Adding Sugar

[mancer62]

I am planning to make a 40 pint brew this week using 2.4kg of LME......I will also be dry hopping with 100g of hops.
I usually add a kg of Brown Sugar but would this be recommended after using 2.4kg of LME.
I don't want an over sweet Ale so would be grateful for any advice or feedback...

 

[Obadiah Boondoggle]

I am planning to make a 40 pint brew this week using 2.4kg of LME......I will also be dry hopping with 100g of hops.
I usually add a kg of Brown Sugar but would this be recommended after using 2.4kg of LME.
I don't want an over sweet Ale so would be grateful for any advice or feedback...

Your question needs a lot more detail

The point of adding sugar is more alcohol - the sugar will convert to alcohol - so your brew will have a higher ABV. Brown sugar will also add more "golden" deeper tastes than LME alone

100gms of hops sounds a lot - which hops?

 

[mancer62]

Yes I understand that sugar turns to alcohol. I dont normally aim for blow your head off strength beers its more about taste for me. I certainly don't want a sweet brew that why U am asking after so much LME what the recommended amount of brown sugar would be without it getting sweet.... I love a hoppy taste and have been pretty pleased with my extract efforts in the past where the most I have used is approx 66g of hops. I therefore just presumed for an added hop boost adding more would be the obvious answer.
I plan to make 4 batches and have ordered 100g each of the following
Columbus, centennial, chinook & bravo Which I intend to use individually to let me find out the taste of each and see which I prefer...
Is 100g excessive for 5 gallon batch?

 

[Clint]

Sugar can also "dry" a beer out a bit.

 

[jof]

100g is not excessive if you have jumped on this newfangled American hop juice bandwagon.

But it is (excessive) if you prefer a traditional British style of beer.

The only thing to do is try it & adjust the next batch according to your own tastes, after all, you are making a beer that you like to drink, not one for the mass market.

 

[mancer62]

I dont know about jumping on a bandwagon but I must admit I do seem to love all the American & NEIPA cans and bottles I have drank and would def like to create a brew in that direction.

 

[Clint]

In that case put all 400g into one brew.

 

[Tess Tickle's Brewery]

I am planning to make a 40 pint brew this week using 2.4kg of LME......I will also be dry hopping with 100g of hops.
I usually add a kg of Brown Sugar but would this be recommended after using 2.4kg of LME.
I don't want an over sweet Ale so would be grateful for any advice or feedback...

If you get the Brewfather app it will help you a lot.

 

[mancer62]

Would defeat the purpose of finding out what each individual hop was like plus...one reason I do homebrew is to try save on cost..I dont think paying for 400g in one batch would be cost effective for myself.

 

[Slid]

Would defeat the purpose of finding out what each individual hop was like plus...one reason I do homebrew is to try save on cost..I dont think paying for 400g in one batch would be cost effective for myself.

As Clint styles himself as "Forum Jester", there was perhaps an attempt at humour over advise?

 

[Clint]

No humour intended as such...as the OP suggested he liked the big hoppy ipa bunging in all those hops wouldn't do any harm. But I agree it wouldn't help to getting used to individual hop style.

 

[Arcs]

100g is not excessive if you have jumped on this newfangled American hop juice bandwagon.

But it is (excessive) if you prefer a traditional British style of beer.

The only thing to do is try it & adjust the next batch according to your own tastes, after all, you are making a beer that you like to drink, not one for the mass market.

Unless....he's using it to brew under pressure in a pressure barrel etc then it's perfectly fine.

 

[Cwrw666]

I certainly don't want a sweet brew that why U am asking after so much LME what the recommended amount of brown sugar would be without it getting sweet....

Just to confirm that adding sugar does not add sweetness as it all turns to alcohol.
Body and sweetness all comes from the LME which contains some unfermentable sugars.

 

[Nicks90]

I am planning to make a 40 pint brew this week using 2.4kg of LME......I will also be dry hopping with 100g of hops.
I usually add a kg of Brown Sugar but would this be recommended after using 2.4kg of LME.
I don't want an over sweet Ale so would be grateful for any advice or feedback...

2.4kg lme and 1kg brown sugar in a 21l brew would give 6.1% abv
Oof, maybe dial the sugar back a bit. But each to their own and all that. But too strong for my tastes.

As others have said, makes no difference if you add 0.1kg or 1kg of sugar, it won't alter how sweet it is. It will ALL ferment out in to alcohol. If anything it will make it thin and dry and 'hot' if too much of the brew is made from sugar instead of something tasty like malt.

 

[dcbrookes]

Too much sugar makes beer like the awful kits we used to use in the 1970's!

 

[mancer62]

Nicks90 it wont be as strong as that as
i am adding it to 23 litres of water not 21....and something tasty like malt is in there....2.4kg of it.

 

[crescent city Mike]

The use of sugar in brewing has a long history and has often been maligned.
https://crescentcitybrewtalk.com/brewing-with-sugar/

 

[DavidDetroit]

It is a high ratio of sugar to LME. As mentioned, I would cut down on the brown sugar, maybe by half. As mentioned, go from that starting point. 100g doesn't seem crazy as a hop amount but maybe if they were all added at 60 minutes, that would change their impact.
As a side note, though it's true that designing your own recipe is satisfying, finding recipes from kits that look appealing is an alternative. Northern Brewer has tons of extract kits and lists the recipes.