I am contemplating my 2nd batch next weekend and the kit I have (Belgian Golden Strong) says to add 1/2 cup of sugar with 2 min left in the boil. I think that will add just bland sweetness and I am considering substituting something for the sugar. What should I use or should I stick with sugar? Thanks everyone
Why do you think the sugar will sweeten the beer? Sugar is fermentable and will become alcohol, not sweet. For you second attempt, my advice and the vast majority of experienced brewers as well... don't mess with the recipe. You almost certainly do not know the finesse required, not to mention the understanding of balance, to begin tinkering with a proven recipe. Think about it. What makes you qualified to change it up? That's not a knock on your skill but a statement of fact. So, do you want your second brew to be a possible unique disaster, one you can call your own? Or do you want it to be be good, albeit not unlike the other guy who made the kit that you have never met? To answer your question, most all "sugar" is typically 100% fermentable and offers very little to character. That's a good thing. Some special sugars will make a big difference (treacle for example) but that is dangerous territory for the uninitiated. Get too aggressive with treacle and you will be sorely disappointed. Cheers.
Expect just the opposite of this. As stated, simple sugar will completely ferment leaving nothing behind except ethanol. For the high ABV beers it's common to substitute sugar for grain(especially Belgians). This helps keep the FG from being too high (sweet) while allowing the high level of alcohol. Monks will push sugar additions up to 20% of the grain bill . . . as a non-Monk I add sugar up to 10%. If you decide to substitute grain for the sugar you'll have a higher FG which you'll want to offset with more bitterness, which can get you out of the Belgian Strong category pretty quickly. Here's the Belgian Golden Strong criteria: 25C. Belgian Golden Strong Ale Overall Impression: A pale, complex, effervescent, strong Belgian-style ale that is highly attenuated and features fruity and hoppy notes in preference to phenolics. Aroma: Complex with significant fruity esters, moderate spiciness and low to moderate alcohol and hop aromas. Esters are reminiscent of lighter fruits such as pears, oranges or apples. Moderate to moderately low spicy, peppery phenols. A low to moderate yet distinctive perfumy, floral hop character is often present. Alcohols are soft, spicy, perfumy and low-to-moderate in intensity. No hot alcohol or solventy aromas. The malt character is light and slightly grainy-sweet to nearly neutral. Appearance: Yellow to medium gold in color. Good clarity. Effervescent. Massive, long-lasting, rocky, often beady, white head resulting in characteristic Belgian lace on the glass as it fades. Flavor: Marriage of fruity, spicy and alcohol flavors supported by a soft malt character. Esters are reminiscent of pears, oranges or apples. Low to moderately low phenols are peppery in character. A low to moderate spicy hop character is often present. Alcohols are soft and spicy, and are low-to-moderate in intensity. Bitterness is typically medium to high from a combination of hop bitterness and yeast-produced phenolics. Substantial carbonation and bitterness leads to a dry finish with a low to moderately bitter aftertaste. Mouthfeel: Very highly carbonated; effervescent. Light to medium body, although lighter than the substantial gravity would suggest. Smooth but noticeable alcohol warmth. No hot alcohol or solventy character. Comments: References to the devil are included in the names of many commercial examples of this style, referring to their potent alcoholic strength and as a tribute to the original example (Duvel). The best examples are complex and delicate. High carbonation helps to bring out the many flavors and to increase the perception of a dry finish. Traditionally bottleconditioned (or refermented in the bottle). History: Originally developed by the Moortgat brewery after WWI as a response to the growing popularity of Pilsner beers. Characteristic Ingredients: Pilsner malt with substantial sugary adjuncts. Saazer-type hops or Styrian Goldings are commonly used. Belgian yeast strains are used – those that produce fruity esters, spicy phenolics and higher alcohols – often aided by slightly warmer fermentation temperatures. Fairly soft water. Spicing is not traditional; if present, should be a background character only. Style Comparison: Strongly resembles a Tripel, but may be even paler, lighter-bodied and even crisper and drier; the drier finish and lighter body also serves to make the assertive hopping and yeast character more prominent. Tends to use yeast that favor ester development (particularly pome fruit) over spiciness in the balance. Vital Statistics: OG: 1.070 – 1.095 IBUs: 22 – 35 FG: 1.005 – 1.016 SRM: 3 – 6 ABV: 7.5 – 10.5% Commercial Examples: Brigand, Delirium Tremens, Dulle Teve, Duvel, Judas, Lucifer, Piraat, Russian River Damnation Tags: very-high-strength, pale-color, top-fermented, western
I think you said that wrong. I don't think that a half cup of sugar is much at all for a 5 gallon batch, or even a 4 or possibly a 3 gallon batch.
