Brown Sugar for priming

[crashbobo]

I was checking out the byo webpage and looked at their recipe of the week.

BYO Recipe of the Week (http://www.byo.com/recipe/472.html)

In the article he says to use brown sugar to prime the bottled beer. I was just wondering if anyone else has used brown sugar to prime and what kind of results that they had. I was thinking about doing this for my brown ale that I brewed yesterday.

[Magnew]

I used brown sugar for the pumpkin I brewed this year. Worked fine. Not sure it made much difference in the flavor as there is already a lot going on there with the pumpkin and spices and all. But it didn't hurt. My buddy used it for a brown we did together in August. It also turned out great. In fact, his friends have told him to stop brewing anything else. I say give it a go.

[danno]

i think that unless you're brewing the palest, most delicate of beers, you're not going to notice the difference between whatever priming sugar you use... corn sugar, table sugar, DME, brown sugar, etc, etc, etc, etc,. the small percentage of what you prime with, in relation to the total sugars in your beer already, is going to be minimal at best...

[Jeff]

I used it on an Old Peculiar clone. I had no carbonation problems. The only issue was my fault for not reading the recipe right. :(

[mmmmBeer]

I like to use molasses for priming my beer, i havent found that it makes to great of a difference in the taste, but if you are into making completely organic or vegan/vegetarian friendly beer it is a good choice.

[benevolent brew]

i think that unless you're brewing the palest, most delicate of beers, you're not going to notice the difference between whatever priming sugar you use... corn sugar, table sugar, DME, brown sugar, etc, etc, etc, etc

I did a little experiment with one of my batches of stout....bottled 1/2 with maple syrup and 1/2 with corn sugar. Although it was subtle, the maple syrup came through in a side by side taste test. I will add that it was not enough flavor for me, and am now brewing a more intense maple stout that I will probably bottle with corn sugar or dme.

[benevolent brew]

I like to use molasses for priming my beer, i havent found that it makes to great of a difference in the taste, but if you are into making completely organic or vegan/vegetarian friendly beer it is a good choice.


Sorry to be so picky about the details, but...

Organic - possibly, depending on the molassess and how everything was grown, refined, and what not
Vegetarian - yes, but all beer is (unless your using something like beef jerky in the secondary for flavor)
Vegan - No. No beer will be truely vegan due to the live yeast cultures used in brewing. Beer is the one thing in this world that keeps this vegetarian from being a vegan.

[danno]

Originally posted by benevolent brew
Sorry to be so picky about the details, but...

Vegan - No. No beer will be truely vegan due to the live yeast cultures used in brewing. seriously? yeast are unicellular fungi, not an animal by even the loosest definition... they're live like plants are live...

[fuji6100]

Yeah, I'm also wondering about the yeast = not-vegan deal...

If vegans don't eat fungi, how come they can eat mushrooms? Most vegans I know love a good portabello cap burger.

[c0nsumer]

Originally posted by fuji6100
Yeah, I'm also wondering about the yeast = not-vegan deal...

If vegans don't eat fungi, how come they can eat mushrooms? Most vegans I know love a good portabello cap burger.

I have never heard anyone claim that yeast makes a food not-vegan. In fact, this would also rule out bread.

One problem I can see with beer is if eisenglass (I think I spelled that right) is used in the production of a beer, the beer would technically not even be vegetarian, because eisenglass is made from fish.

-Steve

[mmmmBeer]

as a vegan.. and an avid bear drinker.. yeast, fungi, mushrooms, seaweed.. .etc.. are all vegan.. if they werent we vegans would die from starvation...

a vegan, in short doesnt consume animal products, and not to get all scientific and all, but yeast, fungi, mushrooms, etc are not part of the animal kindgom they are the other branch that includes plants and algae and all the crap..

to put it most simply vegans dont eat or use products from anything that has a face...

so beer, thankgoodness, can be vegan...

as a side note:
it is a pretty complex issue as to what is or isnt vegan, some vegans for example will eat honey, whilst others wont

[Magnew]

It is tricky. Animals, animal products, or things that are processed using animal products like white sugar.

[benevolent brew]

First of all, sorry for causing this tangent on a beer board. Now for some clarification, and a some semantics. As indicated above, there are as many definitions for vegan as there are vegans. I use more of a Jainist definition that comes down to how something respirates and reproduces itself. Although yeasts are classified as a fungus in the microbial world, it is also a single-cell organism...which is where the problem arises. The distinctive principle of Jainism is ahimsa, or nonviolence toward all living creatures. In short, since a single little yeast organism can live independent of other yeasties. it is an independent creature that is more animal-like then plant. You may disagree, but it works for me. And if you were wondering, I don't eat leaven bread, honey, dairy, meat, eggs, fish, etc. So by all of your definitions I am in fact a vegan, but by my definition I am not.

[Magnew]

First of all, sorry for causing this tangent on a beer board.

Tangents are good!

[crashbobo]

Originally posted by Magnew
Tangents are good!

I second that. I love some of the tangents we get off on here :D

[danno]

bev brew, I think the case could easily be made that we're taking care of the yeast, feeding it what it wants (sugar), and putting it's byproducts to good use... certainly not in any violent way...

another tangent, and I'm really not asking this because I'm being a smartass, but do vinegars fall under the same category as beers/wines/ciders?

