any Brands of sugar better than others?

[RevSpaminator]

I was at Costco today and plain white sugar was $15.79CDN for 20kg and yellow sugar was $9.79CDN for 20kg so I thought I'd try some yellow sugar for my next wash, what are you guys paying?

I'm surprised that yellow sugar (light brown here in the states) is so much cheaper than white. Usually Costco sells it for a higher price. I'll have to take another look next time I'm there.

[moose11]

I was at Costco today and plain white sugar was $15.79CDN for 20kg and yellow sugar was $9.79CDN for 20kg so I thought I'd try some yellow sugar for my next wash, what are you guys paying?

I'm surprised that yellow sugar (light brown here in the states) is so much cheaper than white. Usually Costco sells it for a higher price. I'll have to take another look next time I'm there.

There was only 8 bags left on the skid so maybe it was old stock and they were looking to move it, although I don't think sugar would spoil in a dry, air conditioned warehouse.

I made up a wash last night with it and the only thing I found wrong with it was that it was difficult to measure out because it was kinda clumpy as brown sugar usually is, and it also took a little more work to dissolve it.

I've got four six gallon pails fermenting away happily right now with Wineo's recipe.

I think it will make a nice rum, it looked a lot darker after it was dissolved into water, kinda like the colour of Coke.

I found plain white sugar to be ginger ale'ish in colour.

[LWTCS]

It can change color with a it of exposure To heat or humidity....not gonna hurt the fermentation.

[Prairiepiss]

I think there is some cornfusion about what sugars everyone is talking about. Sugar found in the states is quite different then what is sold in the rest of the world.

This yellow sugar is it wet. Can you pack it? Or is it dry with a yellowish tint and can you pour it like white sugar?

I suspect it is something more like what we have here in the states that they call sugar in the raw. Basically a unbleached crystallized sugar? This type of sugar is more predominant outside the US. But I've been wrong before.

[moose11]

The yellow sugar I have is kind of sticky like ordinary brown sugar but not as dark, somewhat dry but is packable, and clumpy in the package.
It does not pour like white sugar.
I shop in Michigan & Ohio frequently and the goods sold in US grocery stores are the same brands and styles as in Canada, with more variety being available at better prices in the US, I find the Costco's are nearly identical with a few different items at each individual store.

[Prairiepiss]

Ok I was wrong.

I haven't ever seen yellow sugar anywhere I've been in the states. It must be a northern thing?

[620rossco]

No I'm glad ya raised it because I've heard this argument before , more than once normally started by HBS advise and its just horse shit they spread around to sell there "better" sugar , can't blame em for trying

I think this may be true.
My low yield runs may have been caused by something else.
The HBS bloke wasn't trying to sell me anything, he just said use CSR.

[LWTCS]

I got Ten pounds of sugar that is yellow.......but it is "B" strike that has oxydized a bit......
It still is great for our purposes. Got it from my buddies at the sugar mill.
If they tryin To move oxydized sugar they call it something that sounds hip and healthy And jack the price To make it seem,,,,,,,,hip And healthy.
Maybe not the case in this instance but it certainly takes more calories To git the sugar white.

[moose11]

No I'm glad ya raised it because I've heard this argument before , more than once normally started by HBS advise and its just horse shit they spread around to sell there "better" sugar , can't blame em for trying

I think this may be true.
My low yield runs may have been caused by something else.
The HBS bloke wasn't trying to sell me anything, he just said use CSR.

What does CSR stand for? I assume some brand name?

[moose11]

Redpath is the brand I have been buying.

[essjay]

CSR is from the early days of Australian sugar production, Colonial Sugar Refining company limited. From our proud convict colony past Now they are part of a mega-group of companies and make a whole swag of stuff, but still mostly known for sugar.

[thumper50]

Dextrose is the best! It's already broken down to the cellular level of being takin in by the cell wall of the yeast. FAST ACTING !!!!
Makes that yeast kick out some serious CO2 and alcohol! Special order usually!
Read up on it and you will see.
I get mine in 20lb. bags.

[thecroweater]

I think these arguments fall in to the same category as the invert/don't bother argument . yeast can't eat sucrose yeah so it breaks it down to simpler sugars first , dex and fructose and then deals with them so it all depends if ya can justify spending extra time or money to achieve what the yeast will do fairly quickly for free , some will say nup (me) some will say yeza . not sure how much time these different methods save but I think it would be in hrs not days

[LWTCS]

Dextrose is the best! It's already broken down to the cellular level of being takin in by the cell wall of the yeast. FAST ACTING !!!!
Makes that yeast kick out some serious CO2 and alcohol! Special order usually!
Read up on it and you will see.
I get mine in 20lb. bags.

