# Pure Cane Sugar Vs. Corn sugar



## afireguy (Nov 1, 2007)

I was over a beer Makers house for Halloween last night, and between door bell rings we were discussing the differences between beer making and wine making (what little I've learned so far).One of the bigger issues we had was he says you never use pure cane sugar in beer becuase itenvolks massive headaches.
I so hope this is'nt the case with wine or I've ruint two batchs of wine already, and if it is true it would be a good time to take out some Aspirn stock, Cuz I'm drinking it anyway....




any sugar stories out there?


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## grapeman (Nov 1, 2007)

You will find everbody knows somebody that is an expert at__________(fill in the blank). They say that__________ causes_________, so it must be true! If we all listened to them we would never do_____, because________ isn't good for ___________. I have never had a headache from my own wine and I always use cane sugar because it's cheaper..... Well there was that one time that I drank the carboy full when I had said I would limit my consumption to one bottle(and the carboy is a big bottle right?)! Judge for yourself after you have made a few. Make another batch just like the first with corn sugar and see if you can tell the difference.


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## dfwwino (Nov 1, 2007)

I don't know Appleman. I have had a headache for over 10 years. I thought it was my teenage daughters, but maybe it's the cane sugar added to my wine???


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## masta (Nov 1, 2007)

The reason cane sugar isn't used in beer is because it can produce a cidery taste ifused in amounts greater than 30% of the fermentables.But in my opinionthatisn't real beer since almost all the fermenatable sugar should be from malt....example Budwiser uses rice solids!!






The standard corn sugar (dextrose) is normally used to prime beer before bottling because it is easier for the yeast to convert to ethanol and CO2.


Cane sugar producing headaches...never heard of it.


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## lockdude (Nov 1, 2007)

The cane sugar has fructose,and sucrose in it,and the cidery taste comes from the fructose.The corn sugar is just sucrose.It has a smoother taste when fermented.You can invert the cane sugar with citric acid,and convert the fructose to sucrose by boiling it for 15 minutes with the citric acid.
I made some rice wine,and used corn sugar in it.The cane sugar gives it that cidery taste,like in beer.


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## afireguy (Nov 1, 2007)

Great....i'm just going to quit sweating the small stuff.
/thanks for all the help.


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## grapeman (Nov 1, 2007)

dfwwino said:


> I don't know Appleman. I have had a headache for over 10 years. I thought it was my teenage daughters, but maybe it's the cane sugar added to my wine???




You know you are right! As the 2 youngest boys get into their middle teens, my headaches are compounding. Had another trip to school yesterday to get the 17 year old re-admitted after last week he left the school campus because he had a disagreement with the assistant principal!


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## lockdude (Nov 1, 2007)

I have the same kind of headaches at my house.Also followed by a pain in the a**.


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## Dean (Nov 1, 2007)

lockdude said:


> The cane sugar has fructose,and sucrose in it,and the cidery taste comes from the fructose.The corn sugar is just sucrose.It has a smoother taste when fermented.You can invert the cane sugar with  citric acid,and convert the fructose to sucrose by boiling it for 15 minutes with the citric acid.
> I made some rice wine,and used corn sugar in it.The cane sugar gives it that cidery taste,like in beer.



Lockdude, you are close. Cane sugar *is* sucrose, which is a chain of fructose and glucose. Corn sugar is dextrose, which is a form of glucose (D-glucose). You can invert the sucrose by breaking it down with boiling, and thus removing the cidery taste. Basically, in beer making, sugars other than malt and glucose can contribute to flavors that do not belong in beer. I've used sucrose, and it makes beer taste harsh. I keg my brews now, so I don't prime them anymore, but if I did, I'd follow Masta's lead and use dry malt extract, boiled for 10 minutes to prime my beer. It creates a better smaller bubble and increased head and mouthfeel to a bottle conditioned beer. The only drawback is that it takes about 4 weeks for the bottle to prime instead of 2 weeks.


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## PolishWineP (Nov 1, 2007)

Corn sugar for beer and beet sugar for wine!!!! Beet sugar is grown right here in the lower 48. It doesn't dothe damage to the land that sugar cane growing can do. Up here the beet sugar is processed by a cooperative that is owned by the memberfarmers who grow the sugar beets. 






They're ugly but they sure do help make some great wines!


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## lockdude (Nov 1, 2007)

Dean,Its been a while since I pulled that stuff out of the old memory banks.Malt extract is what I like to prime with.I havent made any beer since january.I kinda go back and forth with beer and wine.I havent tried the beet sugar.I havent seen it around here.


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## Dean (Nov 1, 2007)

All we get up here in Canada is beet sugar. Both beet and cane sugar are pure sucrose. Heck, I didn't even think that sugar came from anything other than beets growing up, until I saw a commercial for G&H cane sugar from Hawaii. Sugar beets are the main Canadian crop too.


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## PolishWineP (Nov 3, 2007)

lockdude said:


> I havent tried the beet sugar.I havent seen it around here.


A lot of people just buy sugar &amp; don't know the source.


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## Wade E (Nov 3, 2007)

That would be me.


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## PeterZ (Nov 5, 2007)

Basically, if you live up north you get beet sugar. If you live in the south you get cane sugar. It's all about shipping cost on the finished sugar, which is essentially chemically pure (CP) sucrose crystals, regardless of source.

I'm surprised that the beet and cane growers haven't jumped on the E85 ethanol fuel bandwaggon the way the corn growers have. It all makes ethanol, and it becomes a battle of economics. 

Part of the problem is that sucrose production is subsidized in the US, and has been since at least WWII. We need a sugar industry if we go to war and sea lanes are compromised to other sugar producing countries. As a result, the gov't subsidizes the sugar industry (and a bunch of others) to be sure that if sea lanes are cut we will have sufficient domestic production for our needs. As a result, the wholesale price of sugar here is about 4x the world price (last time I checked, which was a long time ago). That's why Brazil started converting cane sugar to ethanol, instead of exporting sugar, 30 - 40 years ago.

Today, however, the only navy in the world capable of cutting sea lanes is ours. 

*Edited by: PeterZ *


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