Have I made a mistake?

[Queeg 500]

I am currently on my third batch of home brew having already succesfully made a bargain brew bitter and then a Telfords european pilsner both made by the book and both very enjoyable, but now I thought I would try to experiment with a Geordie Scottish export. So instead of putting 1kg of sugar at the start I have put 1.5kg in - is that a big mistake or will it just make the brew a lot stronger. The og was 1042 and now on day 8 it is 1017 and still bubling merily
Thanks

[BarryNL]

Are we talking table sugar or brewer's sugar (glucose) here?

If it's glucose then all you're really doing is upping the alcohol content with minimal effects otherwise.

If it's table sugar (sucrose) then the effect is similar, but you risk apple or ciderish flavours in the beer. Not necessarily bad if you just want cheap beer, but less good if you're trying to make something with the best possible taste.

[Queeg 500]

Yes it was table sugar. At the time it was to get a strong cheap beer but after I put it in I did start to wonder if it would impare the flavour.
Oh well... live and learn

[BarryNL]

Well, I assume it's quite a strong flavoured beer anyway, so it might not be that noticable. If it was a light ale or pils it would be more worrying.

Certainly worth getting hold of glucose though for the next one or, even better, dried malt extract.

[Queeg 500]

Certainly worth getting hold of glucose though for the next one or, even better, dried malt extract.

Thanks, will try that next. is it a 50/50 glucose/dried malt extract mix and also is dried extract malt the same as muntons spraymalt?

[Hoppkins]

Beer Enhancer is the 50/50 of glucose and spraymalt.

Muntons Spray Malt is literrally just dried out malt. Regular 1kg can kits usually required 1kg of this.

Lagers and such i belive usually require 750g spray malt and 250g glucose

[BarryNL]

Certainly worth getting hold of glucose though for the next one or, even better, dried malt extract.

Thanks, will try that next. is it a 50/50 glucose/dried malt extract mix and also is dried extract malt the same as muntons spraymalt?

Yep, spray malt = dried malt extract = DME.

Liquid malt extract can be used too, it's just a problem to store the rest if you only use half a can of it.

[sparky Paul]

Yes it was table sugar. At the time it was to get a strong cheap beer but after I put it in I did start to wonder if it would impare the flavour.
Oh well... live and learn

Just going back to your beer for a minute, as has been said table sugar imparts an unpleasant taste to the brew, as well as making a beer which is higher in alcohol, but thin with less body. However, don't feel that all is lost - although little can be done about the lack of body, the nasty cidery taste will mellow out and you may be surprised how much better it will taste after 6 or 8 weeks, if you can leave it that long!

My advice would be bottle this one in 2 litre PETs - have a taste early, and leave the rest of it as long as you can. In the meantime, do an all malt brew, either a 3Kg 'complete' kit, or make a standard kit up with DME instead of sugar. By the time that's ready, you'll be in a great position to compare the two.

There's one thing... it should turn out fairly strong. It should ferment well down to an FG of around 1006, so expect around 5% ABV...

[PieOPah]

I must personally disagree with anyone who says that table sugar is a problem.

EVERY kit I ever made (and there were a fair few of them) I used table sugar unless DME was provided.

I NEVER had any problems with the taste. There were no cidery/apple like flavours.

I used table sugar purely to keep the cost down.

The only thing I would say that table sugar does is helps thin your beer. DME will give slightly more body.

I suspect that the cidery flavours from using sugar are more likely to the kit itself (perhaps out of date).

Time for people to disagree with me now.....................

[stevezx7r]

I must personally disagree with anyone who says that table sugar is a problem.

EVERY kit I ever made (and there were a fair few of them) I used table sugar unless DME was provided.

I NEVER had any problems with the taste. There were no cidery/apple like flavours.

I used table sugar purely to keep the cost down.

The only thing I would say that table sugar does is helps thin your beer. DME will give slightly more body.

I suspect that the cidery flavours from using sugar are more likely to the kit itself (perhaps out of date).

Time for people to disagree with me now.....................

A friend of mine is the same - he has always used table sugar and his beer tastes ok. I read on this and other forums the reasons not too so I have avoided it. It may be time to do two identical brews - one with spraymalt et al the other with standard sugar. Could be interesting to see what the reults are especially as being a smoker (cough) I probably couldn't tell the difference between beer and salt water.

[BarryNL]

A friend of mine is the same - he has always used table sugar and his beer tastes ok. I read on this and other forums the reasons not too so I have avoided it. It may be time to do two identical brews - one with spraymalt et al the other with standard sugar. Could be interesting to see what the reults are especially as being a smoker (cough) I probably couldn't tell the difference between beer and salt water.

I seem to remember they did this over at Basic Brewing Radio - a test with both very old kits and kits made with sugar and the result was that while old kits had a slightly off flavour, the kits made with sugar tasted the most cidery.

Dunno, maybe if I get bored one day I'll repeat the experiment...

[J_P]

My Da brews with single can kits and table sugar and his beer never tastes "cidery" he does leave it neck end of two months to clear in the bottle though so this may be the answer. Leaving a brew alone for 8 weeks is easier said than done though

I have noticed that the beer lacks the body I like in a brew but it's certainly drinkable. This said he also brews single can "lager" kits for me Ma using table sugar and they taste really clean and crisp. I put lager in speech marks as he never monkies around trying to keep the brew cold he just pitches his yeast and lets it get on with it in the cupboard.

I have been brewing with all malt kits (Brupaks and Woodefords) and can happily report that these kits, whilst slightly more expensive than the single can kits, produce a beer that has all the body I like and they're not lacking in alcohol either.

I think the moral of this thread is if it tastes good to you, sup it

[Vossy1]

I think the moral of this thread is if it tastes good to you, sup it

Your not wrong, I say your not wrong there

[ColinKeb]

when i made kits it was standard proceedure to put exactly double the amount of sugar in as quoted on the instructions . we drank it and liked it at the time so i wouldnt worry

[Queeg 500]

finally got the og down to 1006 on day 12 but it is still bubling abit, still have had a small sample and its not to bad, hopefully barreling in the next couple of days.
looking forward to trying it properly in a couple or weeks