Unrefined Demerera Sugar

[cosmondo]

I'm thinking of using this as priming sugar, when kegging my St. Peter's Ruby red Ale kit.

I'm putting 23L into a budget keg & I've got this or bog standard white sugar.

I thought the demerera would help with this type of ale.

Will it make any difference?

How much should I use?

Just boil it up in some water? Or use some ale to disolve it in?

C'mon, without us Newbies - sites like this would die a death, so share some of your experience & don't be shy....I'll be sure to do the same when I know what I'm doing. Help the Newbies, they're the future.

[Ditch]

Cosmondo; Personally, I'd have used that sugar in the brew. The UD. I like that sort of thing in a beer.

In priming a keg though ~ which I don't personally bother with myself ~ the 'colour' of sugar would make no appreciable difference.

That said; I'd consider letting white sugar anywhere near beer completely retro

[cosmondo]

Cosmondo; Personally, I'd have used that sugar in the brew. The UD. I like that sort of thing in a beer.

In priming a keg though ~ which I don't personally bother with myself ~ the 'colour' of sugar would make no appreciable difference.

That said; I'd consider letting white sugar anywhere near beer completely retro

Thanks for the reply, it was a kit - a 2 can kit.

Were would you have used this sugar in the brew?

& how do you get away without priming the barrel?

I'm all out for taking as much advice as I can get off you guys, this is my 1st attempt. I'd like to try getting away with using as little "gas" as possible. I'm under the impression that by priming my bottom tap barrel, I can hopefully use very little additional gas from a can.

Best Hannibal bar the books, by the way.

[Ditch]

Sugar? I like to chuck a mug full of raw cane sugar into my stout when I put it all together. Just add that bit of 'Oomph' and maybe a touch of taste.

The reason I don't prime my kegs is simple; When I put my 'first' batch of brews on, I'd forgot to get any sugar in. I don't normally use sugar at all, around the place, so I had none to hand when it came to kegging it. The stuff turned out just fine without it though. I'm a rather 'Why try to fix what isn't broken?' sort of guy, so carried on.

Now ~ some time since ~ I can't get gas either. So, I don't bother gassing my kegs either. Sure, the beer soon comes out lacking a strong, frothy head. So what? I don't wash my eyes with the stuff and half a dozen pints still leads to me deleting half of my own posts before I hit send anyway! Most of all; It tastes fantastic!

Way I see it? People made beer for probably thousands of years, without Hydrometers and cannisters of CO2. No body died from it and some of those beers were legendary .....

[trucker5774]

What Ditch says is good practice for him as he drinks a very particular style of dark gungy stuff

For straight forward priming I wouldn't bother with anything other than white sugar, you will notice little or no difference. There are loads of calculators and opinions as to how much carbonation you should have (personal taste) My preference is 50g to 80g for ale and 120g to 200g for lager types.

[cosmondo]

Like your style Ditch, have to agree with your historical pisshead analogy - I remember watching Elephants getting drunk on fermented amarula fruit that had simply fermented where it had fallen from the tree.

I'm a "don't fix unbroken things" man myself, thing is I haven't made an ale yet.

I like a head on my pint, so I'm going to prime with about 70g white sugar & hope for the best.

Thanks Trucker, your avatar is very, very unsettling by the way.

[trucker5774]

Like your style Ditch, have to agree with your historical pisshead analogy - I remember watching Elephants getting drunk on fermented amarula fruit that had simply fermented where it had fallen from the tree.

I'm a "don't fix unbroken things" man myself, thing is I haven't made an ale yet.

I like a head on my pint, so I'm going to prime with about 70g white sugar & hope for the best.

Thanks Trucker, your avatar is very, very unsettling by the way.

You're not the first to comment on the avatar. I do always apologise if anyone is suffering sleepless nights from it. It has become an old friend to me now and is, at least, individual. Good luck with the brew. I reckon you are on the right track for what you desire with the priming which, or course, can be adjusted from brew to brew if your taste changes (or your beer)