I am planning on brewing the inkeeper recipe this weekend and I have a question in regard to the one pound of corn sugar. I have never used anything but grain in an “all-grain” - what does the corn sugar addition bring to the beer vs. a couple pounds of additional grain? I am not sure if I will like what the sugar brings or not. I know I should follow this recipe as written (as it gets great reviews) but I also keep thinking I should just use more grain and no sugar . … . Thoughts? Thanks.
It is going to bump up the OG, making the beer a tad stronger, while also making it finish a tad dryer. The sugar does all this with out contributing to the taste, more malt would make the beer taste different.
I made the extract version of that beer over a year ago and it was tasty. I hurried it along for Thanksgiving, and I think drinking it young was a good thing! I was drinking it within 18 days. 
It is a very nice ale. and quick: brew to drink in 3-4 weeks. The sugar does add the crispness/dryness that extra grain won’t. I’ve got it in keg now and will probably “tap” it today or tomorrow. My last batch (bottled) was soooo good that it’s now my “house” beer.
cheers
Sounds good - I will go with the corn sugar. Now. . . … Hops. Unfortunately my styrian goldings are OLD (1.5 years since the bag was open) and seem to be bland/Dry/lost aroma. They have been in the freezer. I have fresh EKG and UK Fuggle. Most sources seem to indicate that fuggle is a sub. for Styrian, so I was thinking about using fuggle for the final 5 minute addition. What do you think? Fresh Fuggles or old Styrian goldings??
I had neither SG or Fu, for my first batch so I used : 1oz Saaz at 60; 1oz EKG at 45; and 1oz Spalt at 5. Turned out so good that I used same for my batch 3 weeks ago.
I have Fu and SG on order, so I’ll use them for my next batch.
cheers.
Fresh fuggles. They’re very similar, and you should probably cut your losses on the old styrians.
The Innkeeper is actually a great recipe for hops experimentation. It has a clean, dry profile from the corn sugar addition that really lets the hops through. A few months back I split the ingredients into six groups and made each with a different hop. It made for a busy brew day, but there’s nothing like having your own six-pack sampler when you are done.
I am actually thinking about doing this again with a different group of 6 hops (although I may do Centennial again because it was fantastic with this recipe).
