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Author Topic: Gimme some sugar!  (Read 6076 times)

cornershot

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Re: Gimme some sugar!
« Reply #15 on: October 18, 2013, 03:36:05 am »
I brewed a beer once years ago using 100 percent maple sap as the liquid. Wasn't good but I did it. Not sure there was much sugar in it.

well about 1/20th as much as maple syrup right? so 3.5% or so?

I've often considered this and I think I would want to use partially boiled sap instead of straight.

More like 1/40th, I believe. I wonder what was so bad about it? I once brewed an extract brown ale with sap reduced to 1/5 of it's original volume. It was terrible. Very smoky from the wood fire I cooked the sap over.

I recently tasted a beer brewed with shagbark hickory syrup. The syrup is made by boiling tree bark for flavor and adding sugar to make the syrup. On it's own it tastes pleasant: woody, nutty, and sweet. Fermented in a beer, it's horribly tannic.

Offline hopfenundmalz

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Re: Gimme some sugar!
« Reply #16 on: October 18, 2013, 05:16:11 am »
I brewed a beer once years ago using 100 percent maple sap as the liquid. Wasn't good but I did it. Not sure there was much sugar in it.

well about 1/20th as much as maple syrup right? so 3.5% or so?

I've often considered this and I think I would want to use partially boiled sap instead of straight.

More like 1/40th, I believe. I wonder what was so bad about it? I once brewed an extract brown ale with sap reduced to 1/5 of it's original volume. It was terrible. Very smoky from the wood fire I cooked the sap over.

I recently tasted a beer brewed with shagbark hickory syrup. The syrup is made by boiling tree bark for flavor and adding sugar to make the syrup. On it's own it tastes pleasant: woody, nutty, and sweet. Fermented in a beer, it's horribly tannic.

The guys around here say 1/40 for boiling down maple sap to syrup. One friend does Birch syrup, and that is 1/100, so he gets a very low yield.

I have tasted the Hickory bark syrup from southern Indiana. It as interesting, don't remember it being tannic, but that was just the syrup, so the sugar was probably covering up the tannins.
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Offline gmac

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Re: Gimme some sugar!
« Reply #17 on: October 18, 2013, 06:42:33 am »
I brewed a beer once years ago using 100 percent maple sap as the liquid. Wasn't good but I did it. Not sure there was much sugar in it.

well about 1/20th as much as maple syrup right? so 3.5% or so?

I've often considered this and I think I would want to use partially boiled sap instead of straight.

I think it's closer to a 40th.  I tapped our trees and then put a pail in the freezer and just added each days collection to the freezer until it got full.  It was an extract batch years ago before I learned all the great things from you guys. But it was a pain and I don't think I'd ever do it again.  There was no perceptible maple or advantage to all the effort and as I remember, it seemed a bit metallic. 

I see Jaggery had been mentioned but I did one with that too and it seemed to be a very odd almost creamy character that I didn't really care for.  Not saying I used it right. 

What about rice syrup?  Does that count as Malt and not sugar?

Offline gmac

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Re: Gimme some sugar!
« Reply #18 on: October 18, 2013, 06:43:43 am »
I brewed a beer once years ago using 100 percent maple sap as the liquid. Wasn't good but I did it. Not sure there was much sugar in it.

well about 1/20th as much as maple syrup right? so 3.5% or so?

I've often considered this and I think I would want to use partially boiled sap instead of straight.

I think it's closer to a 40th.  I tapped our trees and then put a pail in the freezer and just added each days collection to the freezer until it got full.  It was an extract batch years ago before I learned all the great things from you guys. But it was a pain and I don't think I'd ever do it again.  There was no perceptible maple or advantage to all the effort and as I remember, it seemed a bit metallic. 

I see Jaggery had been mentioned but I did one with that too and it seemed to be a very odd almost creamy character that I didn't really care for.  Not saying I used it right. 

