Can I use sugar to raise the ABV of beer?

[Allen Brown]

Lets say I had only enough grains to get the potential ABV to 4.5%, & I wanted it at 5.5%. Could I add sugar, like I do for wine?

I've never heard of anybody doing it, just curious.

 

[AToE]

Lots of people do this for light bodied beers, and even some belgian beers use really good candy to raise the SG/ABV.

The thing to remember, is that malt adds ABV and residual sugar from the unfermentable sugars it contains. Sugar/honey only adds fermentables.

So a beer that's gotten all it's SG from malt at say a starting SG of 1.070 will finish with a much higher gravity, much sweeter, than one that got half that SG from sugar/honey/whatever.

 

[Golddiggie]

Lets say I had only enough grains to get the potential ABV to 4.5%, & I wanted it at 5.5%. Could I add sugar, like I do for wine?

I've never heard of anybody doing it, just curious.

I've been using honey and DME to increase my SG and boost the potential alcohol level in what I'm brewing... I added about 12-14 ounces to a red ale and got it to go from the projected 4.2% to a healthy 4.5%... Adding 2 extra pounds of honey and an extra pound of DME to my honey porter recipe made it go from 4.2% to 7% before bottling (both brew numbers are before bottling)...

Personally, I wouldn't use straight sugar in what I ferment. Be that mead or beer. I would also advise to take a page from the mead making good book and do NOT boil the honey along with everything else in your brew... Put it in after the wort has cooled to below 100F (around that temp would be good, so that it goes into solution easier)... You can also warm the honey up a little in a warm/hot (to the touch) water bath.

Do keep in mind, that increasing the gravity, and potential alcohol level can extend your fermentation time... Just so that you know...

I have a thread about my next monstrosity I'll be brewing (on the December 11th)... It's going to be up there for %ABV by the time it's done...

 

[akueck]

Yep, adding sugar is common practice. Highly fermentable sugar additions are the secret to light beer.

 

[mrsmurphy22]

The golden rule of raising ABV of beer is to make sure you're using the right sugar when you do go to add it. Usually I used sugar from fermented malt barley. Malt raises ABV in and of itself, and more sugar means higher ABV because the sugar is converted to alcohol as well. The best way to go is more grain or malt, though, if you want to retain a high gravity alcohol.

 

[kudapucat]

Yep, adding sugar is common practice. Highly fermentable sugar additions are the secret to light beer.

heheh that's so backward!

In Australia a light beer is one that is light on for alcohol, not carbs.
As adding sugar increases alcohol I had to have a bit of a think before I realised what you were on about!

 

[DaleP]

Yep, adding sugar is common practice. Highly fermentable sugar additions are the secret to light beer.

This is not how it works.....adding sugar will lighten the body of beer, some of the Belgium styles use this technique. To make something along the lines of Bud Light or Miller lite, the trick is to start with a low OG recipe, mash in the mid to upper 140's for extended periods of time, over two hours for the Bud select. Adding sugar will thin out the mouthfeel of the beer and raise the alcohol levels.

 

[akueck]

Mostly I was referring to the corn and/or rice additions (which replace rather than augment the malted barley). That along with the low mash temps are good for producing the "less filling" effect. Personally I think this does thin out the flavor of the beer. Compare Bud to Bud Lite, for a fair comparison.

The Belgian examples need the sugar to keep the beer dry, but for totally different reasons. Don't hear anyone there touting the calorie content of their beers.