Ive got bunches of powdered cane sugar from trader joes (with tapioca starch as anti-clumping agent) and plain ol confectioners/powdered sugar (with corn starch) - would like to use it during a boil sometime. Anyone do this and NOT get off flavors or other issues with the final beer? Either in a belgian beer, or just a basic miller lite type of beer made entirely from DME?
What happens to those anti-clumping starches during a boil? Would it hurt the beer in any way? I dont have to use this stuff, Im just tired of seeing it in the cabinet and wondered…
The sugars themselves are fine, cane sugar is commonly used in English and Belgian beers. But the added starches are not. You’ll have unconverted starch in your wort, which will cause a permanent haze in the beer. In fact some brewers will add a spoonful of starch to the boil to ensure a haze in a hazy style. Use those sugars for baking, and if you want a brewing sugar, get plain cane sugar, like turbinado or Demerara.