Erythritol and other sweeteners: Tier list and taste tests! Good for homebrewing? 

Thank you for this! Just a note... type 1 diabetics might benefit from low calorie sweeteners, but type 2 should not. The farce is that the glycemic index matters, which is not so much the case- the body produces insulin in response to sweetness, so for a person with poor insulin sensitivity, promoting an insulin response with no glucose to process makes sensitivity worse. This is why fructose and artificial sweeteners are HORRIBLE for type 2 diabetics.

I buy and use golden monk fruit sweetner for drinks, baking and cooking in place of sugar. I love it. I plan to try backsweetening with it.

Helpful video! Thanks guys 😊

I'll put my vote in for allulose as a non-fermentable. Awesome stuff. Best tasting sweetener out there imo. Erythritol has a very prominent cooling effect for me - enough to be very unpleasant. I don't care for it at all.

Helpful stuff, thanks! My partner really didn’t like the erthytal at all when we started using it, but now has completely changed her mind regarding the brews, which i though was interesting.

Awesome video

Woah, the other day I was asking myself I wonder what the difference is between sweeteners, and thought DtM should do this video. My prayers were answered thank you!

I was about to ask about Munk fruit because I had heard it before but I’ve never tried, but mid way though typing you mentioned it.

Interesting video, as always! Any ideas on sorbitol? Since that's sort of the only non-fermentable sugar I've used thusfar...

With doing keto on and off over the past few years I can tell you erythritol absolutely has a cooling effect on the palette, and it can be difficult to dissolve (when using in foods vs drinks); pulsing in a food processor or a spice grinder to powder it can help. I've tried using it in place of sugar to make a simple syrup for things like a whiskey sour and it didn't work all that well... also, should be noted that because your body doesn't break it down it can, and will, pass right through you (when used in higher amounts). So until you know how it will effect you, be sure to be near a bathroom. Lol

Having spent a weekend drinking allulose sweetened mixed drinks it is passable. It will take about 15g carbs per oz off the total for simple syrup. When I went back to “real” sugar, it’s not close. My preference is to drink a couple really good drinks over bunch of ok drinks.

Grade video as a person that hates stevia and sugar substitutes you have given me more insight

From reading the numerous responses I am hearing many different opinions for each sweetener. I guess I'll need to do my own research. I do remember Erythritol being pleasant, and I find sucralose fine most of the time. I may have some munk fruit on hand too for the taste test. Cheerz.

Love the video, lots of good information but I have used erithritol in bottle conditioning and don't like the taste. Could you make a video about a bottle condition basic drink and add different non fermentable to each bottle and do a side by side taste test. Could include man made mead love watching the buddy videos.

I use a monk fruit erythritol blend. Mostly because I can find it at local big name grocery store. Supposedly it’s as sweet as sugar because monk fruit is much sweeter than sugar.

That cooling effect from erythritol is tiny in anything other than dissolving the crystals on your tongue. Tasting it directly from crystal, you'll get an almost menthol like sensation. That's because dissolving erythritol is endothermic. The process absorbs heat, while dissolving sugar is practically neutral in energy of diffusion. If the erythritol is already in solution, that effect is nearly zero. I've used erythritol for decades in coffee and other beverages. I've even used it for homemade soda for nearly as long. I'd only use it as an adjunct during bottle conditioning with a fermented beverage.

Love the taste test. My wife too can pick out any type of artificial sweetener and despises them. I think today's sodas with artificial sweeteners is an acquired taste. Some can get used to it, others can't. I have left all of my meads dry, but want to try some other brews with some carbonation and sweetness. Erythritol sounds like the ticket to try and trick my wife into believing it is real sugar making it sweet. We will see how it goes... 😁

Just leaving this here to say that there has recently been a pretty in depth study showing a strong correlation between erythritol and cardiovascular problems and thrombosis. They need to study it more, but maybe a thing to keep an eye on and consider. The author of the study was Dr. Stanley Hazen. It was just published in Nature Medicine.

Had to watch it twice to catch it. Would you recommend the dosage for back sweetening with Eyrithrotol vs sugar to be the same or slightly more?

Anna stealing the show! I have been using monkfruit extract with erithitrol. I need to get just strait erythritol next

Lactose as backsweetner is especially back option with a lactose intolerant family

I use a monk fruit with erythritol added, cuts out the cooling effect and to me at least tastes great and doesn't take much to get the job done.

I know this is an older video, but I’ve been searching for a non-fermentable sugar so I don’t have to pasteurize anymore, but after the recent study on erythritol linked to heart attacks and strokes earlier this year, would you say that it’s still safe to use for brew? Or would allulose be the way to go?

I love allulose, I can't tell the difference between it and sugar, if you use say 25% more than sugar, say 1.25 cups as opposed to sugar 1 cup. I always back sweeten with it. I used to use erythritol, but switched to it when I found out about it, because of my concern with diabetes being borderline. Mind you I still use erythritol in certain recipes, depends on if the "cooling" effect benefits the recipe.

I use erythritol/monkfruit for everything. I even put it in my coffee. I think it tastes better than sugar and there's no nasty after taste. Great video!!!

Lactose would be good to add to a Lemon meringue mead? To add creamy flavor

Hello, for reference how many grams of erythritol do you usually use per gallon?

I picked up an erithritol monk fruit blend from my local bulk food shop. It was the only erithritol they had. I'm going to use in my next cider. I've been making ciders in a Mr Beer for a few years and been adding 1/2 cup powdered stevia 10 litre of apple juice as I find the cider overpowered the taste of it and left me a pleasant cider.

is Erythritol a 1:1 ratio to sugar or dextrose?

