How much sugar is in a Belgian beer?

most belgian ales are fully attenuated, excepting some sweet lambics like Lindemans*. That said, the sugar turns into ethanol - probably as calorically dense, but idk. Beer ain't health food.

*i believe these are technically fully attenuated, and then back-sweetened.

 

I drink my share here in France. The sweetness, especially in Quads, can be staggering. I’ve really cut back now that I’m not ‘the new guy’ here.

So,., this is a homebrew recipe for a Quadruple that gives an idea of just how much sugar goes into just a 5 gallon batch. 2 pounds of sugar per 16 pounds of malts.
Multiply to get the commercial equivilent, if you like:

– 12 lbs Belgian Pilsner malt
– 2 lbs Munich malt
– 1 lb Special B malt
– 1 lb Melanoidin malt
– 0.5 lbs Chocolate malt
– 1 lb Belgian Candi Sugar (Dark) – add during the last 15 minutes of boil
– 1 lb Belgian Candi Sugar (Amber or Dark) – add to primary after primary fermentation slows (to boost ABV and contribute to flavor).

@JackHorzempa can give a good overview.
He’s our resident Beer Genius and I dig his insights.,.

 

The yeast turn that sugar into alcohol and CO2.

 

.. and that doesn’t make for an overly sweet beer because.,.,,

 

Hmm, should I have business cards printed up akin to Wile E Coyote!?!



Yes, sugars (e.g., Candi Sugar) are utilized to brew certain Belgian Ales (e.g., Quad, Tripel, Dubbel,...) but the sugars are very fermentable and consequently they don't 'exist' in the resulting beer.

On a separate note, some of the above aforementioned Belgian Ale styles (e.g., Quad) may have some residual sweetness to them but this is from non-fermentables provided by specialty malts (e.g., Special B, Melanoidan, in your above recipe). These non-fermentables are typically dextrins, and beyond the aspect of a little residual sweetness they also add some body to the beer.

A Belgian Ale style which is generally very dry with little in terms of sugars or dextrins is the Tripel beer style.

Cheers!

P.S. Any further questions please feel free to ask.

 

Because alcohol and CO2 aren’t sweet. Belgian beers are among the beer styles with the lowest amount of residual sugar. Their aroma and flavor remind you of things that are sweet (raisins, caramel, other dark fruits) but the beer itself is often not particularly sweet at all.

 

Well...

Yes there are studies that indicated that brewers yeast can be beneficial. One example:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2212619824000421

But it is important to keep in mind this is for beers that contain residual brewers yeast (e.g., bottle conditioned beers). Not all Belgian beer contain residual brewers yeast, you need to ensure that you purchase beers such as bottle conditioned beers if you are seeking this aspect.

Cheers!

 

Depends upon the specific Belgian beer style as I discussed above.

For added clarification, dextrins are not sweet in comparison to short chain sugars like sucrose, dextrose, etc.

Cheers!

 

Of course! Belgian styles are quite varied, and brewing approaches within those styles can be pretty different as well. Knowing the Final Gravity of any given beer gives your better information about residual carbohydrate than just relying on a static interpretation of a beer style.

 

Are you talking about simpler sugars? Those are the maltose, corn sugars, beet and cane sugars and some others that yeast ferment readily. There shouldn't be any of those in a regular beer (they turn to alcohol). Non-fermenting lactose is added to some beers, mostly "milk stout". Some beers might have some sugar-containing additives added post-pasteurization. Complex sugars that are slowly or not fermentable do remain in most beers, and are partly responsible for the body. You might be able to estimate the complex sugar calorie content by taking the total calorie count and subtracting the calories due to alcohol (about 80 cal in 1/2 oz. pure ethanol).

 

I hope this helps.
https://www.beervanablog.com/beervana/2016/06/wait-theres-corn-sugar-in-my-ipa.html

 

I generally like Beervana, but the praise of sugars in beer is over the top. It's OK to use some sugar. We always used table sugar or dextrose to prime our homebrew in the 70s. The modern trend to "crisp" (often equals thin to me) is one I don't like much. Styles from standard American Adjunct Lagers to Bavarian Lagers have lost some oompf, and I miss the fuller mouth feel.

 

Of course lagers in Bayern don't have sugar added.

 

You're correct. But reduced body can also be achieved through adjusted extraction and fermentation methods as well as sugar addition. This trend is probably encouraged, especially in the US, by the consumer demand for higher alcohol beers.

 

Sugars are another tool in the toolbox. There are different sugars used in different beers.

The British use invert sugars, which can dry out a beer and add little flavor in the case of invert #1. Invert #3 can add some dark fruit flavors and even some burnt sugar flavor.

Belgian Candi Sugars can add little to no flavor in the lightest case, or when the darkest ones that have Palm Sugar are used dark fruit flavors like plums are produced.

If one just wants to reduce body in a double IPA then dextrose/corn sugar is the way to go.

Belgian beers like Duvel uses mash schedules that promote high attenuation and sugar to boost ABV while keeping the beer highly drinkable.