs dex? Not so much.

No reason you can't give it a shot of course.

Thanks for the indepth feedback, given me some things to think about.

I think I might just stick with Dex to be on the safe side.

Cheers!

 

[Bribie G]

Why not add a few litres of cheap supermarket apple juice instead and get an extra appley hit?

 

[ekul]

I'd use sugar instead of dex, its cheaper and you won't be able to tell the difference anyway. Adding sugar or dextrose won't make the cider sweeter though, it will ferment out completly. The link to the website that says it will make it sweeter is the coopers forum where you posted the same question.

Have you tried just juice? Its pretty easy. BUy 21L of coles/homebrand/cheap as chips 100% apple juice, ferment with whatever yeast (wine yeast or nottingham) @ below 22C (i do them at ambient temps). Throw in some lactose to make it sweeter. I don't do the lactose step because i'm intolerant.

I wish i liked cider more, its so easy to make.

 

[Bribie G]

Ekul, what's the OG of supermarket juice? Might give it a bash, mate does Black Rock kits and they turn out as good as say Mercury Cider, reckon all juice would be even nicer.

 

[stux]

Ekul, what's the OG of supermarket juice? Might give it a bash, mate does Black Rock kits and they turn out as good as say Mercury Cider, reckon all juice would be even nicer.

All juice will be quite dry, and not as sweet as a kit. The kits have artificial sweeteners in them

 

[QldKev]

I agree the white sugar won't necessarily make it sweeter, to me it just taste more correct for a cider.

I tried to make an all juice once, ended up way too dry. I know more pear juice is supposed to help. If I was an extreme cider lover maybe I would have pursued the juice and adding lactose etc way. I find both the Black rock and Morgans have great offerings for the cider. I don't mind the kit + white sugar, fermented warm at 20-22 and left in the keg for a couple of months prior to drinking.

QldKev

 

[ekul]

Not sure of the og, from memory its 10% sugar if that helps. Because of the extra attenuation it comes out at about 5% i think

It ferments out bone dry too, so if ou like sweet cider you'll want to add lactose or some other non fermentable sweetener. I like my cider dry so i don't need to add anything.

Edit - i put 1kg of cane sugar into 10L of water in brerwmate. It says the OG is 1038 and if fermented out to 1.000 ends up being 4.99%. So i assume that the OG of apple juice is 1038.

Ekul, what's the OG of supermarket juice? Might give it a bash, mate does Black Rock kits and they turn out as good as say Mercury Cider, reckon all juice would be even nicer.

 

[manticle]

Juice varies but anything between 1040 and 1060 is likely.

 

[ASYLUM_SPIRIT]

I'd use sugar instead of dex, its cheaper and you won't be able to tell the difference anyway. Adding sugar or dextrose won't make the cider sweeter though, it will ferment out completly. The link to the website that says it will make it sweeter is the coopers forum where you posted the same question.

Have you tried just juice? Its pretty easy. BUy 21L of coles/homebrand/cheap as chips 100% apple juice, ferment with whatever yeast (wine yeast or nottingham) @ below 22C (i do them at ambient temps). Throw in some lactose to make it sweeter. I don't do the lactose step because i'm intolerant.

I wish i liked cider more, its so easy to make.

Sorry mate I didn't realise there was a link thing there, that was unintentional. The info came off a Hobart based Home brew website.

 

[Maxt]

You are right Manticle, it is a bit if an urban brewing myth that white sugar causes a cider taste.