Adding sugar to recipe to get a higher Starting Gravity?

[DC]

Hi all, I recently put up a post http://jimsbeerkit.co.uk/forum/viewtopi ... =2&t=50297asking if it was possible to achieve a high gravity beer with a small mashtun. A few of you guys replied to say that I could add sugar to the recipe to up the gravity to achieve the higher alcohol content of the finished brew. If I was to add sugar to a particular recipe as suggested, how would I work out how much sugar to add to the boil/fermenter in advance to achieve the starting gravity required

So if my recipe was for a Stout with a SG of 1040 how much sugar would I need to add to achieve a SG of say 1070 or 1080 or even 1090

I want to try a higher strength brew without having to start building a second larger mashtun.

Cheers DC

[alix101]

The easiest way would be to download Graham wheelers beer engine (there is a link on the home page) its free .Then add sugar to your ingredients and it will calculate your FG, you might need to play around with it but its a useful tool.

[mark4newman]

Hi

I really wouldn't add sugar, as it won't add anything to the flavour, and I am sure the sugar was the reason for the bad hangovers in the old boots days.

If you want the easy option, then add DME or liquid malt extract.

If you want, to make it all yourself then do a double mash,

Cheers

[Scooby]

Sugar is a legitimate addition and depending on what type is used can add flavour.

You mentioned a strong beer and that is an example of where some sugar will lighten the body, don't use
much more than 10% though.

Also don't see it as a quick way of upping OG as in your 1.040 Stout example. Sugar was added in the 'Boots days'
for that very reason and hence the bad reputation.

For recipe formulation look no further than Jim's Hint and Tips where it goes through how to work out the gravity of a recipe.

[DC]

Hi all, So if I added DME to my brew instead of sugar would the DME/sugar content be worked out the same way as the malt is worked on on Jims recipe formulator (see below)? so would 3.8kg of DME still be worked out as the pale malt below? DME: extract = 3.8 x 300/23 = 49.57

i.e First, calculate the potential extract from each ingredient:

Pale malt: extract = 3.8 x 300/23 = 49.57

Crystal malt: extract = 0.25 x 240/23 = 2.61

Flaked barley: extract = 0.5 x 300/23 = 6.52

Total potential extract = 49.57 + 2.61 + 6.52 = 58.7 (degrees of gravity)

Cheers DC

[mark4newman]

Hi

For 3Kg of DME you will get an OG of 1.050, for 23 litres.

I think the formula you are giving is for grain, and assuming an 80% efficiency (extraction of sugars from gain), which of course is not a problem you have with DME.

If you use liquid malt extract, then this is about 20% water you you will need about 3.8KG to get the same OG.

Remember that this will replace pale malt you are using.

However, you may have problems with the mash PH, because the roasted malts take the PH down so you may well be below the ideal PH, so it may be an idea to steep these, in another pot. (roasted malts don't need to be mashed). Or of course you could you one of the products, either acid or 5.2 to keep it within the range.

[Dave S]

Hi all, I recently put up a post http://jimsbeerkit.co.uk/forum/viewtopi ... =2&t=50297asking if it was possible to achieve a high gravity beer with a small mashtun. A few of you guys replied to say that I could add sugar to the recipe to up the gravity to achieve the higher alcohol content of the finished brew. If I was to add sugar to a particular recipe as suggested, how would I work out how much sugar to add to the boil/fermenter in advance to achieve the starting gravity required

So if my recipe was for a Stout with a SG of 1040 how much sugar would I need to add to achieve a SG of say 1070 or 1080 or even 1090

I want to try a higher strength brew without having to start building a second larger mashtun.

Cheers DC

If you added enough sugar to up the OG from 1040 to 1080, you would end up with a very thin drink indeed. As scooby says, more than 10% of the total fermentables is not advisable

[Scooby]

The figures given in the table are for potential extract, you need to multiply by your efficiency to see what extract you will get with your system.

The extract of LME is 300/litre/kilo and for DME it's 350/litre/kilo (as with the figures for grain in the table these can vary)

So in Jims example the 58.7degrees is the potential extract. He then adjusts for 85% efficiency and gets a total of 49.9 degrees.

As mentioned there is no need to adjust for efficiency with extract so 3.8kg of DME will add 3.8x350/23 = 57.8 degrees.

So work out the potential gravity for the maximum grain you can mash in your tun and adjust for your efficiency. Then you can work out how
much DME is required to achieve the desired gravity.

[boingy]

Just do two consecutive mashes. It will take you longer but the result will be just as good as with one mash.

Are you sure you want a 1.090 all-malt brew though?

[Dave S]

Or, it might save time and anguish in the long run if you just bight the bullet and build a bigger mash tun

[Scooby]

One thing is for sure, by asking the question he's got at least half a dozen potential ways round the problem