Homemade Candy Sugar

[verno]

Hi All,

I was trying to make some homemade candy sugar for a belgian beer recipe. I found an online guide on how to do this and had my jam thermometer ready. In reality I really struggled to keep the temperature at soft crack (around 130C) as my hob just seemed to heat it up a bit high. The temperature ended up fluctuating up and down to hard crack.

It has turned a nice brown colour and I have cooled it and stuck it in the freezer. I guess my question is do you think this is usable for beer, or will the constant heat changing have adversely affected the sugar?

Thanks

[jubby]

Verno, you are probably using the same guide that i use; http://www.franklinbrew.org/brewinfo/candi_sugar.html

I have not attempted the candi sugar, as it looked a bit complicated. I think the link recommends adding water to control the temperature. I use the candi syrup recipe which is simple and works very well, but I use it in dark ales and porters to add colour and a rich caramel aftertaste. Belgian beer is on my list to attempt after xmas, when I will have built a temp controlled fridge for fermenting.

If it tastes good, then I am sure it's ok to use, I make it very dark and slightly bitter.

[verno]

yep thats the one. I actually forgot to add the water to control the temperature but it looks ok, so I will probably give it a go.

Cheers

[oblivious]

Nice one lads, but just remember that that that stuff is not fully fermentable and you may need to mix in some table sugar to reach terminal gravity especially for Belgians

[jubby]

That's a good point oblivious. I usually add an equal amount of golden syrup to balance out the fermentability. I also add citric acid as per the instructions, but not sure if that inverts it enough, or if it's worth adding at all. What do you think?

[verno]

Yep thanks for that. Any idea how much extra sugar I should put in? For example if the kit says add 1kg then what balance should I have between homemade candy sugar and table sugar?

[oblivious]

Maybe something like a 50:50 mix