# Candi, Beet And Cane Sugar



## braufrau (22/2/07)

I've been pondering making some candi sugar by the method shown here.
http://www.franklinbrew.org/brewinfo/candi_sugar.html

But this idea is pretty much pooh poohed on this forum on the grounds
that adding citric acid to cane sugar doesn't make candi sugar (or even invert it).
And the important thing is that it is beet sugar.  

Then I found ...
http://www.belgianstyle.com/mmguide/brew/stuff.html
which asserts that its rock candy. Just big crystals of sucrose! Nothing about
citric acid. :blink: 

But thinks I, beet sugar is just sucrose, same as cane sugar.
And then I found this!
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?.../31/FD91867.DTL
Beet sugar behaves differently in baking because of the 0.05% difference in the part of its composition
that is not sucrose, and forms crystals more readily than cane sugar! :super: 

And, in the US and Canada most of the sugar is beet sugar. So americans doing the candi sugar
from syrup method have a better than 50% chance of actually making belgian candi sugar.

Phew! I'm glad I sorted that out.

Now is chinese lump sugar beet sugar? And why should the 0.05% make a difference to the taste of beer? :unsure: 

-braufrau


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## DarkFaerytale (22/2/07)

http://www.grainandgrape.com.au/index.php?cPath=1_39_41

h34r: 



-Phill


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## JasonY (22/2/07)

I just made a kilo of the sugar according to Graham Sanders' method, while I am sure it aint the real deal it still worked well in the last belgian strong ale I brewed. 

Worth a shot if you don't have ready access or want to pay for the real stuff.


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## DarkFaerytale (22/2/07)

to be honest i'v never bought the stuff either, only made it, using the same method as above twice, seemed to come out just fine

-Phill


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## Cortez The Killer (22/2/07)

http://oz.craftbrewer.org/Library/Methods/...ers/candy.shtml

I made candi sugar as per the above and used it in a Coopers Mex Cerveza without any adverse affects

Cheers


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## neonmeate (22/2/07)

the crystallisation doesn't make any difference does it, as it just redissolves as you throw it back in to the pot? the only reason to use anything other than white sugar is to get caramel flavours. G&G now have the proper belgian candi syrup which is the real deal that they use in breweries in belgium, not the rock stuff. i never got a lot of flavour or colour out of the dark rocks. and then white candi rocks are a complete waste of time/money.

http://www.brewlikeamonk.com/2006/04/24/be...ble-in-america/


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## braufrau (22/2/07)

neonmeate said:


> the crystallisation doesn't make any difference does it, as it just redissolves as you throw it back in to the pot? the only reason to use anything other than white sugar is to get caramel flavours. G&G now have the proper belgian candi syrup which is the real deal that they use in breweries in belgium, not the rock stuff. i never got a lot of flavour or colour out of the dark rocks. and then white candi rocks are a complete waste of time/money.
> 
> http://www.brewlikeamonk.com/2006/04/24/be...ble-in-america/



I've been pondering this further.

Belgian candi sugar is 
* big chunks / crystals ... well as neonmate says, it goes into solution so what does that matter?
* 99.95% the same as cane sugar ... do I really think that 0.05% has magic qualities?
* caramlelised ... which is the only thing I can see can make a difference to the taste.
* $10 / kg :excl: 

So I'm going to make the stuff Graham Sanders way. 

The link to the syrup is interesting, but I think you could acheive the same thing
by not taking the syrup upto hard crack. I'm not sure what difference this will make.
Here's a link that supports the assertion that adding acid "inverts" sucrose and that in turns
help prevent crytalisation because the glucose and fructose don't stack neatly with the sucrose.
http://www.exploratorium.edu/cooking/candy/sugar.html
Perhaps that is the difference between the syrup and the rocks ... more fructose and glucose in the syrup??? :unsure: 


<edit> More stuff about inverting sugar (so its not a myth!)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inverted_sugar_syrup
</edit>

-braufrau


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## therook (22/2/07)

At what stage do you add this to the boil?

Rook


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## braufrau (22/2/07)

therook said:


> At what stage do you add this to the boil?
> 
> Rook




Hi Rook,

Add the candi sugar to the wort??
At 60mins ... i.e. boil it with the malt etc. for 60 mins.