How much are you paying for a 20 pound bag?

[essjay]

My understanding was you need more dextrose by weight than you do of plain sugar, for the same yield. Expensive too, least round these parts. I can wait the extra time, if I was cheaper or something maybe but more expensive but a bit quicker... Not a great trade off I my book

[LWTCS]

My understanding was you need more dextrose by weight than you do of plain sugar, for the same yield. Expensive too, least round these parts. I can wait the extra time, if I was cheaper or something maybe but more expensive but a bit quicker... Not a great trade off I my book

My thinking also though I have no experience with dextrose....Seems like it is a good product for fermentation.
But I am interested in sugar that contains unfermentables more often than not. It is the unfermentable material that offers nutes and flavor to the product that I most prefer to make and drink.....

As far as speed goes,,,,get some extra fermenters in service and the speed of the fermentation becomes far less important.....unless yer bran spankin new and can't sit still for a few minutes at a time and are subconsciously wrought with the greed factor.....

[Durace11]

Brand be damned! IMO price > than all other considerations unless you are NOT going for a neutral. I use costco because it's 2 miles away and it's in bulk sizes for white and brown / golden brown, plus I can fill up the gas tank and/or get a hot dog at the same time!

[greatlakesltnin]

as with many others.. i use the good ol wal-mart sugar..and in this northern state..you gotta be careful cuz a hell of alot is beet sugar.. i also had the brewers store tell me the only sugar to use for successful fermentations was their "special corn sugar' while it may work fine for beer recipes, its too damn expensive for my blood..70 bucks for 15 lbs horsepoop compared to 14 bucks for 25lbs!!!!! i bet ive used 100 lbs of walmart sugar this year and ive not had a crappy ferment yet...cheers

[moose11]

as with many others.. i use the good ol wal-mart sugar..and in this northern state..you gotta be careful cuz a hell of alot is beet sugar.. i also had the brewers store tell me the only sugar to use for successful fermentations was their "special corn sugar' while it may work fine for beer recipes, its too damn expensive for my blood..70 bucks for 15 lbs horsepoop compared to 14 bucks for 25lbs!!!!! i bet ive used 100 lbs of walmart sugar this year and ive not had a crappy ferment yet...cheers

You should shop at Costco, 15 bucks will get you 50 lbs of white granulated sugar, and it ferments just fine as well.
I just hate buying more than two bags at a time and not any flour, maybe I'm just being paranoid but when I see other people with 50lb bags of sugar in their carts I'm thinking they're up to the same thing as me.

[sambedded]

.you gotta be careful cuz a hell of alot is beet sugar..

Beet sugar is OK. Fermentation is faster and it yield more alcohol per unit of sugar. Low wine from beet sugar tastes worse than from cane sugar, but if you doing neutral it doesn't matter.

[kimbodious]

Copied across from another thread ... Raw cane sugar is a convenient state for storing and handling and transporting to the refineries; it looks just like the stuff you buy that is labeled raw sugar. The refineries start with the raw cane sugar, wash it dissolve it, filter it and reprocess it depending on the product they are after - brown sugar has very tiny crystals and heaps of molasses, commercial raw sugar has regular sized crytals and a bit of molasses, etc right through to confectioners or icing sugar.

This link https://www3.epa.gov/ttn/chief/ap42/ch0 ... s10-1a.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow is to an old pretty dry but concise explanation of the production of raw cane sugar and then on to refined sugar.


I suspect what you are referring to as yellow sugar is what we'd call commercial raw sugar in Australia.

[thecroweater]

OK yeah I always understood brown sugar is castor sugar with molasses added and raw sugar in exactly that. That is cane juice residue after the first extraction. ei yellow sugar. Always bugged me that is costs more than refined sugar, must be i think a supply and demand thing rather than processing cost.

[Shine0n]

The only sugar I've found to have filler or additives is powdered sugar/ confectioners. It has a starch that will nor dissolve and stays in suspension.
Great for cake icing but crap for anything you want to ferment.
I use dark brown sugar in my rums along with feed moll and the buttery flavor is incredibly nice. Tried all moll and didn't have that wow factors the the dB sugar addition has.
Light and dark brown sugars are white sugar with the addition of moll according to domino sugar. I have found the house brand isn't quite as good as the big name but 1.50$ US for 2 lbs I can't go wrong as it only cost me on average 25$ for a 15 gal wash and I get over 2 gallons of tasty rum 145-150 proof to cut down to 100p for my drinking. Not bad!!!
Shine0n