homebrewandbeer.com

Im sure this has probably popped up before, but my uncle was telling me the other day a mate of his makes homebrew and instead of puting sugar in the bottles to prime them he puts a jellybean.

He says theyre nice... of course one persons tastes are wildly different from anothers. He says he mainly uses the black ones cause he loves the anacecde taste in his beer.

Does anyone else do this? How does it change the flavours? Mildly or Dramatically and what other effects could this have on a beer?

I honestly dont wanna waste any of my own beer trying it cause it just sounds wrong but i do have a 4L Dulux can full of Jelly Beans and I hate eating them so maybe this could be a good way to get rid of them?

If they are glucose based Jelly beans, would they not ferment as well as sugar.

I could be totally wrong about this but I thought it went something like this:

Maltose > Dextrose > Sucrose > Glucose

It would probably impart too much flavour to your beer as well I would think

hmmm... maybe i'll do one test bottle on my next batch then.

im not going to be hoping for anything spectacular.

maestro wrote: I could be totally wrong about this but I thought it went something like this:

Maltose > Dextrose > Sucrose > Glucose

I think you'll find that dextrose is the same thing as glucose.

Told you I could be completely wrong.....

I could see a black jelly bean potentially working as a priming agent, especially with some kind of darker or spice ale. Try it with a bigger 600ml+ bottle (preferably PET) just as a test run to see how much carbonation it gives off tho.

A lemon/lime/orange jelly bean may also work with some lighter beers. I grew up across the border from Mexico and citrus goes well with megaswill (regardless of which country the megaswill comes from!)

when you say lighter you mean in alc%?

hmmmm lime jelly bean in the mexican cerveza i made could have been a go... might have to make another batch up

inark wrote:when you say lighter you mean in alc%?

hmmmm lime jelly bean in the mexican cerveza i made could have been a go... might have to make another batch up

No, I meant lighter in color and flavor (ie Megaswill). Most Mexicans in the US add lemon or lime to Budweiser if they want the citrus flavor.

the ol jelly beans dont dissolve too well, so it may take some time if you are using them soley for carbing....

Had a mate at work who said he uses black jelly beans to prime his stouts... not sure i'd go down that path, but he reckons they go alright

maestro wrote:If they are glucose based Jelly beans, would they not ferment as well as sugar.

I could be totally wrong about this but I thought it went something like this:

Maltose > Dextrose > Sucrose > Glucose

It would probably impart too much flavour to your beer as well I would think

My meagre understanding is as follows;

Glucose (C6H12O6) is a simple "short chain" sugar, often referred to as a monosaccharide.
Dextrose (C6H12O6) is another term used to describe simple sugar, or more correctly d-Glucose. Its also referred to as dextroglucose. Because it is a simple / short chain sugar, it's readily fermentable, leaving behind little in the way of flavour properties, which makes it ideal for carbonating your beer or raising the alcohol levels without adding to the sweetness of the beer, since it's a "completely fermenting" sugar.
Sucrose (C12H22O11) is a disaccharide made out of Glucose and Fructose units - typically produced in Australia via sugar cane. When we hydrolise sucrose, we break the acetal bond, forming 1:1 glucose and fructose units which is often referred to as "invert sugar".
Malt sugar, or maltose (C12H22O11) consists of two glucose units, i.e a disaccharide - it's produced from malting cereals (such as Barley, Wheat, etc).

So my order would be:
Maltose > Sucrose > Dextrose > Glucose

Oh, and adding a Jellybean should be fine!

Cheers,
TL