Using dextrose in beer recipe

[Braumeister]

I’m planning a double ipa in a forthcoming brew and have a recipe for “Pliny the Elder” which has 340g dextrose in the recipe. I only have about 100g left over from a starter kit which is labelled “priming sugar” intended for chucking in a pressure barrel for carbonation.

My question is what can I use instead of the dextrose, would it be ok to use some type of standard sugar, in the kitchen cupboard there are all the usual various types, I also have a bag of light dme if that would be better?

 

[Cheshire Cat]

Use the DME

 

[peebee]

I’m planning a double ipa in a forthcoming brew and have a recipe for “Pliny the Elder” which has 340g dextrose in the recipe. I only have about 100g left over from a starter kit which is labelled “priming sugar” intended for chucking in a pressure barrel for carbonation.

My question is what can I use instead of the dextrose, would it be ok to use some type of standard sugar, in the kitchen cupboard there are all the usual various types, I also have a bag of light dme if that would be better?

Dextrose, or glucose (d-glucose hence the dextrose name), is often maize derived, hence the other name of "corn sugar".

I've used it in beer. I was using it as a base sugar for my invert sugar emulations instead of invert syrup. Ragus (the last remaining large invert sugar manufacturer for breweries) use 20% dextrose as a filler.

The times I've used it has resulted in extremely fast starts to fermentation (not necessarily a good thing).

 

[clib]

Its fine to use regular sugar.

 

[Braumeister]

If I use regular sugar or DME would it affect the final gravity - the recipe has it going from 1.072 to 1.011. If I swap out the dextrose for malt extract it changes the FG to 1.015. That’s because extract can’t be attenuated as much as sugar I think? So maybe if I chuck in the table sugar it will help get the gravity down?

 

[peebee]

If I use regular sugar ...

I think you might be mixing up dextrin with dextrose. Dextrin is often added to beer to increase body and is barely fermentable. Dextrose will ferment to nothing in short order. And will thin the body (doesn't really ferment to "nothing", leaves lots of alcohol in its place).

 

[The Baron]

If you want it to ferment down to the FG they suggest use sugar or brewing sugar from Wilko.
As Peebee said using DME may not ferment as low but will give a slightly better body

 

[Cheshire Cat]

If you want it to ferment down to the FG they suggest use sugar or brewing sugar from Wilko.
As Peebee said using DME may not ferment as low but will give a slightly better body

What about the beer

 

[Braumeister]

Thanks, any noticeable difference between dextrose and table sugar? A kilo of table sugar is 69p but a kilo of dextrose is about £3 so I’d rather use table sugar tbh

 

[clib]

The sugar is in the recipe to provide a lower FG and a drier finish to the beer.

 

[peebee]

Thanks, any noticeable difference between dextrose and table sugar? A kilo of table sugar is 69p but a kilo of dextrose is about £3 so I’d rather use table sugar tbh

From the producers' point of view: If maize is easier to grow than sugar beet ... Dextrose is the thing to produce (e.g. "corn sugar" in the US). If beet is easier than maize (e.g. UK); then table sugar is from beet. Cane sugar is a tad more expensive. Dextrose creates a tiny bit less fermentable though invert sugar producers would boast you get more sugar per pound, because invert is all monosaccharide like dextrose. It's a lie, creating monosaccharide from a disaccharide adds water - not much to ferment in that!

But yeast does need to crack a disaccharide into monosaccharides it can use. If that's sucrose it creates fructose as well as glucose (creating invert sugar does same thing). Yeast finds fructose a little harder to digest (maltose from malt breaks into two glucose bits: No fructose). If you are a bit over-anxious there are rumours fructose is bad for you: The unavoidable breakdown product of fructose is a suspect carcinogen for one.


Cor ... the cr&p you learn mucking about with and "creating" invert sugar!

 

[Braumeister]

From the producers' point of view: If maize is easier to grow than sugar beet ... Dextrose is the thing to produce (e.g. "corn sugar" in the US). If beet is easier than maize (e.g. UK); then table sugar is from beet. Cane sugar is a tad more expensive. Dextrose creates a tiny bit less fermentable though invert sugar producers would boast you get more sugar per pound, because invert is all monosaccharide like dextrose. It's a lie, creating monosaccharide from a disaccharide adds water - not much to ferment in that!

But yeast does need to crack a disaccharide into monosaccharides it can use. If that's sucrose it creates fructose as well as glucose (creating invert sugar does same thing). Yeast finds fructose a little harder to digest (maltose from malt breaks into two glucose bits: No fructose). If you are a bit over-anxious there are rumours fructose is bad for you: The unavoidable breakdown product of fructose is a suspect carcinogen for one.


Cor ... the cr&p you learn mucking about with and "creating" invert sugar!

Interesting! So table sugar is more expensive vs corn sugar in the US? I notice that in the graham wheeler real ale book the recipes have white sugar, not dextrose. But the US recipes always have dextrose. Your mention of production cost makes sense now, they are just using what’s cheapest or most readily available.

 

[peebee]

Interesting! So table sugar is more expensive vs corn sugar in the US? ...

Not really so sure, but I am sure there is an American reading who'll fill in?

But Americans create lots of "Corn Sugar" and we (Brits) don't. Some of our UK breweries were using cheap US "Corn Sugar" way back in Victorian times.

 

[dad_of_jon]

I’m planning a double ipa in a forthcoming brew and have a recipe for “Pliny the Elder” which has 340g dextrose in the recipe. I only have about 100g left over from a starter kit which is labelled “priming sugar” intended for chucking in a pressure barrel for carbonation.

My question is what can I use instead of the dextrose, would it be ok to use some type of standard sugar, in the kitchen cupboard there are all the usual various types, I also have a bag of light dme if that would be better?

not quite answering your question directly but wilkos stock dextrose

https://www.wilko.com/en-uk/wilko-brewing-sugar-1kg/p/0309419

 

[Braumeister]

not quite answering your question directly but wilkos stock dextrose

https://www.wilko.com/en-uk/wilko-brewing-sugar-1kg/p/0309419

Thanks, one day I will get to my local Wilko to have a look and see what they have on the shelves