-braufrau


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## tangent (22/2/07)

there was a basicbrewing radio episode where they tried all the rock sugars and weird stuff, then tasted the beers. One of the guys owns a HBS and he even said he'd get rid of one of them because the results were crap.
Doing research on sugar, the Poms know what they're doing and enjoy the benefits, whereas our sugar industry is a bit crap (unless processed white cane sugar rings your bell)


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## neonmeate (22/2/07)

tangent said:


> Doing research on sugar, the Poms know what they're doing and enjoy the benefits, whereas our sugar industry is a bit crap (unless processed white cane sugar rings your bell)



do you mean invert sugar is better?
yeast inverts sugar in the course of fermentation anyway, there's no need to invert it yourself or buy lyle's golden syrup. plain white sugar is fine for extra fermentables (except if you want flavour, where demerara and muscovado and jaggery and unrefined sugars are great)


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## tangent (22/2/07)

i don't like our white sugar mixed with some colour and passed off as raw or unprocessed here. it's still bland and crappy.
Lyle's Golden Syrup is freakin awesome. Just the smell is worth a can.
Indonesian palm sugar is awesome.

edit - don't get me wrong, i used to be all anti-sugar after going AG, but I appreciate what a small portion of white sugar can do to a beer. Especially to a CPA clone.


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## neonmeate (22/2/07)

tangent said:


> i don't like our white sugar mixed with some colour and passed off as raw or unprocessed here. it's still bland and crappy.
> Lyle's Golden Syrup is freakin awesome. Just the smell is worth a can.
> Indonesian palm sugar is awesome.



TOTALLY agree with you there.

these people i know only give their kids CSR brown sugar cause it's supposedly more "natural" - ha.

sorry for the hijack but get some KITHUL JAGGERY (Sri lankan palm sugar jaggery) from indian shops sometime


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## Simon W (22/2/07)

If cane sugar didn't caramelise, then thousands of mum's all over Australia wouldn't be able to make toffee for their kids, or the thousands of grannies for their fete-stand sales etc etc etc.

What do all the candi/lolly makers in Australia do? Do they all have to import beet sugar from the US? I doubt it. They'd all be using good old aussie cane sugar.


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## petesbrew (2/4/07)

neonmeate said:


> TOTALLY agree with you there.
> 
> these people i know only give their kids CSR brown sugar cause it's supposedly more "natural" - ha.
> 
> sorry for the hijack but get some KITHUL JAGGERY (Sri lankan palm sugar jaggery) from indian shops sometime



How does the Palm sugar Jaggery taste? how much did you use?


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## kook (2/4/07)

My understanding was that Belgian Candi Syrup was actually byproducts from the refining of beet sugar?


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## Stuster (2/4/07)

That's true, but I understand that cane sugar and beet sugar are 99.95% the same. Have a look here if you're interested in the difference. :blink:


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## neonmeate (2/4/07)

petesbrew said:


> How does the Palm sugar Jaggery taste? how much did you use?



the palm sugar jaggery is more datey tasting, slightly smokey too to my palate, very rich and round. i havent used this stuff in beer yet (planning to) but i have been using it every day on my porridge! and i have brewed a number of cane jaggery beers in the last couple of years and they were good. 
the palm jaggery is darker than most of the cane jaggeries, i'm looking at putting it in a big dark malty 11% belgian type thing. think it might be my next brew.
you can also get "kithul treacle" which is the liquid version, in bottles - useful cause the big cakes of it can be really hard to break up.
have also seen dark coconut sugar lately in the indian shop - have to give that a go soon.


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## Quintrex (2/4/07)

neonmeate said:


> the palm sugar jaggery is more datey tasting, slightly smokey too to my palate, very rich and round. i havent used this stuff in beer yet (planning to) but i have been using it every day on my porridge! and i have brewed a number of cane jaggery beers in the last couple of years and they were good.
> the palm jaggery is darker than most of the cane jaggeries, i'm looking at putting it in a big dark malty 11% belgian type thing. think it might be my next brew.
> you can also get "kithul treacle" which is the liquid version, in bottles - useful cause the big cakes of it can be really hard to break up.
> have also seen dark coconut sugar lately in the indian shop - have to give that a go soon.




I have heard that Jaggery(Indian palm Jaggery that is) is meant to contribute a maple syrup type notes to the beer, but when I used it in an english ale, I got primarily nutty kind of flavours from it.

It probably depends a fair bit on the brand and country of origin, I would imagine.

Anyone else have their thoughts on jaggery's flavour contribution?


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## MHB (2/4/07)

Sugar is used to lighten the body and to increase alcohol in beer.