What about rice syrup?  Does that count as Malt and not sugar?  Sorghum?

Offline Jimmy K

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Re: Gimme some sugar!
« Reply #19 on: October 18, 2013, 07:06:17 am »
I don't think anyone has mentioned agave nectar
 
 
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narvin

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Re: Gimme some sugar!
« Reply #20 on: October 18, 2013, 07:33:14 am »
Purple skittles ;D

Offline Joe Sr.

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Re: Gimme some sugar!
« Reply #21 on: October 18, 2013, 08:04:43 am »

Beet sugar


Forgot about that.  I should add that to my list.  Haven't used beet sugar in years that I know of.

And turbinado, though I'm not clear on the difference between raw cane sugar and turbinado.
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Offline HoosierBrew

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Re: Gimme some sugar!
« Reply #22 on: October 18, 2013, 08:11:32 am »

Beet sugar


Forgot about that.  I should add that to my list.  Haven't used beet sugar in years that I know of.

And turbinado, though I'm not clear on the difference between raw cane sugar and turbinado.
I always thought that raw cane and turbinado were basically the same thing. I could swear that the last time I bought turbinado it said raw cane sugar on the label right under the word turbinado.
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Offline reverseapachemaster

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Re: Gimme some sugar!
« Reply #23 on: October 18, 2013, 08:14:38 am »
Panela is the central American version of piloncillo.
Molasses

Did you ever hear of high maltose corn sugar?  That's what they use at Yuengling in Tampa.

You can find it at some Asian grocery stores.
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Offline Jimmy K

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Re: Gimme some sugar!
« Reply #24 on: October 18, 2013, 09:06:18 am »
And turbinado, though I'm not clear on the difference between raw cane sugar and turbinado.
I always thought that raw cane and turbinado were basically the same thing. I could swear that the last time I bought turbinado it said raw cane sugar on the label right under the word turbinado.
I think turbinado, muscovado, and demerara are all raw cane sugars but they are handled a little differently. Demerara and turbinado are clear crystals while muscovado is opaque. Basically it looks unfiltered.
 
Also for molasses, blackstrap molasses is what we see in stores, but I hear there are other kinds.
 
Then there's caffeinated sugar
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Offline Joe Sr.

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Re: Gimme some sugar!
« Reply #25 on: October 18, 2013, 09:11:41 am »

Also for molasses, blackstrap molasses is what we see in stores, but I hear there are other kinds.


I've used blackstrap but I try to only use Barbados molasses.  It's sweeter and has a lighter flavor.

I've read/been told that it's not technically molasses, though.  I believe it's made from sorghum.
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Offline Jimmy K

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Re: Gimme some sugar!
« Reply #26 on: October 18, 2013, 09:18:41 am »
Also lactose.
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Offline a10t2

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Re: Gimme some sugar!
« Reply #27 on: October 18, 2013, 09:51:34 am »
How about sugar bacon?
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Offline mugwort

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Re: Gimme some sugar!
« Reply #28 on: October 19, 2013, 03:57:26 pm »
I'm trying to compile a list of sugars used in brewing.  Hit me with some ideas!

Not sure how wide you're casting the sugar net but I would add xylitol to the list.

I've used and would recommend xylitol for backsweetening fruit and sour beers.  The brand I used (Emerald Forest) claimed to be sourced from birch trees.  I've found xylitol to provide decently traditional sugar sweetness, at least with the modest additions I've used.  And no fermentation of the xylitol addition appeared to occur.

Xylitol is preferable to saccharin, both for avoiding accompanying off-flavors and for health concerns.  Positive claims for xylitol include being safe for diabetics as well as not promoting cavities.
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narvin

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Re: Gimme some sugar!
« Reply #29 on: October 19, 2013, 08:57:58 pm »
I thought beet sugar was always completely refined before use, and thus basically sucrose.  So although it's popular in Europe for making candy syrup due to availability, the raw ingredient isn't any different than table sugar.