Adding sugar to an AG recipe

[Redron]

I have a recipe for Old Speckled Hen that calls for 570g of sugar In with the grain bill. It doesn't say whether to add the sugar for the mash, or before the boil or after the boil....?
I can't see the reasoning for adding with the mash, but pre or post boil ?

 

[Gerryjo]

Any sugar being added would be at flame out so as not to scorch the wort when the sugar liquefies and also whilst it's still hot enough to sanitise the ingredients you're putting into the wort.
Here's another which maybe similar.

Recipe: Old Speckled Hen

Style: English Old Ale



Recipe Specifications

--------------------------

Batch Size: 23.00 L

Boil Size: 30.29 L

Estimated OG: 1.052 SG

Estimated Color: 10.2 SRM

Estimated IBU: 47.2 IBU

Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.0 %

Boil Time: 60 Minutes



Ingredients:

------------

Amount Item Type % or IBU

0.45 kg Lyle's Golden Syrup (0.0 SRM) Extract 8.3 %

4.35 kg Pale Malt (2 Row) UK (3.0 SRM) Grain 80.0 %

0.54 kg Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 9.9 %

45.00 gm Northern Brewer [8.50%] (60 min) Hops 42.1 IBU

15.00 gm Goldings, East Kent [5.00%] (15 min) Hops 4.1 IBU

10.00 gm Goldings, East Kent [5.00%] (5 min) Hops 1.1 IBU

0.10 kg Dememera Sugar (2.0 SRM) Sugar 1.8 %





Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Full Body, Batch Sparge

Total Grain Weight: 4.89 kg

----------------------------

Mash In Add 12.76 L of water at 76.9 C 68.0 C 90 min

This is not my recipe but one I have come across.

Sent from my ALE-L21

 

[peebee]

Another good reason to add sugar late in the boil is hop utilisation is impaired by higher gravity so keeping the gravity low for the main part of the boil has an advantage. But I doubt the difference really bothers home brewers.

Sugar "lightens" the beer's body. But so does mashing at lower temperatures (say 64C rather than usual 67C). It also lessens the flavour for a given alcohol content (less "heavy"). Yeah, yeah: Really it's because its cheaper (for big breweries). Us home brewers can go easy on the stuff, or even restrict its use unless trying to get a particular "raw" sugar flavour (using unrefined sugars).

 

[DoctorMick]

Don't you need to add the sugar with at least 15 mins remaining to sanitise it?

 

[BeerCat]

Don't you need to add the sugar with at least 15 mins remaining to sanitise it?

I find its best to disolve it in some wort then add back to the boiler. Stops scorching. Had a few beers with a burned taste. Aint nice at all.

 

[Albion]

This explains a lot about my recent brew

 

[Callumbo]

Definetly towards the end of the boil. I just did a brew at the weekend and fluffed it and got a og lower than I should have so melted some honey in a litre of hit water and added to the FV. It's the same principle however as someone pointed out to me, honey is a full of helpful stuff that reduces infection so I dont think sterilising in boiling water is as necessary

 

[BeerisGOD]

I added sugar to the kettle ten mins before flame out but whilst off the stove and stirring in at the same time. Sample tasted ok on bottling day. I did it the same way you'd make up priming sugar but I think after reading some of these threads ill be adding sugar to separate hot (not boiling) water and adding in future.
Like the idea of honey though. Its always a plus having a bacteria fighting wort (unlike facial worts)

 

[Redron]

Thank you for the informative replies folks.
I too, have sometimes added sugar at the end of chilling period when the og is not as good as expected (poor efficiency on my part, BIAB brewing, but that's another story...). This increases the og obviously, but I have noticed the resulting brew can taste of alcohol, if that makes sense... and not particularly pleasant.
I will add the sugar for this brew just before the end of the boil and mix it with some hot wort .

 

[peebee]

Don't you need to add the sugar with at least 15 mins remaining to sanitise it?

Perhaps, if you are preparing instruments for the operating theatre. Na, I think there are plenty of other ways of infecting a brew that completely shadow the possibility of bugs surviving in liquid close to boiling (if not boiling). And crystallised sugar makes a pretty hostile environment for bugs even before using it. (Apparently honey found in Egyptian pyramids can be still sound).