Most commercial beers are between 10% and 40% sugar, mash really hot, get lots of dextrins, then make up the fermentables with sugar. Sugar and syrups should be added to the kettle about 10 minutes from the end of the boil; if for no other reason than that the lower kettle gravity increases hop utilisation.

Sugar is a useful adjunct and used judiciously can be a benefit; some styles rely on sugar as part of the flavour profile.

10-15 years ago it was "in" to use invert, to the best of my knowledge it's rarely used any more, most breweries just use plane old white sugar, or its liquid equivalent. If you see the liquid brewing sugar in supermarkets, thats what arrives at mega breweries in semi-trailer loads.

The "White" sold in Australia is generally 99.999% Sucrose, I suspect the 0.05% difference would be accounted for in any caramels in a coloured sugar.

Sugar (Sucrose) is Glucose - Fructose. Inverting breaks the bond and substitutes a water molecule where the join was. So you end up with Fructose Monohydrate and Glucose Monohydrate and a lot of sucrose that doesn't convert.

If Glucose Monohydrate looks familiar, it should, Dextrose is Dexter Rotated Glucose Monohydrate, one of the two chemically identical optical isomers.

Dextrose is 100% fermentable, Maltose the most common sugar in wort is Glucose-Glucose, inverting it or letting the yeast do the job naturally gives 2 Glucose Monohydrate, or 2 Dextrose dissolved in water.

So if you want to lighten the body of your beer, or increase the alcohol content and keep the yeasties happy little beasties, just add some dextrose, or sucrose if thats the flavour your after.

Some of the coloured, less refined sugars have interesting flavours; I use Demerara in my coffee, because I like the taste. Likewise in brewing some of the Belgian and Asian sugars add an interesting note, I would be a little cautious with palm sugar; some of it has a high oil content that could be head negative.

Pre-dissolve palm sugar in some hot water, if any oily scum forms skim it off before adding the sugar syrup to your wort.

For mine, inverting sugar is a complete waste of time; just use sugar, or better Dextrose

MHB


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## neonmeate (2/4/07)

MHB said:


> I would be a little cautious with palm sugar; some of it has a high oil content that could be head negative.
> 
> Pre-dissolve palm sugar in some hot water, if any oily scum forms skim it off before adding the sugar syrup to your wort.



very useful post MHB, when i did chemistry in year 12 i fell asleep during all the carbon chemistry cause it was all bloody three elements. if only i had made the connection with beer.

anyway that is a good point with palm sugar. i will watch the oils.


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## domonsura (2/4/07)

MHB said:


> Sugar is used to lighten the body and to increase alcohol in beer.
> 
> Most commercial beers are between 10% and 40% sugar, mash really hot, get lots of dextrins, then make up the fermentables with sugar. Sugar and syrups should be added to the kettle about 10 minutes from the end of the boil; if for no other reason than that the lower kettle gravity increases hop utilisation.
> 
> ...



WOW. Heavy stuff. And everyone thinks that beer drinkers are stupid.......big fat f' all they know. 
Next time I hear someone say 'Beer makes you dumb' I'm going to sic MHB on them. :lol:


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## Stuster (2/4/07)

MHB said:


> Sugar (Sucrose) is Glucose - Fructose. Inverting breaks the bond and substitutes a water molecule where the join was. So you end up with Fructose Monohydrate and Glucose Monohydrate and a lot of sucrose that doesn't convert.
> 
> For mine, inverting sugar is a complete waste of time; just use sugar, or better Dextrose



Now we've got you started  could you explain this a bit. Does the yeast not invert the sucrose completely? I thought it did? :unsure:


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## tangent (2/4/07)

i thought it was the stress of doing that that gives the invertase taste Pumpy?? (it's been a while though)


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## petesbrew (3/4/07)

Quintrex said:


> I have heard that Jaggery(Indian palm Jaggery that is) is meant to contribute a maple syrup type notes to the beer, but when I used it in an english ale, I got primarily nutty kind of flavours from it.
> 
> It probably depends a fair bit on the brand and country of origin, I would imagine.
> 
> Anyone else have their thoughts on jaggery's flavour contribution?



Cheers for the replies. It's in the Belgian Strong Ale recipe that's one of the beers for the National Brew Day, so it's good to know these things.


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## braufrau (3/4/07)

tangent said:


> i thought it was the stress of doing that that gives the invertase taste Pumpy?? (it's been a while though)



When yeast inverts sucrose, it produces those much maligned cidery tastes associated with 
sucrose in beer.

MHB - liquid brewing sugar is inverted, that's why it stays a liquid, sucrose solution would crystalise.

