I am working on a Munich Helles recipe and while researching this came across a 2002 article recommending light DME instead of corn or table sugar for priming because these could produce “cidery” notes (because of the delicate nature of helles) in the finished beer…is this a legitimate concern?
Has anyone used DME to prime a Helles? Should I? I know it conforms to Reinheitsgebot but not really my concern.
I can’t say that I have ever done that but I think that might be one of the biggest BS things I’ve heard for awhile. 4oz in 5gals? Ciders notes? Com’on…
I’ve heard this before as well, and I look at is as total bunk. I generally use around a pound of sugar in my Belgian style beers, and have never encountered a “cidery” note in anything but cider. I’m pretty sure that such things as yeast selection and fermentation conditions have much more to do with the production of cidery flavors than the use of table or corn sugar.
No such thing as “cidery” flavors from simple sugars. That’s been debunked for 15 years or so already. Go ahead and use corn sugar, or better, cane sugar, for all your priming needs. DME is a bad option because the precise fermentability is unknown. Simple sugars are better for priming because they are 100% fermentable and results are way more predictable.
Great, thanks guys! Cane sugar it is.
Another one of those Piltdown man brewing theories that is still lurking on the web. I was finding citations of people still using DME to prime as recently as 2012. It sounds like it would have been a PITA.
[quote=“Voodoo donut”]I am working on a Munich Helles recipe and while researching this came across a 2002 article recommending light DME instead of corn or table sugar for priming because these could produce “cidery” notes (because of the delicate nature of helles) in the finished beer…is this a legitimate concern?
Has anyone used DME to prime a Helles? Should I? I know it conforms to Reinheitsgebot but not really my concern.[/quote]
Total BS. You use so little sugar and there is so little fermentation that it just can’t and doesn’t happen. I use up to 20% sugar in some beers and they don’t taste cidery, so I guarantee you that a few oz. in 5 gal. isn’t gonna make them cidery. In addition, DME takes longer to carbonate than sugar does. Most importantly, sonce the fermentability of DME varies, you really don’t know what level of carbonation you’ll get. Sigar is reliable, tasteless, and easy to use.
Many years ago, I might have seen that 2002 article and did just as it said…… I know now that my bottle carbing wasn’t regular. Most where flat and I had to use a little more than what was called for . So Thats when I switched to kegs… out of frustration… I’ll bet the cider notes was because of uncontrolled fermenting… Sneezles61
[quote=“Denny”] Sugar is reliable, tasteless, and easy to use.[/quote]Don’t forget very inexpensive and you might have some on hand in the kitchen.
[quote]Many years ago I might have seen that 2002 article and did just as it said[/quote]Yeah, it’s from a usually reputable source(BYO), so a lot of people probably did this. (In fairness to them it’s all over the web elsewhere also).
Delayed, unpredictable fermentation and “little rings of kraeusen in each bottle” possible sounds like a nightmare. So many other things can go wrong with a lager without introducing another unpredictable variable…
Thanks to all who responded.
[quote=“Voodoo donut”][quote]Many years ago I might have seen that 2002 article and did just as it said[/quote]Yeah, it’s from a usually reputable source(BYO), so a lot of people probably did this. (In fairness to them it’s all over the web elsewhere also).
Delayed, unpredictable fermentation and “little rings of kraeusen in each bottle” possible sounds like a nightmare. So many other things can go wrong with a lager without introducing another unpredictable variable…
Thanks to all who responded.[/quote]Back then everyone was afraid to use sugar in brewing. Even priming it was corn sugar or DME. I think the Belgians must have laughed at us. Then a little at a time the people that didn’t read the rules started to find out it wasn’t a problem if you kept to a reasonable amount.
Yes, I think after reading Stan H.(won’t even try spelling the last name) I messed with sugar. It worked. I still believe ALL the problems the majority had was not controlling their ferment temperatures… Seems now its almost the norm. Sneezles61
I ran out of sugar in the apartment and I’m too lazy to go get some so I’m going to use DME to prime my Imperial Stout. I see all the warnings above but I’m going to do it anyway.
I’ve use DME, corn sugar and regular table sugar and never noticed anything different
Experimentation is educational. Good luck, hope you find what you are looking for. Cheers. 
Same. We typically have 6 forms of sugar in this place but I turned my back for a second and they all disappeared (looks suspiciously at children). This will be the first time for DME.
Looking for CO2. I hope it finds me.
When I first brewed and bottled… Thousands of years ago, I was suspicious of the corn and table sugar giving my brews that cidery back flavor… So I used
DME for a few bottled batches… It worked just fine… But the cidery stuff remained…
That’s when I looked to controlled fermentation… That was a huge game changer…
Sneezles61
