Today is bottling day and I just realized I don’t have any corn sugar for priming. Why is corn sugar preferred? Can I use table sugar? Will there be a drawback to plain table sugar?
Why indeed? There are zero drawbacks to priming with table sugar. I have done so for 10 years with great results. Just be aware that it is a little “stronger” so you only need to use about 80-85% as much as you would corn sugar.
:cheers:
Cool deal. So I was digging around and found a bag of 4 OZ of corn sugar. I needed 5 OZ. So I guess adding 3/4 OZ of table and calling it a done would be fine??
5 gallons? Trust me – use just slightly less than 3/4 cup. Like, remove 1 tablespoon from 3/4 cup. Perfect.
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Corn sugar is glucose. Glucose requires virtually no digestion (by yeast or humans). It is a monosaccharide, a single molecule. It is the simplest and easiest thing for yeast to eat, and make some CO2 to dissolve in your capped bottles.
Table sugar is slightly more complex. It is a disaccharide (two sugar molecules tied together). It requires a little more digestion, as those molecules need to be cleaved.
Some purists say corn sugar is preferable for this reason. I have not done a side by side, but I would venture to say cane or beet sugar is just fine for bottle conditioning.
The yeast cells don’t care about the molecular structure of the sugars! They see cake, they eat it. Both sugars are essentially flavorless, so there are no flavor impacts in the final beer.
It is true that digesting table sugar requires the production of sucrase or invertase enzymes to hydrolize it into glucose and fructose. However, humans and yeast do this quite easily.
In general, the main reason to use corn sugar or invert sugar or high fructose corn syrup is that they dissolve more easily and are less prone to crystallization which can lead to undesirable textures in candies. These are not really issues for beer making as long as you make sure your sugar is completely dissolved.
Why on earth would anyone use priming sugar? Use powdered malt,unless you like sugar of course as it is all you & with certain Belgian styles call for it.Altering recipes hell I’ve done myself,experiMENTAL never have never will as that’s what these self proclaimed master brewers bring to the local H.B. meetings I used to attend emphasis on used to with 90% undrinkable :blah: & most of these goes back in glass knowing full well master brewers are watching the expression which says it all,I just couldn’t be polite(people can get sick) after the pallet rinse complete,the what the f#%k all you succeeded accomplishing with that is waste$/time,or if really horrible tell how awesome enter this in competition’s " It’s not a hobby, it is an art, a craft that rose out of necessity as drinking water killed.switching out malts/hops I encourage, & keeping SANITIZATION priority,purchasing 3 times ingredient’s for 1 brew is waste…I must apologize for rant no it’s the Weiss biers fault.try the malt once my unknown friend it’s sweeter than sugar better results I believe kits have sugar & now brainwashed throw evil sugar away S%#t I’m writing novel here I am so sorry
Yes, Google Translate really sucks…
DMTALO2. I realize you do not owe me any favors,if you would be so kind to reply sir I would appreciate,it is only couple ? in regard to using sugar for the carb. Have you ever used sugar & malt in same type of your brew in different batches of course & did not notice difference in taste or more important headache from sugar? You have me curious as I read your responses to orig.? & sounds like you would know. Also if given choice, you have all 3 powdered malt,corn syrup,& sugar laying there which would you reach for ? This is not Belgian style,say a European lager ie. spaten,heineken in ale bass, or from that greatest country on planet western pale ales? The only reason I would inquire,told to toss priming sugar ( owner of store) from the “yellow dog ale kit” use powdered malt turned out awesome used ever since no way for me compare never used sugar Thank you for your anticipated reply If do not have time or could not be bothered I understand :cheers:
Sorry to step in here, but I’ve done what you describe. May years ago I did an experiment using corn sugar, table sugar, DME, honey, force carbonation and another method or 2 I’ve forgotten now. After giving the beers 2 months to carbonate and all the various sources of CO2 to go into solution, there was no difference in quality of carbonation or taste. Not a single blind taster preferred one over another. I stopped using dry malt, however, because the fermentability of it varies so that you’re never certain of the exact level of carbonation you get. Sugar, whether corn or table, works quickly and reliably and imparts no flavor to the beer. That is my choice when I prime for carbonation. Both science and my experience tells me that the person who told you to throw away the sugar and use dry malt instead hasn’t studied the issue carefully.