This is a 1 gallon batch so it should be plenty. Good point on the sugar fermenting. The kit doesn't have much in the way of hops or grains (its mostly 1.25lb Pilsen DME) and I thought using honey would bring more flavor.
It certainly would add some flavor. Anything that's not flavorless would add flavor. But what makes you think honey would improve this beer? It might, but "it's not regular sugar" isn't in itself very compelling. Ultimately it's your decision though. If you want to use honey, keep in mind that its gravity contribution per pound is different rom table sugar, closer to 35 ppg vs table sugar's 46 ppg. So you'll need more honey than sugar to get the same OG/ABV.
White sugar is not inappropriate for the style, which was written with Duvel in mind. Ordinary table sugar is thoroughly fermentable so enhances the alcohol content. It may impact the yeast in other ways that contribute to the beer profile -- such as stimulating ester and/or fusel alcohol production. This latter stuff is a bit more speculative on my part and others may convince me differently. If you want something close to Duvel, check out the latest Zymurgy -- there is a recipe in there that will get you close. But honestly, it is your beer and if you are trying to emulate the brewing style of Belgium, in a broader sense, you should pursue your own creative interests and not heed guidelines simply because someone was so taken by Duvel that they decided it should be its own beer style. Don't get me wrong, I love a good Duvel, but I also like playing around with different brewing sugars. As you might imagine, the darker the sugar, the less Duvel-like your beer is going to be. Honey ought to make for an interesting option, keeping the lightness but adding floral qualities to it (depending on the honey and how you handle it -- probably not the stuff in the plastic bear bottle, and don't boil it!).
Thats interesting because for cooking purposes honey is sweeter but I suppose it is less efficient. In terms of the reason and type, I was leaning towards orange blossom to give it another dimension of flavor. The kit is almost all DME with very little hops or grains.
Honey contains less sugar per pound than table sugar. Think about it. Honey is sugars, plus water, plus some other compounds. A reason it may seem sweeter is that a large portion of honey's sugars is fructose, which tastes sweeter than sucrose (table sugar) or glucose (corn sugar). But when sugars are converted to alcohol, their original sweetness doesn't make any difference. Pound for pound, the sugars themselves (not including the water and other compounds) make the same amount of alcohol.
Can you describe the differences you have perceived between the two? I guess it would make sense to try to contrast sugars that impart approximately the same color. I have never used a British invert sugar product, but I have some homemade invert sugar that I likely will add to a Belgian ale later this summer. I'll probably do a simple recipe like 100% pils malt plus 1 lb of invert sugar to help me recognize the impact of the sugar. I added the rest of it to an IPA this spring, but that was a complex recipe, so really cannot isolate the sugar impact.
Not for fermentation... @VikeMan hit the nail squarely on the head with his explanation. This isn't cooking, its brewing! Use a brewing calculator and set the yeast to 100% efficiency for a completely fermentable source like sugar or honey. Now enter your 1/2 cup of sugar (weight, not volume) to see how much gravity and ABV that would add to a batch. Then remove the sugar from the calculator and add the same amount of honey instead and you'll see that honey does not contain as much fermentable sugars as table sugar, especially noticed in the ABV difference. Finally adjust the amount of honey up to reach the same gravity/ABV as the sugar would have achieved and you have converted sugar weight to honey weight (remember also that the weight and volume of honey are 2 different things, so you'll have to convert that as well if you plan on adding honey instead). Here's a brewing calculator you can use with both sugar and honey in its list... http://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/calculator/ Also, unless you REALLY like the flavor of overwhelming orange blossoms, I wouldn't use orange blossom honey. I've made several meads and braggots with orange blossom honey and it completely dominates the beverage and makes it very much different from the original recipe. This is your second brew for god's sake...you need to leaern how to brew that beer/style properly first before you start experimenting! Everyone here is only trying to help, but of course, its your brew so do what you want.
Hard to describe the difference. Invert was used in most English ales for years and still is to a certain extent. I bought a 25kg block a few months back and have found it leaves it's own unique subtle sweetness. Belgium candi sugars I have used a few times and thought it left slight more sweetness than invert but the beers were definitely more like a Belgium beer than an English one.
