Adding sugar to primary

[Noetikon]

I am brewing a DIPA with all base malts (60% 2-row, 35% British pale malt) and a bit of flaked wheat. I want to add some dextrose (sugar) to the primary to dry it out, but I am finding conflicting information about when to add it. I feel like timing is everything here.

I know that if you add simple sugar to the boil with a high gravity beer that the yeast will chew through that first and could then have difficulties switching to the more complex sugars afterwards. (I have experienced this myself.) I have read that the solution is to add it during primary fermentation, but I can't find any definitive answer about timing. Some say add it during high krausen, some say once fermentation begins to slow down, and others say add it after the krausen has fallen.

My OG will be 1.070 and I plan to add enough dextrose to get it up to 1.080-85. I really want to make sure that the yeast attenuates properly.

[Klickitat Jim]

If the goal is dryness I would plan my all grain recipe as if that was all it was going to get. Then substitute some of the base malt with cane sugar to the point that sugar was 10% of the recipe. I'd simply add it to the boil at about 15 minutes. I really dont think a sub 1.090 beer will benefit from periodically feeding sugar to the fermenter.

Regarding sugar for the simple reason of drying a beer out. Adding sugar doesn't dry out a beer because you didn't take away anything. Its just a bigger beer now. But if you remove 10% of the base malt and replace that with sugar it will attenuate better and be drier.

Look at it this way. Suppose your base malt leaves 10 pts per pound of residual unfermented sugar, and you use 10 pounds, that 100 pts residual sugar. If you add a pound of sugar you still have 100 points of unfermented sugar. But if you pull 2 pounds of grain and add a pound of sugar you now only have 80 pts unfermented sugar.

[Noetikon]

Regarding sugar for the simple reason of drying a beer out. Adding sugar doesn't dry out a beer because you didn't take away anything. Its just a bigger beer now. But if you remove 10% of the base malt and replace that with sugar it will attenuate better and be drier.

By 'drying it out' I only mean it drops the FG. For example, at 1.070 the estimated FG is 1.012 (with my grain bill and yeast strain). Add 1.5 lbs of sugar and the OG goes to 1.087 and the FG is 1.009. That at least adds the perception of a drier beer. The ultimate goal is to accentuate the hop bitterness, and in my experience lowering the FG below 1.010 does that. In a DIPA, I want to lower the FG without lowering the OG.

I've had trouble with 1.070+ beers attenuating when adding more than 1 lbs of simple sugar to the boil (several times). So I'm just looking to try a different method.

[Klickitat Jim]

When you say OG goes to 87 and FG is 09, in the recipe calculator? Or have you already brewed this?

If they have found a sugar that makes yeast consume unfermentable sugars, I'll be impressed. All I'm saying is that each pound of malt deposits x amount of unfermentable sugar into your beer. The only way to get that out is to leave it out or add something that will eat it like lactobaccilus or pedio

[Klickitat Jim]

I'll bet what is happening is that your recipe calculator changes apparent degree of attenuation to 90% if you have sugar in your malt bill. Unfortunately beer isn't an algorithm and yeast don't know that we were using an app that says they should eat stuff they don't eat.

[Ozwald]

If the goal is dryness I would plan my all grain recipe as if that was all it was going to get. Then substitute some of the base malt with cane sugar to the point that sugar was 10% of the recipe. I'd simply add it to the boil at about 15 minutes. I really dont think a sub 1.090 beer will benefit from periodically feeding sugar to the fermenter.

Regarding sugar for the simple reason of drying a beer out. Adding sugar doesn't dry out a beer because you didn't take away anything. Its just a bigger beer now. But if you remove 10% of the base malt and replace that with sugar it will attenuate better and be drier.

Look at it this way. Suppose your base malt leaves 10 pts per pound of residual unfermented sugar, and you use 10 pounds, that 100 pts residual sugar. If you add a pound of sugar you still have 100 points of unfermented sugar. But if you pull 2 pounds of grain and add a pound of sugar you now only have 80 pts unfermented sugar.

It's just another way of looking at the same thing. You could just as easily read the OP as the recipe was for 1.085 with a 60% 2-row, 35% Pale Brit, 5% wheat, then removed a portion of each malt (to keep the percentages the same) & replaced the gravity points with sugar. And that would make for a drier finish than the 1.085 all malt beer. It would end up being a bit too much sugar overall, but the concept is sound.

To answer the question, I would add the sugar (boiled & cooled) once the initial vigor of primary started slowing down. Yes, I'm sure it will be beneficial to wait instead of adding it to the boil. make sure the amount of water you're using to boil the sugar is accounted for out of the brew kettle.

Rewrite your recipe for no sugar at the gravity you want to obtain. Then start subtracting malt & adding the sugar. It's the same thing, but it's a bit easier to calculate how much sugar you can put into it. The total percentage will depend on the style. For a DIPA, I'd personally stay in that 5-10% range.