Belgian candi sugar is made from beet sugar because sugar cane doesn't grow well in europe.

The manufacturers claim its a by product of candy making 
http://www.brewlikeamonk.com/2006/04/24/be...ble-in-america/
Its approx. 50% inverted.

There's one more way to get "inverted" sugar in your brew ... just buy sucrose, fructose and glucose and
mix them 2:1:1 by mass.

-braufrau


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## Stuster (3/4/07)

braufrau said:


> When yeast inverts sucrose, it produces those much maligned cidery tastes associated with
> sucrose in beer.



There's a fair amount of debate about this actually. Personally, considering how many breweries (and not just mega-swill manufacturers) use standard cane or beet sugar, I'm inclined to believe that this is a myth (at least at reasonable levels).

Anyway, this might make interesting reading on the subject. Here.


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## DJR (3/4/07)

Stuster said:


> There's a fair amount of debate about this actually. Personally, considering how many breweries (and not just mega-swill manufacturers) use standard cane or beet sugar, I'm inclined to believe that this is a myth (at least at reasonable levels).
> 
> Anyway, this might make interesting reading on the subject. Here.



I recently did an AIPA that was 15% cane sugar. No cideryness was present at all. If there was cidery tastes it'd be all through the flavour profiles of the big Aussie megaswills, considering how much cane they use.


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## MHB (3/4/07)

There are a couple of interesting points above, to answer I have tossed in a little basic brewing chemistry (much abridged) just to clarify the basics.

There are only 4 simple sugars, these combine to make the 2.6 million known complex sugars.

The 4 simple sugars are:-
Glucose
Fructose
Galactose
Mannose

All 4 have the same molecular weight the same number of Carbon (6), Hydrogen (11) and Oxygen (5) atoms. They are all arranged in a ring of 6 Carbons with various attachments hanging off, the attachments are called functional groups, this is where the sugars join up.

Simple sugars join into chains, an Oxygen molecule forms the join, the shortest chain being 2 joined together, so: -

Glucose - O - Glucose = Maltose. 100% fermentable, most common sugar in wort, around 44%
Glucose - O - Fructose = Sucrose. 100% fermentable, usually 3-4% of wort sugars
Glucose - O - Galactose = Lactose. 0% fermentable, not naturally found in wort

In a wort we find tri-saccharides like Maltotriose

Glucose - O - Glucose - O - Glucose. This is a limit dextrin; neither Alpha nor Beta Amylase can break it down any further. Mash hotter you get more, cooler gives less

More complex sugars are formed by longer chains, Hexoses (Grenzdextrine) accounts for around 8% of wort sugars, this if formed from where chains branch.
If the chain gets long enough it becomes insoluble, then we call it starch, join up enough starches, you get cellulose, so yes a tree is made of sugar (mostly).

Back on topic; inverting is supposed to break the join ( - O - ) and put a water molecule in there, giving in the case of Maltose, 2 Glucose - water.
Yeast will do this naturally.
Well it actually just rips the whole thing to pieces and in a 12 step process that spits out 2 alcohol and 2 CO2 molecules. That's from each simple sugar, if its a disaccharide like Maltose or Sucrose, you double that.
It needs the water molecule that would go where the join is if it was inverted, as obviously 2 alcohol and 2 CO2 molecules needs 6 Oxygen's for the equation to balance and the sugar only has 5.
But we are talking wet chemistry here; there is lots of water around.
Does yeast invert sugar?
Maybe! I think it just shreds it, but yes it does break that -O- bond and uses a water molecule.

The idea that we need to hold the yeasts hand, inverting sugar that it is fully capable of eating is falling out of favour. I personally dont see any point or benefit.
Most of the inverting processes people use are less than 25% efficient, so 75% of the sugar remains as sugar. A lot of work for questionable benefits.

The argument about cindery taste from Sucrose, well the equation balances. All the sugar is used in the conversion to alcohol and CO2, there arent any "Bits" left over.
I suspect that when a mash program is designed, that relies on Sugar to make up for low levels of fermentables in a high Alpha Amylase activity mash, biased toward terminal dextrin production; the taste of the resulting beer is affected.

As to wether liquid sugar is invert or not I can't say, however, I recently found an old bottle of brewing syrup (left over from my mead making days) this is the old "Pound in a Pint" stuff, still a liquid several years later.
I suspect that evaporation or super critical conditions are required for recrystallisation.

