I need to bottle a couple of Belgian-style beers and I ran out of corn sugar. What are your thoughts on just using table sugar (from beets) instead? Should I use the same amount as I would corn sugar?
Thanks
go for it. for all intents and purposes there is no difference at all. There is a table somewhere out there, maybe morebeer website? that lists lots of different kinds of sugar and the exact amount to use for carbing but I always just follow the corn sugar weight guidelines and have not had problems.
i have been bottling with powdered sugar. just to use up a few pounds we had on hand. i have had no problems with this at all.
Corn sugar is very slightly less fermentable than table sugar (like maybe 5% less). I use cane sugar all the time to bottle beer, no problems. I used about 3/4lb of turbinado for 5 gallons of a champagne-style beer, and it worked fine.
I’d just watch out because some powdered sugar contains corn starch as an anti-caking agent, so make sure the only ingredient is sugar. A bag labeled “Superfine” or “caster” sugar should be 100% sugar.
Cane sugar is a little more fermentable than corn sugar.
Check out this carbonation calculator: http://hbd.org/cgi-bin/recipator/recipator/carbonation.html?15132099#tag
Cheers, Tom
Really? I’ve never heard that - what is the reason?
Thanks for the calculator. That will come in handy 
Not to split hairs here, but don’t you mean 3/4 CUP of sugar? 3/4 pound in a 5 gallon batch would produce TREMENDOUS carbonation levels, and I suspect the bottles would be glass-grenades.
Good catch!
I absolutely meant 3/4lb, as in 340 grams. I was targeting 5.3 volumes of CO2 in 20L of beer. I used Champagne bottles, no explosions, but I did have a couple crowns come off unexpectedly.
that was the champagne style you were posting about right? so you probably lose some in the riddling/recorking process as well.
Yeah, I aimed high and probably lost about 1 volume due to disgorging and recorking.
Wow…thanks for the confirmation. Obviously I never would guessed that’s what you really meant!
i understand you were shooting for high carb levels, but wouldn’t that much sugar significantly impact your ABV?
It likely bumped up the ABV by 0.3%, IIRC, and if I calculated that correctly to begin with.
EDIT: Checked my notes, I came up with +0.7% ABV.
Wow! That is some seriously bubbly brew! How do you prevent massive foam-overs when pouring that?
It’s actually not that foamy. The reason you do the methode champagnoise is to remove the yeast and as much sediment as you can. Bits of junk in the beer make nucleation sites, and nucleation sites make foam. I’ve brewed “regular” beers (2.5-2.7 volumes) that were more foamy. The carbonation is more noticeable in the mouthfeel, and the head last a lot longer.
Here’s another great resource on bottle priming.