Does the the type of priming sugar add anything to the final product? I made the NB “Winter Warmer” for Christmas. Because I am a tinkerer I added a 1/2 cup of brown sugar at the end of the boil. My OG was 1.078 my FG has been constant at 1.020 for the last week. Approx. Att. of 74% with a final ABV of 7.46%. The beer is a beautiful clear dark copper. All seem well within the acceptable range. I can only describe test samples as “Harsh”. I plan on bottling this Saturday and would like to know if this will mellow out a bit by Christmas, or if I can use an alternate priming sugar that will give it a little more depth. Thank you. Ps My wife has designed some great labels “Cousin Eddies Shi**ers Full Winter Warmer”.
I don’t think your question has anything to do with priming sugar if you added the brown sugar during the boil. Priming sugar is added at bottling time for carbonation. So I’m confused.
If the beer tastes harsh right now, there is some chance it will mellow by Christmas, but often times a big beer like this needs to age for 6 months or more before it mellows out.
I was trying to bump up the OG and in turn the final ABV with the late addition of the brown sugar. I think I did that?
Technically, yes, but 1/2 cup is such a small amount of sugar that I doubt you could tell the difference. You may pick up a tiny bit of flavor from the molasses, which would probably be good in a WW.
“Harsh” flavors are probably from under-pitching and/or fermenting too warm, FWIW.
With a name like that, it SHOULD be harsh.
Priming sugar doesn’t usually contribute a lot to the flavor. I’ll sometimes use honey and once I used pomegranate molasses, those give a hint of flavor/aroma. Six weeks ought to take some of the harsh edge off, but if its due to the factors Sean described (pitch rate, ferm temp) you’re pretty much stuck with what you have.
Plus, that brown sugar is highly fermentable which only helps fermentation go faster, which in turn pushes up the wort temp above ambient even more. If you use a lot of sugar in the recipe, its really important to have control of ferm temp using a swamp cooler or other means. Its important all the time for that matter.
I’ve recently started using starters on all my beers and I’m very happy with the results. Ambient temp. was 62 f., and I realize that the ferm. temp is probbaly higher. Does the higher alcohol % give a bite? I’ve never made anything that finished higher than 5% ABV before. Thanks