[benevolent brew]

Danno, I agree with your point on the brewer's love for their yeast, and that's how I negotiate the theodicy between my beliefs and my love of beer. I guess what I'm saying is that as long as I don't filter, pasteurize, or toss out the little buggers at the end of a ferment I'm ok with it. I culture my own yeast, so from life comes life and the cycle continues.

About vinegar...I'm not a big fan of vinegar's flavor, so I don't use it in my food, and haven't given it much thought. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't vinegar made by the oxidation of alcohol, either directly or through the medium of a ferment, or via the distillation of wood. I'd have to know more about the actual process before I make my final judgment on the subject, but my gut tells me that I'd be more ok with the later technique since it is just a controlled version of what would happen naturally...given the proper conditions (remember, nothing lives forever). If I could recycle the yeasties in the ferment of vinegar, I think I could rationalize it in a similar manner that I do beer.

[guildofevil]

Originally posted by benevolent brew
I use more of a Jainist definition that comes down to how something respirates and reproduces itself. Although yeasts are classified as a fungus in the microbial world, it is also a single-cell organism...which is where the problem arises. The distinctive principle of Jainism is ahimsa, or nonviolence toward all living creatures.

Sorry to push this into an even more tangential area but I am intrigued.
Wouldn't this way of thinking preclude the use of antibiotics also? After all, an antibiotic kills vast numbers of microbes in your body, including the symbiotic bacteria in your digestive tract.

Séan

[mmmmBeer]

I get this question all the time, being vegan, and honestly there really isnt a good answer aside from: it is a matter of bacteria/virus/fungi/etc. are not taxonomically animals, if you remember you 10th grade biologgy book and and that big tree of how organisms are organized, they are on two separate branches of life.

better put: vegans avoids eating or using things that come from mammals, reptiles, insects, custations, fish, amphibians.

in reality there is no real way that you can avoid ever consuming or using animals in some way. it is more attempting to avoid them as much as possible.

but like i said, if we vegans couldnt eat yeast (no bread, no bear) or kill bacteria with antibiotics we would die.

p.s. FYI i am not one of those militant vegans who get angry when people eat meat, it is most certainly a personal choice...

sorry i touched off such a off topic debate...

[benevolent brew]

Sorry to push this into an even more tangential area but I am intrigued.
Wouldn't this way of thinking preclude the use of antibiotics also? After all, an antibiotic kills vast numbers of microbes in your body, including the symbiotic bacteria in your digestive tract.

Sean...no worries, I get questions all the time and think nothing of it. I do not use antibiotics or any other violent medical treatments. I like the wee beasties in my body.


in reality there is no real way that you can avoid ever consuming or using animals in some way. it is more attempting to avoid them as much as possible.

but like i said, if we vegans couldnt eat yeast (no bread, no bear) or kill bacteria with antibiotics we would die.


mmmbeer, I'm not militant either, and I'm not trying to argue with you, but there is a way to do it...it may not be an easy road to walk, it may take a bunch on time, but it is possible. In case any of you are wondering about the whole health thing, I went to a Phd/MD a few weeks ago for my yearly check-up, and he said, "If you keep this up, you'll live till you're 800." That's a direct quote from the doc, and although he was stretching the truth a bit...I'm not dead yet...sorry to prove you wrong on that one

additionally, I think mmmbeer meant "no beer" instead of "no bear"...I've yet to met a vegan, militant or otherwise, who eats bears. lol

[mmmmBeer]

haha.. yeah. i ment beer .. i am not even sure where one would find bear to eat to begin with... lol

and i wasnt trying to argue with ya either.. veganism is very complex and touchy issue.. and i myself get a lot of crap for being vegan, especially living in Texas

anyway ... it is interesting the various takes on veganism..
it was nice to discuss it though

=)

[fuji6100]

I use more of a Jainist definition that comes down to how something respirates and reproduces itself. Although yeasts are classified as a fungus in the microbial world, it is also a single-cell organism...which is where the problem arises. The distinctive principle of Jainism is ahimsa, or nonviolence toward all living creatures. In short, since a single little yeast organism can live independent of other yeasties. it is an independent creature that is more animal-like then plant. You may disagree, but it works for me.

Not trying to split hair here, just trying to understand...

Plants can live independantly of other plants. They respire, reproduce, and react to negative stimuli. All living things share these qualities, why is a one celled organism more "alive" than a multicellular one?

Also, what about your drinking water? Your tap water has been purified with chemicals that kill off the unicellular protazoans, amoebas, and other single celled life forms that DO fall under the animal kingdom?

And are you saying that your ethics allow you to injest a living organism into your digestive tract, killing it inside of you, but it is not ok for that organism to be 'artificially killed" before you eat it?

And as far as antibiotics, its ok for your white blood cells to kill bacteria, but not ok for you to put a chemical into your body, not because "contaminating your body with chemicals" is what is bad, but that "killing bacteria with a chemical" is violent?

I find it a bit hard to follow your logic here.

Again, not trying to persicute, just trying to see where you are coming from... its seems a bit confusing and inconsistant.