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In many kits I've used, the instructions recommend using brewing sugar. Of course it's okay to use other sources of sugar, but I was wondering whether there are any benefits of using brewing sugar over these other types?

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This stack exchange model contiues to mystify me. Three answers and no up votes to the question.... even from a moderator! If its good enough to answer, is it not good enough to up vote? I thought this was a pretty good question. In fact I was left wondering, what is "brewing" sugar? – brewchez Jan 30 '12 at 0:34
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I think Lewis Norton is probably referring to the "priming sugar" that comes with most kits. A friend of mine uses Brewers Best kits and the "priming sugar" that comes in the kit is simply corn sugar, and is used for carbonating in bottles. – jsmith Jan 7 at 13:17
Either way, just make sure you weigh it instead of measuring by volume. The only time I ever had bottle bombs was measuring table sugar by volume! – paul Mar 14 at 21:53

5 Answers

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AFAIK, there are no benefits. They're all basically the same. Brewing sugar is corn sugar and while there may be chemical differences between it and other types of sugar, the end result in your beer will be indistinguishable. Sugars like piloncillo or demarara can add a bit of flavor, but the result of adding corn, cane, beet, or brown sugar are pretty much identical.

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there's also the old myth that adding table sugar can make the beer taste cidery. It's debunked here - homebrewtalk.com/f14/… – mdma♦ Jan 30 '12 at 20:44
I agree with both Denny and MDMA -- there's nothing to be concerned about. – Zach R Mar 24 at 5:56
But why would you add sugar at all? – markus-tharkun Apr 4 at 8:27
Increase the alcohol, lighten the body, remain true to style if you're brewing a Belgian or British beer style. Or, in he case of candi syrups, to enhance flavor. – Denny Conn♦ Apr 4 at 15:21
up vote 1 down vote

Dextrose is 100% fermentable, but you need to slightly increase the amount of Dextrose to get the same result as Sugar, meaning for a ferment requiring 6kg of Sugar, you would use slightly more than 6 kilos of Dextrose. I cannot say how much extra because I'm not really sure myself. However in saying that, my first ferment with Dextrose produced a much cleaner ferment than the one with White Sugar. The wash with White Sugar produced a ring around the water level in the fermenter, but the wash with Dextrose did not, I used the same yeast, and the same process, so all I put it down too is from using White Sugar.

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The corn sugar or dextrose used in brewing is dextrose monohydrate -- for each molecule of dextrose, there is one molocule of water. Because of the water, dextrose contributes only 95% of the fermentable sugars that an equal weight of sucrose would provide. – Tobias Patton Apr 22 '12 at 15:37
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My understanding is that is has to do with the "fermentability" of the sugar, and the flavors left behind. Dextrose (corn sugar) is popular because it has a small influence on the flavor of the beer and the yeast can process it easily and completely. I do not know how many others can say the same, but I expect most of the simple carbohydrates are similar.

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Dextrose and sucrose are both fully fermentable. Sucrose, like maltose, is a disaccharide, and so not directly fermentable. But yeast can reduce disaccharides to simple sugars through the use of the enzyme invertase. – Tobias Patton Jan 29 '12 at 23:59
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You can break down sucrose into fructose and glucose by boiling with a little water and citric acid. Sucrose is a disacchride that's made from the two monosaccharides fructose and glucose bonded together. Boiling with water and citric acid helps break the molecular bonds between these 2 simpler sugars, so sucrose brecomes a form of brewing sugar or invert sugar that's amber in colour. One question is, if you invert or break down sucrose or table sugar, will it have additional flavours or disadvantages in comparison to white brewing sugar or dextrose/glucose?

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You should create a new question for this - use the "ask question" link at the top right. – mdma♦ Mar 11 at 16:18
I've suggested an edit that turns your question into a sort of caveat/beware for the OP. – Mere Development Mar 20 at 7:04
up vote -1 down vote

My understanding is that different kinds of sugar have different levels of "sweetness", thus the type of sugar you use affects how much sugar you need to achieve the same effects.

Brewing sugar is Dextrose, while table sure is sucrose. Sucrose is actually a much larger molecule, being about twice the size of dextrose. So I believe you need more of it to achieve the same effects (as I understand it).

EDIT:

Actually, a little more research proves that it's the reverse. Sucrose is sweeter than Dextrose, but... by mass sucrose and dextrose will be equally as sweet. By volume, however there is a difference as Sucrose is a larger molecule, thus taking up more space. 1lb of Sucrose should be the same as 1lb of dextrose, but they will occupy different volumes.

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While it's true that dextrose is more sweet than sucrose, that doesn't make much difference in brewing, as all the sugar molecules will be turned into alcohol and carbon dioxide. – Tobias Patton Jan 29 '12 at 23:54
@TobiasPatton - it absolutely matters, becuase 1lb of sucrose will not have as many carbohydrates as 1lb of dextrose. Thus, it won't convert to as much alcohol. Thus, you need more sucrose to get the same amount of alcohol as dextrose. – Mystere Man Jan 30 '12 at 0:23
Sweetness and fermentability are not related. Fermentability by yeast and sweetness on the human palette are very different units of measure. – brewchez Jan 30 '12 at 0:36
@brewchez - I didn't say they were related. I was talking about how much (volume) of sugar is needed for the same level of fermentation, not how much of the sugar will be converted. – Mystere Man Jan 30 '12 at 0:46
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@Mystere Man Sorry but that's just not right. 1 pound of sucrose contains half as many molecules as 1 pound of dextrose (a monosaccharide), but each molecule of sucrose can be split into two monosaccharides (glucose and fructose). So equal weights of sucrose and dextrose yield equal amounts of alcohol when fermented. This is why both are rated by brewing software as 46 gravity points, per pound, per gallon. – Tobias Patton Jan 30 '12 at 3:21
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