plain sugar vs coopers brew enhancer

[gmax]

G'day all , i'm getting ready to make a 3rd batch of ale in 2 weeks,
now i'm wondering whether 1kg of plain sugar from the supermarket is just as good as coopers brew enhancers?
I will be adding 1kg of dark malt to the brew as well.

I'm trying a tooheys real ale i brought cheap in bi-lo supermarket, i might
end up getting some safeale yeast rather than use the tooheys yeast,

I'd appreciate any feedback on the plain sugar vs coopers brew enhancer.
I did try coopers brew enhancer 2 kit last batch, which i just bottled a few days ago,
cheers
gmax

[Dogger Dan]

I can't speak to the brew enhancer but you would be better off replacing the 1 kg of sugar with 1 kg Dried Malt Extract. If you can't then use Dextrose but you may want to stay away from sucrose (dried sugar). It adds a cidery taste to your beer.

Dogger

[gregb]

The plain white sugar will often impart cidery flavours. If your are looking at cost go for a kilo of dextrose as it will only cost an extra $2 for the whole brew. Dextrose will not impart flavours to your beer, leaving the kit to stand on its own. The resultant beer may be a little bit lacking in body, as the dextrose ferments fully out leaving nothing behind. This is however, sometimes desireable if you are brewing up a throwdown or quaffing beer.

Experiment - try one see what you think, try two see if you can think.

Cheers,

Greg.

[the Baron]

Gmax, as with most things in life, if you want convienience you are going to have to pay for it. The brew enhancer is a mixture of dextrose, maltose and malt (the exact qauntities are found on this site in another link). If you have airtight containers (if you have ants) or just pegs (which is what I use) to reseal the bags, just buy the seperate ingredients, and weigh out what quantities you desire, this lets you experament more with the different components and this is a hell of a lot cheaper

[gmax]

thanks all for you repsonses, it makes a lot of sense now to try different ways of brewing without relying the same ingrediants for each brew

At the moment i'm having a drink of red back wheat beer,
i'm not sure about the taste as i don't think i'v had a wheat beer before, i
know coopers has a wheat beer to try but i'v so far haven't found any, so i thought i'd give it a go this red back aussie wheat beer,

the taste is different from other beers on the market,

cheers gmax

[Oliver]

gmax,

I agree with all that's been said.

Go with the malt, dextrose or brew enhancer over the sugar any day and the results will be far better.

I'd also give the Safale a miss, too, for such a basic beer. The yeast that comes with it should be fine.

Oliver