Zlosk
Circus, then beer
Hi. I'm new to this board, and I attempted to make (and finally did make) the #4 Deep Amber today. I read through all 20 pages of this discussion and it looked like while some people had some of the same issues as I did, I didn't see a fix for those issues that used the resources that were available to me.
When making the #4 Deep Amber, I used L.D. Carlson Company yeast nutrient (contains food grade urea and di-ammonium phosphate) instead of pure DAP, as that's what my local homebrew shop had in stock. After running through the process and then cooling it, I ended up with a crystallized slurry of a color that was in between the 260 F and 270 F color samples per post 36 of this discussion. It didn't really have much flavor, and certainly wasn't what I expected.
I decided that maybe my thermometer was off, and reheating to a higher temperature might allow me to hit my color target. I also decided that inverting the sugar might help with the crystallization. I added 1/4 tsp of acid blend (a blend of citric and malic acids sold at my local homebrew shop; I don't know the ratio) and started the reheat. This time around, the color at 290 F was spot on, so I figured that maybe my thermometer wasn't the issue after all. I added 1 cup of water (a little at a time), which brought the temperature to around 235 F, heated it back up to 240 F, and then cooled it. It stayed a syrup after cooling, and it tastes pretty great.
In the future, I plan to add some acid at the start to invert the sugar before the Maillard reactions start. Is there any reason why this would not be a good idea?
When making the #4 Deep Amber, I used L.D. Carlson Company yeast nutrient (contains food grade urea and di-ammonium phosphate) instead of pure DAP, as that's what my local homebrew shop had in stock. After running through the process and then cooling it, I ended up with a crystallized slurry of a color that was in between the 260 F and 270 F color samples per post 36 of this discussion. It didn't really have much flavor, and certainly wasn't what I expected.
I decided that maybe my thermometer was off, and reheating to a higher temperature might allow me to hit my color target. I also decided that inverting the sugar might help with the crystallization. I added 1/4 tsp of acid blend (a blend of citric and malic acids sold at my local homebrew shop; I don't know the ratio) and started the reheat. This time around, the color at 290 F was spot on, so I figured that maybe my thermometer wasn't the issue after all. I added 1 cup of water (a little at a time), which brought the temperature to around 235 F, heated it back up to 240 F, and then cooled it. It stayed a syrup after cooling, and it tastes pretty great.
In the future, I plan to add some acid at the start to invert the sugar before the Maillard reactions start. Is there any reason why this would not be a good idea?