The quantity of sugar is so small compared to the entire batch it adds no flavor contribution. The idea is that you are only creating a mini fermentation in the bottle so as to generate just enough C02 to be absorbed by the beer. It’s less than a teaspoon of sugar in each bottle.
I tried using DME once to prime, based on advice from a Stone recipe book. It worked, but it took seemingly forever, compared to table sugar. I haven’t done any scientific comparison, but based on the one time I tried it, I don’t feel all that inclined to try it again.
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Amen, brother!
Sorry to step in here, but I’ve done what you describe. May years ago I did an experiment using corn sugar, table sugar, DME, honey, force carbonation and another method or 2 I’ve forgotten now. After giving the beers 2 months to carbonate and all the various sources of CO2 to go into solution, there was no difference in quality of carbonation or taste. Not a single blind taster preferred one over another. I stopped using dry malt, however, because the fermentability of it varies so that you’re never certain of the exact level of carbonation you get. Sugar, whether corn or table, works quickly and reliably and imparts no flavor to the beer. That is my choice when I prime for carbonation. Both science and my experience tells me that the person who told you to throw away the sugar and use dry malt instead hasn’t studied the issue carefully.[/quote]
While I didn’t do anything so comprehensive as this, I did one time carbonate with flavored hard candies, 3 g per bottle. And I can guarantee, there were distinct differences with those, but that should be expected with the artificial flavoring they contained. Some even came out good. :shock:
Overall, Denny’s results match what I’ve observed, though I’m surprised no one was able to pick out the honey sample. That will usually leave a faint aroma - if it was done in a lighter beer.
I have not run side by side experiments like Denny. However my intuition tells me that his results are most likely correct. If you question it then I would encourage you to run your own experiments.
Personally I will never use DME or LME again as it takes too long to carbonate and results are unreliable. The only reason I can see to use malt extract is for Reinheitsgebot if anyone cares about that. If not, then reach for the cheapest and most easily available simple sugar that you can find. Most often this is white table sugar. If a kit comes with corn sugar then by all means you can go ahead and use it. But when designing your own recipes there is no need to purchase corn sugar. Just use the table sugar that every household likely already has in stock at all times in their kitchen cabinets! Cheap effective and reliable. Zero disadvantages.
There is NO need to apologize sir (or would Denney be alright) I’m just so glad to find someone actually did something I always wondered about as time went on could not risk , so there’s no difference taste interesting we are talking karo corn sugar here( or that bleached crap they press into little cubes ) over powder toast I mean malt, oh the guy who tells me this was not doing for any other reason than,wow just realized how long ago that was , swore it would turn out better & he did have more reasons for using malt . So Eugene ore. Denny, found backstage pass layin on ground while trying to get glitter out my eyes some bitch at Dylan/ Dead show in " carefulwiththataxe" Eugene threw in everyone’s direction if to close to her,while living in Portland. All I recall after all time that’s passed at some college,did NOT rain,& outdoor shows aren’t for me sound wise that is.in tri-state since 87 :blah: I’m sorry can not use more than 4 ingredients myself & will ask you same thing as some gentleman from beautiful Wisconsin,if all 3 wait you read ? Which one only one hope not pissed on-&-on thing see can’t stand people here,so I ignore them,wish they’d all just vanish except for me & dog I guess wife too she better stop with the annoying Hope not rainin Denny miss brew pubs n.w. Portland I gots PAULANER Brauhaus 10 miles here
Denny is fine.
I would not recommend using Karo syrup anywhere in the brewing process. They add sodium and other things to it that I don’t want in my beer.
Mattnaik, I have yet to receive response from oh crap I forgot already, I remember only Wisconsin anyway I am person who many years ago was told to replace priming sugar with malt & it appears you may also be able to answer,Denny,gentleman out in Oregon says can not tell difference,is this what you have discovered also sir? I am reaching out across country as I am surrounded by idiots here,relieved to find knowledgable individuals wish I would have found sooner as apparently all it takes to be braumeister here is & I quote I’m celebrating bein brew master now that I’ve made 10 batches I didn’t know wether to laugh or cry so I did both. Out of the 3 priming options, you choose sugar? Or is this in event all on hand? Denny please don’t take wrong way as I’m trying to find if only one using malt & that everyone different thing