Where did you get your allulose? I really question if it was good or some off Chinese junk. All the Allulose I have had tastes like a less sweet version of sugar. I find it the far superior sweetener. The only downside I have to allulose is the price! Would have been interesting to see the quantities used.

Really disappointed that you didn't try 100% Monk Fruit or the mix of Erythritol and Monk Fruit. In your graph you never put anything in the B slot so I was waiting for the surprise to fill in the B slot but no surprise. In my research they do say that Erythritol causes digestive issues similar to Xylitol. Have you ever had anyone complain of that? I have a friend who has a sensitive digestive system so I would not want to mess her up. I really needing to find a way to back sweeten with a non fermentable. What about glycerin? What about a combo? Thanks for the video.

I just ordered a kilo of Erythritol...... Hope it tastes good 🤣

I can feel the cooling effect of erythritol pretty prominently when used in normal sweetening situations (like in low cal ice creams, baking, etc.). Doesn't really matter in an alcoholic brew though. I really like it for backsweetening hydromels, as it doesn't impart any new flavors, and can elevate the flavors already there. My wife also likes it, as she can use it to bake cookies and stuff without using table sugar. As a nutrition scientist, she loves the stuff.

I back sweeten with a product made by Lakanto which is a mix of erythritol and monk fruit, with erythritol listed first in the ingredient list. They also sell monk fruit extract powder, but strangely it has been out of stock for several months now. Not sure why. With the extract - which is hundreds of times more sweet than regular sugar - I use it in coffee, tea, smoothies and other single serve drinks that I would add "sweetener" to. Per instructions, 2 tsp of sugar is equivalent to 1/64 tsp of monk fruit extract (or 1/3 cup sugar = 1/8 tsp MF). The container that I get is 57 grams (2 oz) and it's pricey....about $30 IIRC. So for cost reasons I use the Lakanto erythritol/monk fruit mix for my brews and to cook and bake with as well.

Great video! I actually didn't even know erythritol was a thing until watching some of your videos. I've become a big fan of it myself. Thanks again :-) Also random note... In coffee erythritol gives me a subtle salt taste but in mead I don't pick up on it.

How much Erythritol do you use in a gallon? I am going to use it for the first time.

Erythritol does not have a cooling effect if it is already dissolved in water. The cooling effect it has is due to it having a positive heat of solution, meaning it is endothermic or it is taking away heat from the water as it is dissolving. Once it is dissolved, there is no cooling effect. This effect it's only relevant when discussing baked goods as erythritol has a chance to re-crystallize if you let cookies, cakes or pastries to dry out.

I've tried the monk fruit powder. I'm waiting to see how it will turn out after bottle aging. I tried lactose which didn't taste great when I put it in secondary but tasted great after some bottle aging.

Granted I am only a few minutes into the video so you need to make a syrup with these or with these dissolve in a decent abv brew

Watched your cider video and made it exactly like you suggested. Tannins, d47, nutrient, sparkalloid, erithrytol. It cleared up really nice with the Sparkalloid! I like the flavor, but not the aftertaste. Also, it broke my stomach. It does not agree with Erithrytol. To me, there is a weird taste and can't decide if its the d47 or the erithrytol on the finish. I keg, so I'm thinking I'll just change out the sugar with White or Brown Sugar since your wife seemed to like that best. Appreciate the video!

How much sweetness does lactose give as compared to sugar? I have a big bag of lactose waiting for me and a big ol' Banana Vanilla wine needing back sweetening, I'm thinking the the Milky effect could be quite good there, but also I'm to chicken (McFly) to ruin a batch of the banana ambrosia.

I love stevia 😆 never put in a brew though

No xylitol?

all the monkfruit ive seen is cut with stevia. pure is hard to find and expensive

How "common" is erythritol when compared to many other sweeteners out there?? Where I live, I've seen erythritol only in one place (one of the "membership club" stores). Even specialty markets ("Whole Paychecks" clones) don't sell it. Very informative video. Thank you.

Since there wasn't anything in the "A" slot, I would advocate for brown sugar or "candied" sugar (whatever the hell they use for Belgian beer). The caramelized sugar ends up being partially fermentable so you could theoretically kills two birds with one stone.

Monk fruit may actually be fermentable sugars though as it is a fruit you can purchase. You might test some real monk fruit or said sweetener to see if it ferments or not. Most but not all of the sweeteners made with monk fruit have erythritol mixed in.

I had made lemonade with Monk Fruit mix (mostly erythritol) Costco and had explosive diareaha 😂 so I just kept drinking more thinking I was dehydrated 😂. Maybe I am allergic or something?

Do you know if Isomalt is fermentable or not?

hmm. So you tried it in an acidic solution which totally changes what sweetener will work. Unless you are sweetening a sour, this experiment didn't give much information. I'm really interested in Allulose. The chemical smell might have been more about the packaging. I don't smell anything in my allulose packet (Splenda was the brand, yes they make more than just sucralose). I've tried erythritol and it doesn't have the sticky sugary mouthfeel that either sugar or allulose do have. I'm interested in backsweetening a cider. Also if you try the simple syrups that are premade in the squeeze bottles, there is one that is Simple Syrup Lite (white label for the lite and blue label for the sugar kind). I definitely don't smell anything in that solution. If you make a dry cider and try different sweeteners to backsweeten servings of them, it would be a better experiment for brewers to see how it works with a real application. Also, you would have to use equipotent amounts to achieve the same level of sweetness between experiments. If Allulose is 70% as sweet as sucrose, then you'd use 1.3 times the amount of sugar to achieve a comparable effect. Same goes for erythritol. I would also be interested in an experiment that used half erythritol and half allulose.

Apparently this comes out tomorrow

"But where can I even find Erythritol?" Whole Foods; that's literally where I found it. And it's cheaper than Amazon.

Smells like industry 😂😂