Belgium Style Dark Candi Sugar

[egolds77]

I love Belgium beers and dark beers especially and the price of candi sugar is just crazy so I found out how to from following the instructions in this link http://www.franklinbrew.org/brewinfo/candi_sugar.html

it took me about an hour and a half to get the candi sugar to what looks like somewhere between a Amber and tradition dark. It has a sweet slightly burnt toffee flavour. I'm now planning my Rochefort 10 style Belgium beer to try this in.

Has anyone else made their own and what were their results and thoughts?

 

[Nick JD]

Reduce the water content to get there quicker - and don't stop looking/stiring. Get it off the heat before you get to your desired colour or add a dash of water to stop it going too far. Those are my golden rules to candi sugar. :icon_cheers:

EDIT: golden syrup candi syrup is awesome. 50:50 GS and Sucrose.

 

[Sydneybrewer]

Yeah i used that same web page to make mine except i used the juice of two whole grapefruits in place of the citric acid and water and it took about half hr all up to get to amber has a nice little citrus kick too should go well in my munich american ipa

 

[egolds77]

Good to hear a few brewers are making their own. I'd like to hear what they thought of the finished result, the beer in which they used it in and how it tasted and possibly rated compared to bought candi if used in a exact recipe to compare.

 

[Nick JD]

I've never bought the stuff (too expensive) so can't really comment.

As a kid I would always make big batches of "toffee" which is the same thing with a bit of butter thrown in (and malt vinegar as the acid) - they went down well with friends in the playground at lunchtimes. I never used a thermometer - just dropped blobs into a cup of cold water to test for hard crack.

It brings me back to being ten years old, that bubbling sugar.

300g of candi sugar in 15L is a subtle change in flavour for the better, IMO. It's a non-sweet, sweetness if that makes sense.

 

[Sydneybrewer]

Havent used mine yet its in rock form in the freezer still awaiting my package of hops before i start brewing my ipa

 

[Duff]

On AHB somewhere in the archives is a good thread regarding home made candi sugar with some good debate and excellent information.

From memory, MHB posted some detail about how the pinch of citric acid prescribed from Colonel Sanders in the first link is not sufficient for proper candi sugar production at home.

Could be mistaken though. If you search the database you should be able to find it.

 

[Gulpa]

Ive given up with adding water to the sugar. Takes too long. I just melt the sugar directly in a frypan and add boiling water when it gets to where I want it. Goes a lot quicker than boiling it down but you have to be careful with the heat source as it can burn easily - start full bore but turn it down as the sugar melts and colours. Also have to be careful with adding boiling water as the sugar is pretty hot by then. Citric acid goes in after the boiling water then boil for a while.

Cant help with the comparison with the real thing - Ive got my first batch of dubbel in the fermenter that uses some of the real stuff. So far doesnt seem like a significant difference to justify the $$ but time will tell for sure.


Cheers
Andrew.