brewing Ingredient question

[dadofecs]

Hello all, I am new to brewing and I used an extract in a 4lb can, Monutmellic Irish stout. The place where I bought it from told me to add a 3.3 lb can of CBW to the brew.

The question I have is why did I add this to the brew if everything I needed was in the extract? The instructions did tell me to add 2 lbs of sugar to make a stronger,lighter-bodied beer but the guy at the brewing store told us to use the CBW in place of the sugar.

Should I have done this and should I have used all 3.3 lbs?

Thank you for any help, I love this site....

 

[flars]

The sugar would have boosted the alcohol content of the beer, but it would have dried the beer out resulting in a thinner mouth feel, a more watery like beer.

The CBW also boosted the alcohol content of the beer, but only 80% of the CBW is fermentable. Sugar is 100% fermentable. The 20% unfermentable part of the CBW added body and flavor to your beer. The 80% that was fermentable, is equal to the two pounds of sugar.
Home brew store guy is a wise man.

 

[ianw58]

CBW is just another fermentable ingredient. Unlike cane or beet sugar, CBW is based in malt. Since beer is a "malt beverage", it makes much more sense to use more malt material to boost the level of fermentable materials.

http://brewingwithbriess.com/Products/Extracts.htm