Turbinado Sugar In A Saison?

[brewinginct]

I saw this thread https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/ginger-saison-recipe-critique-124015/ and the recipe sounds killer. My only question is about the turbinado sugar.

When I brewed the saison last year I added some sort of white sugar, I forget exactly what, maybe it was even candi sugar. My understanding of turbinado sugar is that it's generally used in darker beers because it has a more pronounced/molasses taste.

For some reason that strikes me as an undesirable taste in a saison, since I'm going for something more traditional/dry/fruity. I understand that most of the saison taste will come from the yeast, so my question is what will taste/character will the turbinado sugar add to this beer?

 

[pompeiisneaks]

I use turbinado sugar in a lot of things, including my IPA's and Tripel's (oh and my coffee). I think it can add a slight amount of color but not a ton, its not got a heavy molasses flavor imho, it's just normal sugar in the raw that hasn't been bleached, and therefore is usable easily by the yeast. I'd get a few more opinions on this, though, as everyone's palate is different, and maybe mines not as sensitive, and maybe others have thought it was horrid. Make sure you definitely get a sense of it. Maybe even try tasting a bit.

 

[beergolf]

In Brew like a Monk he mentions that Turbinado can add rummy overtones.
I have used it in a couple of Belgians ( dubbel and a Dark strong) and I agree. It does add a slight flavor that regular sugar does not.

I am not sure it would be a good addition to a Saison. I would not use it, but to each their own. It is all about making beer YOU like.

 

[rockfish42]

I used turbinado in place of white sugar in the BCS Saison recipe, I left out the caramunich and the turbinado left a nice very faint rumminess.

 

[BeerLogic]

I have a saison on tap right now with a pound of turbinado in it. Granted it's definitely at the darker end of the saison spectrum (with a base of 100% 7L Munich), the rummy flavors from the turbinado blend very well with the fruit and spice flavors from the saison yeast. I've used it in lighter saisons with equally excellent results. I don't like the cider-y flavors that you can get from using table sugar in lighter beers; unrefined sugar is much better. If you use less than a pound, the flavor will be very subtle (in my opinion, delicious) and the color contribution will be negligible.