Priming sugar?

[gnemesis]

Ok one more question for you masterminds- I've primed my beer prior to bottling with corn sugar and now I use DME- How does priming with Brown Sugar or Honey alter the taste or color of the finished product? Will it take longer to carbonate?

[Mill Rat]

Priming sugar additions are too small to have a significant effect on the flavor of the beer (unless you're using molasses, perhaps).

[Mikegobrew]

I've always primed with corn sugar and recently used DME when I realized I didn't have any corn sugar after getting started already and the LHBS was closed. I'm sticking with the corn sugar in the future. DME takes way too long to get the job done. I'm at the 3 week mark and it's drinkable, but not where the corn sugar would have me at.

[markaberrant]

In my experience, there is no reason to bother using anything but corn sugar to prime.

[wortchillergoal]

I've always primed with corn sugar and recently used DME when I realized I didn't have any corn sugar after getting started already and the LHBS was closed. I'm sticking with the corn sugar in the future. DME takes way too long to get the job done. I'm at the 3 week mark and it's drinkable, but not where the corn sugar would have me at.

I never have a time problem when priming with DME. I have heard this fro other brewers and it puzzles me since I have not encountered it.

I know of a beer that was primed with maple syrup. It took about 3 months for the maple to show up in the taste. When it sis, it was very nice.

[gnemesis]

My last batch I used DME to prime instead of corn sugar as I was out and it took 4 weeks before it had proper carbonation. They say you will get finer beads in the head but I noticed no difference. I wasn't sure if that was the case with brown sugar or honey.

[vance71975]

My last batch I used DME to prime instead of corn sugar as I was out and it took 4 weeks before it had proper carbonation. They say you will get finer beads in the head but I noticed no difference. I wasn't sure if that was the case with brown sugar or honey.

Hmm My recent "India Brown Ale" was primed with DME and 8 tablespoons of Molasses it was carbed and very good in 3 days i was very shocked, i was planning to drink one "uncarbed" because it is just so good, but much to my pleasant surprise it was ready. That was made with Wyeast London ESB yeast.

I have a buckshot brown that wasn't ready in about 12 days that was also primed with DME, that one was made with Nottingham yeast. So im thinking the strain of yeast has something to do with how fast it carbs up even using DME.

I do disagree with what was said above about what you prime with not effecting the taste, i do notice a difference in flavor from the 8 tablespoons of molasses i added, but it is a good improvement. I feel that things like honey,Brown sugar, Molasses,Maple syrup etc do change the flavor, sometimes its subtle but i am sure if you primed with say 3/4 cup molasses you would notice a HUGH change considering i noticed a change with just 8 tablespoons.

But do your self a favor when priming with something you haven't before and error on the side of caution. For example if you prime with Maple Syrup i would use 1/2 cup instead of 3/4 cup just to be on the safe side OR look up the fermentability of what your planning to use. For example Molasses is only 25-40% fermentable, so you can safely use 25% more than you would of corn sugar which is 100% fermentable.But do take into consideration the flavor and color impact, i wouldn't bottle a Pilsner with molasses for example, but it can add depth to a stout or porter.

Good luck! As always if i am wrong about anything please correct me.

[corkybstewart]

Molasses has a very strong flavor, and it can easily overpower a beer's other flavor components. I use molasses sometimes in the boil, but priming sugar should be just that-sugar for priming. If you want maple or molasses in your finished beer plan on it when you make your recipe. There are too many variables between brands and sources for these other sugars. It really sucks to have that perfect maple flavor in your beer but have it totally flat because the maple flavor was stronger than you expected so you used less than normal to prime your beer. That's a half inebriated rambling way of saying to put your flavors in your recipe and just use priming sugars for carbonation.

[Mikegobrew]

A little side note on DME priming. The post I mentioned before was on a 10 gallon batch. I split them in half and used Munton's dry yeast on 5 gallons and WLP001 on the other. (Just to see if it really makes a difference to use specific yeast on a recipe) I bottled a week apart. The Munton's is done and the WLP001 barely has a hiss to it, 3 days ago there was nothing. I checked another bottle 3 days later as I started to PWAHAHB (panic worry and...) Moral of the story is the dry ate up the DME much faster than the liquid.