 

[MyQul]

Slightly seperately, the point of sugar in the GW reciepe is because GW thought that most home brewers would be unable to get there hands of invert sugar so the reciepes have table sugar instead. You can use golden syrup as this is partially inverted or you can even make your own invert sugar. Invert sugar/golden syrup definately adds it's own flavour to a beer.
It's also easier for the yeast to metabalise as iirc table sugar is Disaccharide and invert sugar is monosaccharide. I've also read that the yeast breaking of the sugar bonds in polysacharide sugar may be a cause of home brew twang

 

[Simonh82]

The only time I've added sugar to a brew was in the form of golden syrup for a Belgian IPA. As it was a new tin and I figured it would have been packaged in a sterile environment I just added it to the fermentor as i drained my wort in. If you add it to the boil you are going to lose some of it in your hops and dead space but not if it goes into the fermentor.

 

[MyQul]

The only time I've added sugar to a brew was in the form of golden syrup for a Belgian IPA. As it was a new tin and I figured it would have been packaged in a sterile environment I just added it to the fermentor as i drained my wort in. If you add it to the boil you are going to lose some of it in your hops and dead space but not if it goes into the fermentor.

I dont think it even need to be packaged in a sterile environment. If you watch the youtube vids on how to make it, after the process of turning the sugar into GS you pour the near boiling GS into a jar, seal the jar and then allow to cool. I dont think microbes have a much chance of survival that enviroment

 

[peebee]

...
Like the idea of honey though. Its always a plus having a bacteria fighting wort (unlike facial worts)

As pointed to in my previous post (above), there's no (significant) bacteria in honey. But it contains anti-bacterial chemicals from bee saliva (yeap, bees spit in your honey).

It's quite tricky adding honey to beer if you want to preserve its flavour. I've seen methods of heat treating it separately before adding to the cooled wort (Google after the method - I'm sure it can be found). Certainly, try to avoid boiling honey.

...I too, have sometimes added sugar at the end of chilling period when the og is not as good as expected (poor efficiency on my part, BIAB brewing, but that's another story...). ...

A mistake. Just go with the lower alcohol content (I think from the rest of your post you've probably figured this out yourself). We're making beer, not Tennant's Export.

 

[Sadfield]

I think with the quantities used in AG recipes there is very little to worry about. I throw it in at 10 minutes as there is always an addition of protofloc etc at that time.

With the vast range of sources of sugar available, sugar is a great tool in ag recipes, with many different uses and flavours available.

Sent from my LG-H815 using Tapatalk

 

[MyQul]

I think with the quantities used in AG recipes there is very little to worry about. I throw it in at 10 minutes as there is always an addition of protofloc etc at that time.

With the vast range of sources of sugar available, sugar is a great tool in ag recipes, with many different uses and flavours available.

Sent from my LG-H815 using Tapatalk

Absoultely. Invert sugar has been used in beers (in particular English styles) for a very long time

 

[Redron]

Indeed, it is a GW recipe.
I used dextrose as I have a stock I use for priming and of course, adding to the odd brew. I have never witnessed the 'twang' with the occasional brew that calls for a sugar addition, only the aforementioned taste of alcohol.
I guess if you need to up the og then perhaps it is better to just add additional grain at the mash, a method I often use to compensate my generally poor efficiency, and cheap enough....
Anyway, sugar added as per recipe, 570g dextrose took the og from 1042 to 1048 just prior to pitching the yeast (23L).

Thanks for the input. Some interesting observations.

 

[strange-steve]

I've also read that the yeast breaking of the sugar bonds in polysacharide sugar may be a cause of home brew twang

I'm not sure about that, I brew mainly belgian styles and so use a lot of sugar, sometimes as much as 15% normal granulated sugar and I've not noticed any twang.

 

[Gerryjo]

I prefer to use golden syrup due to its inverted state or golden granulated sugar.

Sent from my ALE-L21

 

[peebee]

Absoultely. Invert sugar has been used in beers (in particular English styles) for a very long time

But was that because of the exceptional qualities the sugar added to the beer? Or was it because it was filthy cheap?

Breweries are not beyond cheap tricks, especially a very long time ago. One famous incident involved an "adulterant" added to make the beer taste like a properly aged porter. It was a bit overdone and killed a large number of people. The "adulterant" in question? Well back then (in not a so "clean" environment) aged beer meant sour (not something we enjoy anymore) so a common adulterant was "oil of vitriol" - or sulphuric acid to you and me.

No, the imbibes didn't dissolve on the floor; sulphuric acid is very toxic.