BeerCo Manufacturers White Sugar is a classic ingredient in every brewery and distillery. Crafted from 100% Australian grown and milled sugar cane, it is sure to elevate your beers and hard seltzers and spirits.
- Made in Australia
- 100% Natural
- No artificial colours, flavours or preservatives
Form & Pack Size Available:
- 1 Kg Bag
- 5 Kg Bag (SAVE 5% OFF 1 Kg Bag Price)
- 25 Kg Sack (SAVE 29% OFF 1 Kg Bag Price) Bulk Trade Wholesale prices available for Craft Brewers and Distillers. Inquiries to Service@BeerCo.com.au
Beverages:
- Beers - Light Lagers, IPA, Belgian Ales
- Hard Seltzer Bases
- Neutral Spirit Washes
Storage Instruction:
Store in a cool, dry place.
Country of origin:
Proudly Australian made
Sucrose-type Sugars
Pure sucrose is the reference standard for all fermentable sugars because it contributes 100% of its weight as fermentable extract. It does not contain the 5% moisture as glucose does. One pound of sucrose dissolved in enough water to make one gallon (3.8 L) yields a solution with a specific gravity of 1.046. In the homebrewing lingo, it has an extract yield of 46 points per point per gallon (or 46 point gallons per pound, to use better terminology for the units).
Sucrose, a secondary product of photosynthesis and the primary transport sugar in many plants, is a disaccharide composed of glucose and fructose. These are both fully fermentable hexoses and are isomers (they have the same molecular formula but differing structures) of each other. The molecular formula of each is C6H12O6. Hence, the formula of sucrose is C12H24O12. Sucrose has an extract value of 381 degree l per kilo. Because a 40% solution of sucrose is often used for priming, adding 7 ml of the solution to 1 l of beer will add 1 degree l of fermentable extract.
Brewing yeast hydrolyses sucrose using the enzyme invertase prior to transportation of the products glucose and fructose across the cell membrane. The glucose is preferentially taken into the cell before fructose, leading to a cumulative imbalance in the amount of glucose and fructose in partially fermented worts where both are present. Once inside the cell, both sugars enter glycolysis, the first part of fermentation.
Alternative Brewing Sugars
The bulk of the fermentable sugars in beer come from malts and malt extracts - that's what makes it beer. However, there are a number of other sugars that, when used in smaller quantities, can impart their own distinct characteristics to your brew. Here, we'll discuss the major alternative sugars, the effects they may have on the finished product, and the best ways to use them. Sugar is a simple carbohydrate. That is, it is a single molecule made up of some configuration of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. Starches are complex carbohydrates, which means that they are made up of chains of sugar molecules bonded together. The breaking of these chains by various processes or enzymes converts the starches into their component sugars. The amylase enzyme in saliva is a good example of this. A common grade school science experiment is to take a saltine, place it in your mouth and chew it slowly 100 times. By the time you're done, you'll notice that the normal starchy, floury cracker taste has been replaced in part by a sweeter flavor. This is your saliva breaking down the starch chain into sugars. The mashing process affects malted barley in the same way, which is how malt extracts are made. These extracts are composed primarily of a sugar called maltose. Chemically, maltose is one of five major types of sugars. Sucrose is the name for common table sugar, which is usually derived from beets or sugar cane. Fructose is the sweetest tasting of the sugars, and occurs naturally in fruit, and to a lesser degree in malt. Glucose and dextrose are molecularly the same, and most commonly sold as syrup and dry crystals, respectively. Finally, lactose is a sugar which is naturally present in milk. Fructose, dextrose and sucrose are all very easily and rapidly fermentable by beer yeast. Maltose is obviously fermentable as well, but the process takes somewhat longer, and lactose is not fermentable at all by normal beer yeasts alone. Certain wild yeasts can ferment lactose, and various enzymes can be introduced which will help beer yeast ferment it as well. While there are a wide variety of sugars available to the homebrewer, it should be kept in mind that excessive use of any non-malt sugar will detract from its characteristic flavor and make your beer considerably less beer-like. In general, these sugars should not make up any more than 25% or so of the total sugar content of your wort. Some sugars also contribute strong flavors to your beer, or have other special considerations.
Sauces of Brewspiration and Further Reading for You:
- John Palmer Brewing Sugars & How to Use Them BYO.com
- Sucrose | Craft Beer & Brewing Magazine
- Kunze, Wolfgang. Technology Brewing and Malting, 2nd ed. Berlin: VLB Berlin, 1999
- Alternative Brewing Sugars | Aussie Homebrewer