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mhot55 · 08-28-2010, 03:01 PM

I have seen directions on how to make homemade belg candy sugar. I have one question, can i make DARK Belg Candi Sugar by using Lyle's golden syrup and then cooking it until desired color, subsequently following the rest of the directions to make it? It seems to make it you need to make invert sugar and cook it to the desired color. Lyle's is already invert sugar. Could this save me some time in the process instead of starting from scratch????

BTW- i know it's cheaper to start from scratch. However I have 6 11oz. bottles of lyle's and nothing to do with them as of now

...or even better, I have Amber Belg Candi Syrup (i need dark), any way i just follow directions on making it homemade by just heating the amber syrup with a little water and going from there? Do i need to put another pinch of citric acid?

Nateo · 08-29-2010, 05:07 PM

Sugar that can be inverted, like table sugar, inverts in the presence of acid and heat. Your wort will have plenty of both when you're boiling it in the brew kettle, so I wouldn't stress about inverting. From my limited understanding of chemistry, I think the clear "invert" sugar is a scam. The dark stuff, however, is a different matter.

I've made my own "dark candy syrup." It wasn't the same as real dark candy syrup, but it did have a really nice flavor. It had a strong raisin flavor, with some plum/date flavors. I took a pound of sugar and made dark caramel syrup. Look for some candy making charts around the internet. Making candy is a PITA without a good digital thermometer.

The syrup I ended up with had a good flavor, but it's not a 1 to 1 substitution with the real dark syrup. I would use 1/3 the amount you would use of the dark stuff. It will taste a lot stronger and won't be nearly as fermentable, so plan accordingly.

Also, turbinado sugar is a good option if you want some dark sugar flavors. Not a direct substitution for real dark candy sugar, but it has good flavors that will work in a recipe calling for dark candy sugar.

mhot55 · 08-29-2010, 05:31 PM

thanks. i have seen a few directions about how to make it.

However, is it possible to take AMBER candi syrup and heat it so it becomes DARK candi syrup. I'm sure it's possible, but is it advisable?? is it necessary to add acid if this is possible

KingBrianI · 08-29-2010, 05:32 PM

Check out this thread for info on how to simply make belgian candi syrup using plain white sugar quickly and easily. http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/20-lb-sugar-jar-yeast-nutrient-114837/ The results are outstanding.

Nateo · 08-29-2010, 05:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mhot55

thanks. i have seen a few directions about how to make it.

However, is it possible to take AMBER candi syrup and heat it so it becomes DARK candi syrup. I'm sure it's possible, but is it advisable?? is it necessary to add acid if this is possible

If you heat sugar, any sugar (table sugar, corn sugar, amber candi syrup,) to make it darker, you're making caramel, you're not making dark candi syrup. Will it taste good? Yes. Will it be dark candi syrup? No.

And, assuming you will be adding this to your wort, acid is not necessary. Your wort will be mildly acidic so there is no reason to add acid to the sugar.

rugman · 08-29-2010, 06:01 PM

lyle's is already inverted you can boil it down to a dark syrup.

maybe i'm missing something here..?but dark candi syrup is by definition a Caramel the only real difference is one is made with beet sugar (dark candi) and one is made with cane sugar lyle's

I've made my own dark syrup and i really couldn't tell the difference ?

KingBrianI · 08-29-2010, 06:15 PM

a caramel is made by caramelization of sugar and a belgian candi syrup is made by the malliard reaction in the sugar. The malliard reaction takes place at a lower temperature than the caramelization and is facilitated by the addition of nitrogen in the form of DAP. The temperatures at which belgian candi syrup are made would not even begin to color the syrup by caramelization if the DAP wasn't added. The resulting flavors from the two processes are much different.

Nateo · 08-29-2010, 06:24 PM

To make Belgian candi sugar/syrup, they harvest beets, pulverize them, and use solvent (water) to remove the sugar from the flesh. That is boiled to promote crystallization. That mixture is run through a centrifuge. The crystals make sugar, and the leftovers make syrup. True "Belgian dark syrup" is more like molasses than caramel.

Molasses is dark, but not because it was boiled. Molasses does not taste like caramel.

So you can make a darker syrup from a lighter syrup, but the light syrup had impurities removed from it to make it lighter. Those impurities are where most of the unique flavor comes from. You can't caramelize table sugar to turn it into molasses. Those impurities are gone and no amount of boiling will bring them back.

rugman · 08-29-2010, 10:02 PM

Ok got it !

OMG.... I'v been using white satin sugar for my beer raising gravity & priming
the bag doesn't say anything about the source of the sugar so i was searching and just found out all white satin sugars are... beet sugar! LOL no wounder i like better

http://beetsugar.org/

BasementBrewHaus · 12-07-2011, 06:22 AM

this is the first time ive made candi syrup, since all the othertimes ive used a malic acid inversion tek so i guess that was caramel syrup.
my ratios were:
60# refined beet sugar
4 g. h20
8oz fermax

bring 3 g h2o to 180, add sugar, stir, add fermax(dap) at 200. hold at 255 for 75 mins. ko heat. add1 g cool h2o once cooled to 200. stir.

it tastes and smells great. i think the viscosity is just right (slightly thinner than lme). 100% toasted marshmallows. looks to be about 80 l.

there does seem to be some crystallization already. I wonder if a small percentage of dextrose would help that?