Cane Suger

[jtrux]

I have a pale ale that is 4 days into active fermentation and the blowoff tube has slowed to a burp every 2 seconds. I’m thinking of adding cane suger to boost abv a bit. Will adding 9% suger drastically effect the flavor? My original recipe was 7lbs DME. I’m wanting to add 9oz suger now, then 2 oz for priming giving 11 oz total or about 9%.

Also I just started brewing in the garage bc wife thinks it makes the house stink. Is it normal for your brew pot to be full of soot when using propane burners

Thanks

 

[SoCal-Doug]

Sugar: yup, it will raise the ABV. it will not taste the same as had you just used more malt. sugar is kind of a "dry" or "brut" taste. I find it more "chemical" tasting. your tastes may vary. might be cheaper and quicker to just throw a few shots of everclear into the finished brew.

Soot: yup, especially when the burner is not adjusted correctly. try adjusting your air intake for a nice blue flame with no yellow. that should help some.

 

[z-bob]

That's too much sugar to just goose it a little. Might not be too much sugar if you planned on it from the start. (I know that's pretty much a non-answer) You didn't give enough information about your recipe for us to give you a straight answer. Adding sugar will make it boozier and dryer without otherwise affecting the flavor much. Lately I've started adding an ounce or two of sugar when I transfer the beer from a bucket (primary) to a carboy (secondary) to wake the yeast up. But 9 oz (assuming a 5 gallon batch) is a lot. It still might be okay...

 

[jtrux]

Thanks for the reply. The recipe used was:

4oz crystal malt, in 1/2 gallon water mashed at 150 for 30min

3lbs extra light DME at 60min
1 oz cascade at 60min
1/2 pearle at 15min
1 tsp Irish moss at 10min
1 oz cascade at 1 min
4 lbs Extra Light DME at flame out

2 packs US-05 rehydrated

Pitched at 65f and maintained 64-66f for entire fermentation.

 

[SoCal-Doug]

1.053 and 5.4% ABV ish with just the DME
1.059 and 6.3% ABV ish with the added sugar
About 19 to 20 IBU's

Sounds like a nice refreshing pale. The sugar will dry it out a bit. Should be ok.
Personally, I wouldn't bump the alcohol though. 5% is plenty in a pale ale.

 

[jtrux]

1.053 and 5.4% ABV ish with just the DME
1.059 and 6.3% ABV ish with the added sugar
About 19 to 20 IBU's

Sounds like a nice refreshing pale. The sugar will dry it out a bit. Should be ok.
Personally, I wouldn't bump the alcohol though. 5% is plenty in a pale ale.

Thanks for the reply.

 

[ncbrewer]

A common rule of thumb is for simple sugars to be a maximum of 15% of the fermentables for most beers. You're good.

 

[Calder]

I think the beer will benefit from the sugar. That is a lot of extract with very little flavor Probably be sweet with little off-setting flavor. The sugar wil help to dry it out a little and make less cloying and more refreshing.

2 ozs to bottle with seems low I think you will want more carbonation than that.

 

[jtrux]

I think the beer will benefit from the sugar. That is a lot of extract with very little flavor Probably be sweet with little off-setting flavor. The sugar wil help to dry it out a little and make less cloying and more refreshing.

2 ozs to bottle with seems low I think you will want more carbonation than that.

The 2 oz is for kegging. Is that low for kegging?

 

[NGD]

The 2 oz is for kegging. Is that low for kegging?

Depends what carbonation level your shooting for and assuming you don’t have a CO2 tank. Just use a carb calculator to determine what level you want. Wether its in bottles or a keg the process is similar.

If your talking about using it to dry out the beer a bit more, 2oz is probably fine.

 

[FatDragon]

I think the beer will benefit from the sugar. That is a lot of extract with very little flavor Probably be sweet with little off-setting flavor. The sugar wil help to dry it out a little and make less cloying and more refreshing.

I'm with Calder. An extract brew with a bit of steeped crystal will have a higher FG than most people prefer for a pale ale, so a bit of sugar to dry it out should be a good thing.

 

[jtrux]

Depends what carbonation level your shooting for and assuming you don’t have a CO2 tank. Just use a carb calculator to determine what level you want. Wether its in bottles or a keg the process is similar.

If your talking about using it to dry out the beer a bit more, 2oz is probably fine.

Thanks.