Sugar Question from a Newbie : Brewing sugar or Granulated ?

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Phil Aberaman

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Hi all

I bet this question has been done to death in the past.

Brewing sugar costs twice as much as granulated, plus from what ive read yeast has to work harder to break Granulated down.
I dont mind paying the extra if there are real benefits using brewing sugar

Which is the best to use in Wine concentrate, WOW and Turbo cider ???


Cheers :cheers:
 
Phil Aberaman said:
I bet this question has been done to death in the past.
Click to expand...
It does crop up on a fairly regular basis but any forum search is going to throw up far too many results to be of any use.

If you are brewing beer from the budget kits which require sugar additions, then many people will tell you that brewing sugar or 'brew enhancers' are worth paying the extra.

However, you've posted this question under Wine & Cider.

It is true that yeasts have to break sucrose (a 12-carbon molecule, that's your granulated sugar) into two 6-carbon molecules, glucose/dextrose (different names for the same thing - that's your brewing sugar) and fructose (fruit sugar). However, it's not something they have to 'work' at, they have the tool (an enzyme called invertase) and they just do it as the sugar crosses their cell walls.

You might still get a few people along who will tell you that brewing sugar produces a cleaner tasting wine but I can neither confirm or deny that as I make a lot of wine and never ever use brewing sugar.

Tate & Lyle (£3.99 for 5kg from Tesco) is good enough for me :thumb:
 
Thank you for your very concise answer to my question Moley, Although i dont understand a word of it, im sure your right lol.
I had a quick Google about this and reading certain retailers bumf, "You" will go to HELL ! if you use anything other than Brewing sugar.

When i last bought wine kits 20 odd years age, Boots and Youngs, i cant remember any mention of Brewing sugar.
All the Wilko,s kits recommend it, but there again they may be pushing it to get another £2.00 out of you.

Thanks again Moley judging by your posts on here you seem to know your Onions, sorry i ment Brewing :thumb:
 
I've been drinking my first 3 wines, all made with granulated sugar and they came out great. Got another 10 DJs ready for bottling and I used granulated for them as well.
 
IIRC using granulated white sugar means that the yeast will produce some fruity flavours, obviously with a beer this is generally unwanted but with a wine/cider it's probably ideal.

With that in mind I always use white sugar for wine/cider and brewing sugar for my lagers.

The cleaner flavour thing is meant to be true but it's not necesserily a positive, it depends on what you are brewing and what flavours you are after :)
 
Great advice guys !

I dont see the point of paying extra to get the same results.
At present Im only looking to make Wines and Ciders so i,ll stick to granulated.

Im really glad i found this forum, when i first started brewing kits every bit of knowlage had to come from word of mouth or books.
Thanks again Im sure to have other moronic questions on my path to Brewing Navana. :hat:
 
ScottM said:
The cleaner flavour thing is meant to be true but it's not necesserily a positive, it depends on what you are brewing and what flavours you are after :)
Click to expand...

Very well put Scott!

In addition some really strong ales and stouts can benefit from non-dextrose sugars, as can belgian beers.
 
calumscott said:
ScottM said:
The cleaner flavour thing is meant to be true but it's not necesserily a positive, it depends on what you are brewing and what flavours you are after :)
Click to expand...

Very well put Scott!

In addition some really strong ales and stouts can benefit from non-dextrose sugars, as can belgian beers.
Click to expand...

Agreed!

I have used everything from strong soft brown, to golden caster, to your normal bog standard granulated to brewing sugar.

Each has their own use and it is really dependant on what you want out of your brew as has been stated above.

However, when I have brewed using granulated vs. brewing, I have not found much of a difference.
 
Another newbie question coming up :D ...........

If a kit instructions calls for say .... 450g of "Brewing sugar" do you have to alter the amount of Granulated you use ??
 
Phil Aberaman said:
Another newbie question coming up :D ...........

If a kit instructions calls for say .... 450g of "Brewing sugar" do you have to alter the amount of Granulated you use ??
Click to expand...

No just keep it the same. When you are using DME that's different as it's not all fermentable.

Brewing sugar and cane sugar are almost identical with regards to feremntability per gram :)
 
I now rarely use brewing sugar. It is better but not twice as good to justify twice the cost, unless you are making delicate flavour wine, or for that matter, cider, in which case, add no sugar! Sugar is derived from natural ingredients, typically sugar beet and sugar cane, and these impart their own flavour. Obviosly grape sugar is best for wine, but honey can be good too. The higher the naatural sugar content of the basic ingredient, whether orange or parsnip, the better the flavour.
 

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