It's called "brewing candy". It's a cheap way to create a beer with more alcohol, but without using "expensive" malt or even malt extract.

I can usually detect it cos of the high "bubblegum" pitch in the flavour, but that's cos I know what I'm looking for. When I do note it, I usually avoid that brewer's products thereafter as to me it is a sign of bad practice.

Some brewers use rice to achieve the same effect. Budweiser (US) is a rice beer, as are most beers from the Far East.

keep to the Fen Causeway