Brewery Vivant Explains How They Used Powdered Sugar to Brew Fat Paczki Beer

Yesterday's release of Fat Paczki beer at Brewery Vivant was a big success. The brewery sold out of cans in just over three hours.

Just like paczki, the beer features prunes and powdered sugar.

Brewery Vivant took time to explain to us exactly how the powdered sugar affects the beer.

After our story on the release of Fat Paczki we had a number of people asking us what kind of powdered sugar Brewery Vivant used to brew the limited release.

Was it a special, custom powdered sugar or one that you can get at a grocery store?

Brewery Vivant used powdered sugar from a grocery store.

Kate Avery, marketing at Brewery Vivant, explains, "Powdered sugar for us in this beer was meant as a fun ingredient to reflect its namesake. It contributed to the overall alcohol content in this beer and what sugar was not consumed by the yeast is now part of the sweetness in the flavor profile."

It turns out the yeast did very well with the powdered sugar.

Avery continued, "Generally speaking the sugars you hear about in brewing come from malted barley or wheat or rye or other grain. The complex carbohydrate is broken down into simple sugars in the mash, and those are what the yeast eats up and converts to CO2 and alcohol. Some beer recipes will call for something like Belgian candi sugar-- this is additional food for the yeast and usually results in a higher alcohol content. It can also lend a sweetness."