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Hi,

I'm thinking about making up a tin of Cooper's stout, using light DME (because that's what I have on hand) and a bit of brown sugar to make the "kilo". Only because I'm curious, no other particular reason, do I want to try using brown sugar in the stout. Before I do this, I thought I'd ask the experts:

- What is the effect of brown sugar on the taste of the finished beer, in general? Is it a good thing, or should it be avoided altogether?
- "light" brown sugar or "dark" brown sugar, which would be preferable?
- What would be good proportions of DME + brown sugar to use, when making up the stout tin?

Past experiences an favourite recipes are very welcome! Thanks in advance!

- Artichoke

Brown sugar is fine to use- especially in Brittish ales.

It will lighten the body of the beer a bit, as well as adding a toffee-like flavour. The more you use, the more of that flavour will come through.

Generally speaking, you will want to keep the content of brown sugar below 20% (by weight) of the total ingredients. And I would go the dark rather than the light brown sugar.

If I were you I'd use all the malt, as well as around 10-15% brown sugar max. I would also recommend reducing the volume of the brew to maybe 16-18L (no more than 20L).