Lastly
domonsura
Ethanol is a deadly neurotoxin, it will rot your brain, but, I have a cunning plan, drink just enough so that by the time I am too old to enjoy my vices, I will be too brain dead to remember what I am missing.

Cheers and good brewing.
MHB


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## tangent (3/4/07)

well that certainly clears everything up.


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## blackbock (3/4/07)

MHB said:


> Most commercial beers are between 10% and 40% sugar, mash really hot, get lots of dextrins, then make up the fermentables with sugar. Sugar and syrups should be added to the kettle about 10 minutes from the end of the boil; if for no other reason than that the lower kettle gravity increases hop utilisation.



I already knew about commercial brewers using all that sugar, and that "diluting" wort with sugar can compensate for malts which are a bit too high in protein to a certain extent , but just reading your post it struck me that this high mash temp may be another reason that so many kit manufacturers recommend using just sugar in their "instructions", and also why those cans never seem to ferment out as fully as they should.

What do you think?


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## SpillsMostOfIt (3/4/07)

I wonder how much of the tendency to avoid sugar is just brewing folklore?

One or two Belgians - who have been known to make a nice beer - use metric shed-loads of sugar.


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## Kai (3/4/07)

Avoiding sugar is definitely a result of the old "kit & kilo" recommendations, the fact that "megabreweries" here use it a lot just adds emphasis. A little plain old sucrose does not do much harm though I doubt I would ever find myself using the equivalent ratio of 1kg sugar to 1.7kg extract. But, kit manufacturers themselves rarely recommend that either anymore.


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## Stuster (3/4/07)

Interesting post, MHB. Thanks for the explanation. :super:


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## Cortez The Killer (4/4/07)

If I'd been into brewing in high school - all that carbon chemistry would have made sooo much more sense

I've used invert sugar and sucrose in a couple of batches - and have not noticed any cidery notes

They were more prevelant in my earlier attempts when i didn't know what was going on

But it might be that as a brewer's techniques improve - like temp control / yeast selection etc - cidery / off flavours disappear

Cheers


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## SDHBrewing (9/4/07)

JasonY said:


> I just made a kilo of the sugar according to Graham Sanders' method, while I am sure it aint the real deal it still worked well in the last belgian strong ale I brewed.
> 
> Worth a shot if you don't have ready access or want to pay for the real stuff.



I've made two 500g batches using Graham Sanders method and they turned out fine. I used no-name raw sugar and cooked it for a long time till it was dark red/almoust brown before tuning up the heat to finish it off. I wanted it for a dark Abbey-style Belgian Ale made from a kit, and it turned out great. I've given it to other people and they reckon it's great - nice and dark but light beer without the heavy roast taste of stouts or dark ales.

Second time the candi sugar was fine but I overhopped the beer and stuffed it up (only good for making beef and beer pies now, though I drank most of it anyway becasue it was a shame to waste all that high-alcohol beer). But the candi sugar was ok. Making your own means you can make it as light or dark as you need for the beer you're trying to brew.
:beer:


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## blackbock (9/4/07)

I think a lot of brewers have come full circle with regard to sugar - it's not the evil that homebrew wholesalers would have us believe (after all if we used sugar no-one would buy their dextrose enhancers, would they?) but it's also an ingredient used with discretion: by all means use it to boost alcohol or enhance flavour, but take it easy, and remember why the Germans use only malt: That's what makes it beer!


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## kabooby (6/10/07)

http://www.franklinbrew.org/brewinfo/candi_sugar.html



I just tried making the Belgian candi syrup from the franklin brew page and made a big bowl of sticky goo. Not sure how im going to get the pot clean. 
Has anyone tried this with success of am I best of making the candi sugar?

Kabooby


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## randyrob (4/2/08)

Hey Guys,

well i didnt have enough time to put down a brew this weekend and still wanted to do something brewing related so i made me some candi sugar, i knew there would be a post around here somewhere on the subject...

made up 3 x 500g batches here are some piccies:








i did a few batches just to see what different colours i could make

i'm going to use 1kg of the dark i made in a Golden Strong Ale

curious as to how much colour they will contribute!

Rob.


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## Kai (4/2/08)

That's some sweet looking toffee, rob. I vaguely remember making that in the confectionery module at university. 

Let us know how it turns out, should be great in a golden strong.


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## bindi (4/2/08)

Nice colour Randy, also what size batch are putting 1kg of the dark in?


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## warrenlw63 (4/2/08)

randyrob said:


> Hey Guys,
> 
> well i didnt have enough time to put down a brew this weekend and still wanted to do something brewing related so i made me some candi sugar, i knew there would be a post around here somewhere on the subject...



