Boiling sugar?

[badgerdan]

Should I boil any added sugar with the extract and hops and if so will it affect the hop utilisation?
Instead of adding 3 kg's of spraymalt I was thinking of adding 2.5kg's and make up the rest of the ABV/OG with sugar (around 300 - 400kg I think) as I can then make two brews with the 5kg's I'll have delivered instead of one with only 2kg's and one with 3kg's in.

Will this added sugar/less extract change the taste much in anyway?

[6470zzy]

Anytime that you substitute malt for table sugar you are going to lighten up the body of your beer since the sucrose is so much more fermentable. Its always best to try for all malt in my opinion.

Cheers

[Chase24]

I may be wrong, but since the sugar is refined then boiling it won't make much difference to just adding it toward the end. As 0zzy says it will give a lighter beer but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Why not tr it and see? If you're happy with the outcome then that's all that mAtters.

[Chase24]

Actually, stuff that. Why not try the 3kg/ 2kg versions of the same beer? Then you'll find out whether the sugar is a false conomy or not...

[badgerdan]

That's true, but does the sugar help in anyway with hop utilisation or is that just the extract? If I reduce the extract surly I'll have to reduce the amount of hops otherwise it could be very bitter?

[OldSpeckledBadger]

From what I've read it's proteins in the wort which interfere with hop utilisation. I bung in any sugar towards the end of the boil although I doubt it makes much difference when you put it in.

[mshergold]

According to Graham's book, add the sugar halfway through the boil. I've just made his Wadworths Old Father Timer and that used 180g of sugar for a brew length of 25 litres.