Can I add corn sugar to a cooled wort to increase specific gravity?

Yes, you can do that. You might want to add it to a bit of boiling water first to rid it of bacteria or yeast. But the sugar is likely fine as is. Your call there.

1 lb of corn sugar adds about 9.2 point of gravity to one gallon. This means a lb will raise a gallon of water from a gravity of 1.0000 to 1.0092.

1 lb of corn sugar is equivalent to about 1.32 lbs of liquid malt extract with regard to gravity.

Hope that helps

 

A pound of corn sugar in one gallon adds about 42 points.

 

Just as a reference, in the future, if you use a software, like brewcipher from VikeMan, it will give you a preboil gravity that you can eye ball how you are doing, and add some DME if you are low.

 

Yes you can add corn sugar to cooled wort, I've done it many times. As stated, you can see how the points are calculated. If you're talking a 5 gal batch you probably have something like 5.2 in the primary, so a pound of the sweet stuff would add 8.1 points (42 points ÷ 5.2 gal).

I would definitely boil the sugar in a smidgen of water, cool, then pitch. I typically wait until after high-krausen to add the sugar-water. If there is any doubt your pitch-rate is on the low side this prevents the little yeasties from feasting on the simple sugars first. Probably unnecessary step in you are sure of your yeast pitch-rate, but since it has worked well in the past I tend to stick with it. This also lessens your blow-off.

For your new ABV, all of the points you pitch should ferment (attenuation of 100%). I've added sugar up to 10% of the grain bill (normally pre-planned), I believe the Belgian monks push it into the high teens.

 

Oops yeah never mind that

 

The two potential issues are Incomplete dissolution and contaminant introduction. I suspect neither would be a major concern but bringing sugar solution to a boil, cooling under a lid, and then adding to your beer addresses both issues.

 

You would actually need to add 46.429 lbs of corn sugar total.

Let's say you add 8 lbs.
8 lbs x 42 points/lb/gallon / 75 gallons = 4.48 points.
Add 4.48 (really .00448) to 1.054 = 1.05848. So it would't get you close to 1.080. 8 lbs would get you to 1.05848.

You can do the math this way:
1.080 - 1.054 = .026, so you need to add 26 points per gallon.
26 points/gallon / 42 points/lb/gallon = .619 lbs per gallon
.619 lbs per gallon x 75 gallons = 46.429 lbs of corn sugar total would bring you to a calculated OG of 1.080.


I didn't read the whole thread, but someone may have warned you against adding this much corn sugar. To me and to many others, it adds a perceptible strong alcoholic flavor to the profile.

 

To raise a 75 gallon batch from 1.054 to 1.080, you need much more. Assuming 46 points per lb per gallon (my calculator says 46, not 42), each lb of sugar add 46/75 gravity points, = 0.6 pts.
You need 26 points. 26/0.6 = 43 lbs of sugar. If you go 42 pts per lb per gallon, it would be a little more.

Maybe I misunderstand. You really started brewing with a 75 gallon batch?
A tripel may be the one of the odd styles where you can get away with having 30% of your gravity come from sugar. However, as a beginner, I just can't imagine trying to do a 75 gallon tripel. Just out of curiosity, can you control the temperature of this fermentation? I feel like this could go sideways fast.

 

I also go with 46 ppg. And that's what I've found to be very accurate in the past, which is why I mistakenly stated 9.2 points per gallon in my earlier post...because I was thinking 9.2 points per 5 gallon batch.

 

Corn sugar (at least the stuff we get) is never 46 PPG, because it contains some water and some other impurities (but mostly water). Estimates range from 42-44 PPG, which I assume has to do with how much water and other stuff is in the particular sample. My understanding is that you can buy medical grade anhydrous glucose, which would be very nearly pure (and thus ~46 PPG), but I suspect it would be expensive and I also suspect it wouldn't stay pure very long after opening, i.e. my guess is that it would absorb moisture from the air.

As an aside, this is the reason carbonation calculators require more corn sugar than table sugar to predict the same volumes of CO2.

 

I am aware of priming calculators that distinguish between the two for the reason you describe. Apparently the Beersmith recipe calculator makes no distinction, as I just realized it is giving me 46 for both table and corn.

FWIW, to the OP, I moved away from using corn sugar in my brewing long ago. It wasn't as easy to find as table sugar and I never tasted a difference in the finished beer. If I were to make a triple, I would look to table sugar to make up the gravity difference, in which case the calculation with 46 is appropriate. However, I never had sugar represent 30% of a beers gravity contribution. I probably have been at or close to 20%. I might try to steer this batch towards a lower ABV Belgian blond, using about half as much sugar as I calculated.

 

How long might you be able to age your beer? My experience is that the alcoholic flavor from a lot of cane or corn sugar mellows out after 6-12 months. I used 27% corn sugar a long time ago and it turned out nicely after some thorough aging. However, that's with bottle conditioning where the yeast are still present and might have an effect.

 

I'll warn you . . . this has the potential to be a meaningless glass of alcohol. Think about it a little: assuming you add 46 pounds of sugar which is over 30% of your grain bill (26pts/80pts) the sugar will certainly ferment, but the body of the finished product is going to be "thin" compared to the alcoholic content. So your residual sugars or mouthfeel of the beer is going to be out of balance. Probably suitable only for someone who is already sloshed.

I can make a few suggestions, all of which you probably won't like: 1) Do nothing and spread the word you have 75 gallons of Belgian pale ale in the primary. Grain bill for a tripel vs a pale ale will be somewhat similar, same for the yeast. Tell everyone you wanted a low ABV beer 'cause it's summer time. 2) Add a smaller percentage of sugar (not to exceed 15% of grain bill), somewhere around 12 points to take you to 1.066 and advertise you have a Belgian blond fermenting away. Maybe use some Belgian candi syrup (very expensive and with a lower ppg) to add a hint of body/Belgian'esque. 3) Finally, you can start all over and make a very strong tripel, then blend with the weak brew. Of course timing and logistics of this may be tough.

Not throwing stones, but this is why new brewers are encouraged to make simpler recipes. A tripel isn't overly complex, but you see where a problem throws everything out of balance.