Excellent looking sugar Rob. Be sure to report back the results of the finished beer. I'd be most anxious to see how it went. :beerbang: 

Warren -


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## Hogan (4/2/08)

randyrob said:


> Hey Guys,
> 
> well i didnt have enough time to put down a brew this weekend and still wanted to do something brewing related so i made me some candi sugar, i knew there would be a post around here somewhere on the subject...
> 
> ...



Rob - just a query on adding the candi sugar to the boil. Did you revert it to liquid or just drop the chunk into the kettle?


Cheers, Hoges.


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## randyrob (4/2/08)

bindi said:


> Nice colour Randy, also what size batch are putting 1kg of the dark in?



Hey Mate, just a standard batch. i wouldn't call this stuff the dark, pictures show it darker than it acutally is.

here's the recipe (had a hand from a mate that make some pretty awesome belgiun beers.)

=================

Belgian Strong Golden Ale

A ProMash Recipe Report

Recipe Specifics
----------------

Batch Size (L): 25.00 Wort Size (L): 25.00
Total Grain (kg): 7.00
Anticipated OG: 1.068 Plato: 16.58
Anticipated EBC: 9.0
Anticipated IBU: 28.4
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70 %
Wort Boil Time: 75 Minutes


Grain/Extract/Sugar

% Amount Name Origin Potential EBC
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
42.9 3.00 kg. Ale Malt 1.038 7
42.9 3.00 kg. Pilsner Malt 1.037 3
14.3 1.00 kg. Candi Sugar (Homemade) 1.046 1

Potential represented as SG per pound per gallon.


Hops

Amount Name Form Alpha IBU Boil Time
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
43.00 g. Styrian Goldings Pellet 4.80 24.9 60 min.
25.00 g. Saazer Pellet 4.30 3.5 15 min.


Yeast
-----

3522 Belgian Ardennes Yeast





Hogan said:


> Rob - just a query on adding the candi sugar to the boil. Did you revert it to liquid or just drop the chunk into the kettle?
> 
> 
> Cheers, Hoges.




Hey Mate,

haven't brewed it yet but i've smashed it up and put it into zip lock bags and in the fridge, when i brew with it i'll just chuck it in with 10 minutes left of the biol.

Rob.


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## ausdb (4/2/08)

randyrob said:


> Yeast
> -----
> 3522 Belgian Ardennes Yeast



The monster lives on, did you manage to catch some as it crawled out of your fermenter?


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## randyrob (4/2/08)

ausdb said:


> The monster lives on, did you manage to catch some as it crawled out of your fermenter?



hehe...

the plan is to dump this batch onto the yeast cake from the brewday, i just can't bare to waste it!


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## bindi (4/2/08)

Amber Candi Sugar [my secret recipe], almost set rock hard.  
Brewing Friday [guess what style].


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## bindi (4/2/08)

Dark Candi Sugar [same recipe boiled longer]  .


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## Jazman (4/2/08)

im with mhb about the sugar my last strong ale i used dex and raw sugar with malts a 10% belgian strong and it was a ripper



also my preivous belgians have been raw sugar no probs


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## bindi (5/2/08)

I am also with MHB when he says brewing is" An artistic interpretation of an inexact science", I don't know why or how but the candi sugar DOES improve some Belgian styles. B)

Edit: Typo and add photo of the set sugar.


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## Brewtus (10/6/08)

braufrau said:


> I've been pondering this further.
> 
> Belgian candi sugar is
> * big chunks / crystals ... well as neonmate says, it goes into solution so what does that matter?
> ...



Sorry for dragging up an old post but it is a good one.

A quick calculation shows for 1kg of sugar 0.05% is 0.5g. If you think about water chemistry it counts, if you think what amount of the hops you boil stay in the beer than 0.5g in a 23l batch or about 22ppm could matter a lot.


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## Interloper (12/6/08)

So if you are a K&K type like my good self  what's the best way to use this sugar? Do you have to dissolve it in water all over again to use? Surely the yeast can't chew through rock hard candy?

Any suggestions?


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## pmolou (12/6/08)

Kai said:


> That's some sweet looking toffee, rob. I vaguely remember making that in the confectionery module at university.
> 
> Let us know how it turns out, should be great in a golden strong.



howd it turn out ???haha
im also breing something similar but actually have the dark rock candi (bought it before i new any better) was wondering what sort of flavour i could expect from it i've heard of rum/raisins is this true?


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