Making Candi in the UK

[JammyMatt]

Hi,

I was reading this thread about the candi syrups Malt Miller has started stocking viewtopic.php?f=10&t=49578 and in it Zgoda linked to this discussion about how to make these syrups yourself, on another brewing forum http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/20-lb-s ... nt-114837/

I'm keen to give this a try but am struggling to find what seems to be a pretty key ingredient, DAP (diammonium phosphate), used to create a Maillard reaction, which leads to the rich fruit/raison/chocolate flavours in the syrup, but keeping the syrup highly fermentable. That thread is looooooong, and some of it went over my head if i'm honest. As far as I can tell though you need either DAP (yeast nutrient) or you can substitute that with Ammonium Bicarbonate, which is a specialist baking soda used in some cookie recipes, but hard to find/buy cheaply.

Now, my issue is, where in the UK can I buy DAP cheaply? I've been scouring the net for different yeast nutrients, but they all seem to be a blend of different chemicals. I read that Youngs yeast nutrient is both Daimmonium phosphate and Diammonium sulphate, and i've no idea if the diammonium sulphate will make a difference. I've seen a few links to american sites that seem to sell DAP as a stand alone product, but all the UK ones have non-descript 'yeast nutrient' and i'm abit confused lol! Any ideas?

Also, just stumbled across this http://ryanbrews.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02 ... -been.html which suggests adding all kinds of additions, which might be worth a go too.

Also, has anyone else tried this out, and what were your findings?

[TC2642]

I just used a pinch of citric acid and nothing else, made very good candi sugar. I think that some US brewers do have the tendency to overcomplicate things. I would try that and see if you're happy with the results.

[asd]

Hi,

You just need a bit of citric acid - this catalyses the inversion of the sugar. The heating/boiling time does the Maillard thing, alongside but separately to the actual inversion, I think.. I sped the whole process up further by using a pressure cooker, and that seemed to work well.

Simon