Originally Posted by
Wortmanb
I'm a BJCP beer judge (though I must admit that I haven't judged a competition in close to a decade) and am finally going to step in here.
In most beer styles, including sugar, even dextrose, or maltodextrin (the usual choice for enhancing mouthfeel) can usually be detected pretty easily and it would count against you in a competition. It's always much, much better to follow the Rheinheitsgebot (German beer purity law which has been around since 1487) and stick to the big four: Water, hops, yeast, and malted grains. The character of a beer that's standing on its own can't be mistaken, even if you're not competing.
If you're lacking mouthfeel, there are better ways to get it -- manipulating your grain bill is preferable to adding sugar of any kind. Check out Ray Daniels' book on brewing for some great recipe formulation instruction.
On the subject of adjuncts (spices in particular), never add more than three to a beer. You risk overloading the palate. Even a Belgian witbier traditionally contains only coriander (in place of some of the hops), Curacao orange peel, and a brewery-protected secret ingredient. Great advice I picked up at a homebrew club meeting many years ago and remember to this day.
Again, skip the sugar unless you're brewing a Belgian style, and then I'd only use actual Belgian candy sugar.
:beer2: :gl: