Difference between corn sugar, DME and LME...

[DanWadeOKC]

Title speaks for itself. I "know" that there is a slight taste difference. But the price does say it all. $2 for sugar or $12-13 for 3 pounds of DME or LME. A penny for your thoughts...

 

[slomo]

Sugar will make brews dry, and LME is easier to work with, but dme has less of a chance of burning at the bottom of your kettle.

 

[Arkador]

Corn Sugar = dextrose
DME/LME = Maltose
table sugar = Sucrose

They are completly different.

 

[Ichthy]

OP

Are you inquiring about priming your bottles or adding these to your wort?

 

[wyzazz]

If you brew often enough, buy your DME in bulk from North Country Malt Supply. I ended up paying $2.40/lb after shipping for 50lbs.

 

[Edcculus]

OP

Are you inquiring about priming your bottles or adding these to your wort?

Good point. If you are priming your bottles, use what is easiest. Some people use DME since they buy in bulk and have it on hand. I like to prime with corn sugar. I feel it gives me more consistent results.

If you are wondering about using it to actually make beer, you shouldn't even consider it. DME/LME are malt extracts. The producer does a mash, just like any all grain brewer would do to extract maltose and other fermentable MALT sugars from malted barley. They then concentrate it under pressure, or spray dry it. Any other sugar (table sugar, dextrose) are not malt sugars and cannot be fermented in large quantities in beer. Some styles use up to 20% sugar, but thats a different story. These sugars are nearly 100% fermentable. You will end up with a nasty tasting alcoholic hooch. Malts on the other hand have a degree of larger dextrins that aren't fermentable this is what gives beer body and flavor.

 

[cnshht]

Apparently you will need to experiment and find out for yourself whether cane sugar can give you good results. Nobody says they've tried it. They just echo what's been asserted/echoed before. What do you have to lose? Take a little risk and find out for yourself. If you find that sucrose works well for you, you can report that in online forums if you like, but expect to be swiftly condemned by the fearful and ignorant. It's a good way to learn that echo chambers are limited in their ability to help you brew well.