Substitute for Liquid Invert Sugar?

I started a cider kit from Vinoka a few days ago. On the directions it calls for adding Liquid Invert Sugar before carbonating and bottling. It does say you can use store bought sugar or corn sugar but not "Brewers Glucose". Maybe I'm just being critical but I used cane sugar before in a beer since I didn't know any better and it tastes like crap. What the heck is LIS? Is cane sugar really an OK substitute? How about honey, would that work? Honey sounds yummy but would it taste funny?

TIA,
Bryan

LIS is "partially inverted refiners syrup". I have no idea what that means, except that it must be unrefined so cane sugar would be out. You might find some more info on the Lyle's web site.

zoom233 said:

I started a cider kit from Vinoka a few days ago. On the directions it calls for adding Liquid Invert Sugar before carbonating and bottling. It does say you can use store bought sugar or corn sugar but not "Brewers Glucose".

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I didn't realize when I first read this that you were talking about priming...in this case corn sugar should work.

Also just to be safe, I'd post this question down in the Cider Forum so that someone who know's something about cider will see it.

I think if I remember correctly then LIS is sugar boiled in acid. It's called inverted because it inverts light passed through it.

Found this on a cooking website:


-walker

The sugar is added to sweeten up the cider after it has been fermented I think, not for priming. You're supposed to use a carbonating keg to sparkle it. I've got a couple kegs and CO2 so that isn't a problem, I wasn't even going to bottle it I was just going to leave it in the keg.

The reason I ask about the invert sugar is I was wondering if it is some type of sugar that isn't available to the yeast so it stays in the cider and sweetens it up.

If someone has a good answer as to what I can use then post it here by all means but I guess I will post in the cider forum too, I didn't realize there was one.

Thanks for the help,
Bryan

PS. The Vinoka kits were buy one get one free at the local shop so after the cider I have a Cranberry Hard Lemonade but after that I'm sure I'll be back in this forum looking for some suggestions and help. I wan't to brew up a coffee stout next I think, two of my favorite things.

You can always use Candi Sugar which is basically invert sugar, or simple table sugar that is hydrolyzed, table sugar transformed into glucose and fructose, which speeds fermentation. I have two recipes for making Belgian Candi Sugar. Let me know if you need them.

Good luck,
Wild

Wild - could you post up those recipies for making Belgian Candi Sugar - I'm planning on making a few Belgian style beers over the winter and a lb of Candi Sugar is about $4.50 here in the UK so it may well save me a bit of cash if I can convert cane sugar to candi

cheers !

80/-

80/- said:

Wild - could you post up those recipies for making Belgian Candi Sugar

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Here you go:

Method #1: From Brewmaxer http://www.brewmaxer.com/tips/invert_sugar.html

Invert sugar is made by mixing two parts sugar to one part water, adding two teaspoons lemon juice per pound of sugar. This is brought almost to a boil and held there for 30 minutes (do NOT allow to boil). This is poured into a sealable jar, sealed and cooled in refrigerator. This process hydrolyzes sucrose into glucose and fructose and speeds fermentation. Invert sugar should NOT be used to sweeten finished wine as it will encourage refermentation.
For 1 pound invert sugar:
• 2 cups finely granulated sugar
• 1 cup water
• 2 tsp lemon juice

Expand the recipe above to make the amount required by a particular recipe. For example, to make 2½ pounds of invert sugar, use 5 cups sugar, 2½ cups water and 5 tsp lemon juice. Make the invert sugar at least 2 hours ahead of time (to give it sufficient time to cool).

Method #2
From Homebrewer's Digest:
http://hbd.org/franklin/public_html/docs/candi_sugar.html

Making Belgian Candi Sugar

Belgian brewers often use sugar in beer making to produce high alcohol beers without a thick body. They normally will use what is called Candi Sugar, but this stuff is pretty expensive, costing homebrewers around $4-5 per pound. Basically, candi sugar is ordinary white cane/beet sugar (sucrose) that has been modified by an 'inversion' process, producing 'invert sugar'.

You can make your own 'invert sugar' from ordinary table sugar with just a few simple items. Sucrose is made up of two simpler sugars (glucose and fructose) joined together. Yeast must spend time and effort breaking the joining bonds to allow them to get at the simple sugars they need for metabolism. This can be done chemically in an acid environment with heat. You will need a candy thermometer that goes up to about 350°F and a 2 qt saucepan. The ingredients are sugar, water, and citric acid to provide the acidic environment needed.
There are certain temperatures that relate to the process of candy making as shown in the table below. The terms refer to how the sugar will behave on cooling.

Term Used Temperature
Soft Ball 240°F
Hard Ball 260°F
Soft Crack 275°F
Hard Crack 300°F

To make a pound of Candi Sugar, measure a pound of sugar into the 2 qt saucepan. Add just enough water to make a thick syrup, and mix in a pinch of citric acid. Now bring to a boil and keep the temperature between hard ball and soft crack (260°-275°F). As you boil, evaporation will cause the temperature to begin rising, so have a small amount of water on hand and add a tablespoon whenever the temperature gets above 275°F.

The color will gradually change from clear to light amber to deep red as the boil proceeds. Light candi sugar is a very light amber-yellow. This can take as little as 15 minutes. Dark candi sugar is very deep red. This can take several hours. Once you are at the color you desire, you stop adding water and let the temperature rise to hard crack (300°F). Once it hits hard crack, turn off the heat and pour it into a shallow pan (like a cake pan) lined with a sheet of waxed paper. As it cools it will go rock hard, and you can break it into 'rocks', bag in a Ziplock bag and store in the freezer until you are ready to use it.

Good luck,
Wild

I used citric acid and cane sugar, boiled for an hour. Be carful boiling though, the longer you boil it, the darker it can get from carmelizing. This will also affect your desired color outcome and can make it darker.

The LIS in the vinoka kits is for backsweetening. It is added after potassium sorbate and metabisulphite, which prevents renewed fermentation (bottle bombs). Cane sugar and corn sugar would both work just fine. This is why the kit advises the use of a soda keg to carbonate, because carbonation doesn't come from bottle fermentation.

What you really want to do is use corn sugar or corn syrup. No real need to spend high dollar or a whole lot of time making your own invert sugar just for bottling.

IMHO
Go taste some Lyle's Golden Syrup (the best tasting thing on the planet) and realize that you will never be able to make something that comes close in flavor. So, why work for less than prison labor wages trying to make the stuff when it is only $5 for a pound. Lyle's tastes soooo good it would be a crime to use it for bottling. Nectar from the heavens. Try using Lyle's when you make a pecan pie (use instead of corn syrup in the recipe).
IMHO

Forrest

I just bought a Vinoka Hard Lemonade kit 4 week kit. The instructions are pretty much the same. It calls for filtration to remove any left over yeast. Doing so will prevent re fermentation after the Liquid Invert Sugar is added. I'm gathering the LIS is added for a sweeter taste.
Did anyone do this without filtering? What did you use for a LIS? How did your kit turn out?

If the kit uses Potassium Sorbate and K-meta (Potassium Metabisulphite), there is no need to filter, this stuff prevents the yeast from multiplying, effectively killing any further fermentation.