I have a ton of Stevia I dried from my organic garden this year and I was wondering If I could put some in a homebrew. Has anyone done this before? Would the sugars breakdown because I know that stevia is sweet to your tongue but your digestive system can't break down the sugars in it. just wondering what everyone's thoughts on it was. What should I put it in? and IPA? a stout?
From http://www.cookingwithstevia.com/stevia_faq.html#anchor09: Will Stevia act as a "fuel" for yeast in baking as sugar does? No! Stevia is non-fermentable and therefore will not act as a food source for yeast. (This is why stevia is great for anyone suffering from Candida!) Breads will still rise when baked but just not as big.
I've used stevia to sweeten ciders in the past (as it is non-fermentable). While it is 'sweet', it has a very particular flavor that can be overwhelming if you aren't careful.
Artificial sweeteners can be used to backsweeten beverages. It seems to me it would be most useful in fruitbeers, because they can become too dry or sour after the sweetness of the fruit ferments out. It offers a way to present something that is sweetened and simulataneously bottle-conditioned because the yeast do not ferment the sweetner. However, it seems to me just as easy to add sugar or stevia or nutrasweet or whatever to the glass. This gives people the option of drinking it sweet or dry. This is what I've been doing with my grape Berliner weiss. It is way sour because not only did I have a good pitch of lacto, my grapes were really sour. However, about half a packet of sweetener really changed my perception of the beverage from eye-watering sourness to something a little more pleasant.
