Same old debate : Candied Sugar

Sorry, this HAVE been asked in other posts, but I could not find a clear anwswer. I saw a lot of different references from books, sites, people, ..., but there is too much contradictions and I am still confused. I am asking for people own experience with this subject.

I've been reading a lot about the need for "sucre candy", which to me translates to "Candied sugar", not "Candy sugar", but that's another debate

So, taking for granted that we don't talk about caramel colored sugar here, but just white/light stuff, here's the question : is Candied sugar really needed, or can one use just regular table sugar? How about Inverted sugar? Corn syrup? Molasses?

I saw a lot of recipe out there talking about using either table sugar with lemon juice, using corn syrup, using other chemical stuff...or just using plain table sugar.

From your own experience, does it make a difference if plain table sugar is used in a brew? That would make it a lot easier for us of course

Thanks for your thoughts on this...
Zolt

From an AG brewing course I took at a LHBS and from limited personal experience, white sugar works fine vs. clear candi sugar since the clear doesn't have any flavor anyway. I used 2 lbs white sugar boiled in 2 cups water added to 2.5 gals of Belgian Golden Strong Ale and it turned out good.

If I were making a Quad or something where the caramel flavors were desired, I would spend the $ on the darker candi sugar.

Yeah, there is no flavor difference between processed dry sugar (either sugarcane, beet, or corn sugar). You can develop some nice caramel flavors by heating sugar in water, with or without the acid. People have tried all sorts of ways to replicate the darker candy syrup coming out of Belgium but none of it really hits it on the head.

Thanks guys for the replies.
And what about the inverted sugar process? Is this a myth? Can sugar be used as is and still be "used" by the yeast?

Candi sugar is an inverted sugar created by crystalizing an inverted sugar syrup that is made by boiling regular sugar in water with an acid catalyst. This process converts the sucrose to a mix of glucose and fructose which are more readily consumed by yeast.

Regular white sugar (sucrose) can be used by the yeast, but before they can consume it, the yeast must work a little harder to create an extra enzyme, invertase, to convert the sucrose to glucose.

For me, when a recipe calls for candi sugar, I just take the weight of candi sugar called for and dissolve it in half as much water, bring it to a boil, add a splash of lemon juice and boil for several minutes for clear, or until it caramelizes for amber or dark candi sugar.

scutiger said:

(...)For me, when a recipe calls for candi sugar, I just take the weight of candi sugar called for and dissolve it in half as much water(..)

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I guess you meant you use regular sugar...right?
Thanks, I'll try this - lot cheaper than buying candied sugar!

Zoltanar said:

I guess you meant you use regular sugar...right?
Thanks, I'll try this - lot cheaper than buying candied sugar!

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Yep, that's what I meant, sorry I wasn't clear in that part.

No trouble. Just wanted to be sure!
Thanks again!

Has anybody tried with brown sugar instead of amber/dark candy sugar?
Just out of curiosity...:cross:

Brown sugar is bleached table sugar coated in molasses. Totally different product.

OK Didn't know this! thanks for the info.

If you want amber or dark just use scutigers method and cook till desired color. Word of caution be careful with melted sugar it's dangerous stuff.

My brew last Sunday went just great, and my candied sugar was perfect. Thanks for all the tips - a good thing to keep in my notes.

i found making invert/candi sugar to be a surprisingly simple process. i used a pound of beet sugar, a pinch of cream of tartar, a pinch of DAP yeast nutrient and 1/2 cup of water. all of this went into a small, heavy bottomed pot, gently stir to avoid getting it on the sides of the pot, cover with a lid (water vapor helps keep crystals from forming on the edges). some people use a candy thermometer, i used one of those polder digital probes with the probe stuck under the lid. with a medium flame i let the temp rise to 240 (i was making clear sugar), it will stall around 220, and once i reached 240 i kept the temp there by spooning a bit of water in and held it there for 20 minutes. after 20 min i let lowered the temp to 235 then let it rise to 240 again before taking it off of the fire and pouring into preheated canning jars. the longer you keep it at higher temps the darker it will get and the more flavors develop, at 240 it was lots of vanilla. if it starts to crystallize it did not invert, sometimes it will partially crystallize and you can pour the good stuff off leaving the crystals behind. i'm not a sugar chemist so i don't know all of the reasons why this or that i was just experimenting and figured that the yeast would eat it no matter what.