Does Splenda leave "Aftertaste" in Apfelwein?

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JonClayton

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I would like to bottle up my apfelwein today and would like to backsweeten it. Without making the drive over to the LHBS I do not have any lactose on hand but I have plenty of splenda. For those of you that have used splenda, did you notice any after taste? I am diabetic and I have pretty immune to the fake sweeter after taste most sugar users notice. But I am splitting this batch with a friend who is scared it will have bad taste.

I don't mind using lactose, that's why they invented insulin right? :)
 
No aftertaste for me. Splenda did a great job adding just enough sweetness to the batch I did. I still have some going on 6 months and it tastes fantastic.
 
how much splenda per gallon should I use?

I think we are going to experiment, one gallon sweetened, one gallon not, one gallon sweetened and carbonated, one gallon just carbonated etc.
 
My answer is not from personal experience but am about to bottle up, carbonate and backsweeten and did some researching here. I found a thread that said 1 cup of sugar and 1 1/2 cup of splenda did a good job on his 5 gallon batch. All the women in the family liked it but he thought it was too sweet for him. I've got a 3 gallon batch I am bottling today. I will add 1/2 cup of sugar and 3/4 cup of splenda. I'll tell you how it turns out in about 3 weeks.
 
"1 cup of sugar and 1 1/2 cup of splenda" quote
careful -unless you killed the yeast with sorbate and campden the cup of real sugar will restart fermentation
1 cup of sugar is too much for priming in my opinion
 
I can taste splenda. It's not as bad as other artificial sweeteners but it's there. I backsweetened applewine with 1cup for 5 gallons and I got so tired of it and wished I left it dry. If you want a touch more sweetness, i'd say 1/4 cup in 5 gallons.
 
I am one of those people who can taste artificial sweetener in anything. I am sure those who are not revolted by the idea and taste of fake sugar would not have a problem.
 
I don't taste the Splenda. I usually add one teaspoon in a cup of tea, so I make sure that I add no more than one teaspoon per 8 oz, but I usually cut that to 1 teaspoon per 16 oz just to make sure I don't over do it.
 
I have RUINED two batches of beer, back sweetening with splenda - a marzen and a hazelnut brown. Absolutely disgusting! I will never use it again on beer.

As far as apfelwein, I can't speak to that. I have my first batch conditioning right now. I mixed it up on Nov 13 of last year and I'm just letting it go for now. Tasted it a few weeks ago for the first time and it was bone dry. I'm probably going to back sweeten with simple syrup or glycerin after kegging and sufficient cooling.
 
Looks like everybody has their own opinion. I would simply have your friend taste a little sample with splenda added to see what he thinks. Looks like the safest way.
 
Only a taste test will do the trick. I'd sweeten two glasses, one with table sugar and one with Splenda to the same sweetness levels by your perception, then have your friend taste them without telling him which is which.
 
Use it very sparingly. I used a cup in 5 gallons of very dry beer. It got sickeningly sweet and had an obvious artificial sweetener flavor. Bobby's suggestion of 1/4 cup sounds like a good place to start. In that amount, it will likely not impart any off flavors.
 
I don't know about how any of you can taste, splenda. i use it all the time, I just about every beer I make (i don't like very dry beers) I enter contests all the time and I have never gotten a comment about tasting splenda. Now I talking about masters, Grand masters 3 and 5's. If they can't taste it, I don't think you taste can taste it. I will let you know that the packets are much more concentrated than the baking version. The carrier used to vary the concentration is Maltodextrin. Which is what you get if you use carapils malt. There is big difference when you know it's in there then I get all kinds of people tasting it. But if you taste it blind you can't tell the difference.
 
That's a good point... are people getting the "sickeningly sweet" taste from it simply opening enough little packets to make a cup, or are they using a cup of the baking Splenda? I personally think the baking Splenda is absolute crap for baking, but I had noticed it was markedly less sweet per volume than the packet version. Maybe it's because it's more granulated and it's just a perception thing, I dunno...
 
It's just that the first time you start drinking applewine, you think YUCK, too dry. Three glasses later, it's perfect. If you go dumping splenda in, you can't take it back out and you end up choking down the overly sweet cider for the next month.
 
Looks like everybody has their own opinion. I would simply have your friend taste a little sample with splenda added to see what he thinks. Looks like the safest way.

+1

I used it on cider last year and I liked it. The only two people that said they could taste it were the only two people who knew it was added. No other complaints or comments to the splenda addition.

I didn't know how much to add, so I just made a sample and added little by little until I got the desired sweetness, then converted and added to the whole batch before bottling.

Edit: I used the box of baking Splenda, larger crystals than the dusty stuff in the packets.
 
On another note, you might need far less than you think, whether it's sugar or splenda. I've been reading that even slight additions of sweeteners will exponentially expand the flavor of apfelwein and cysers. To reiterate, the taste test is a must, and if you are going to age it, I would err on the side of less.
 
That's a good point... are people getting the "sickeningly sweet" taste from it simply opening enough little packets to make a cup, or are they using a cup of the baking Splenda? I personally think the baking Splenda is absolute crap for baking, but I had noticed it was markedly less sweet per volume than the packet version. Maybe it's because it's more granulated and it's just a perception thing, I dunno...

Splenda for Baking" is actually half sugar/half splenda - it's marked on the packaging. This is probably the reason it seems less "sweet" than the packets, which are generally 100% splenda. All artificial sweeteners have this weird "sweetness" about them to me. Almost like the "sweetness" honey leaves behind even when it ferments out completely, although that honey "sweetness" doesn't make me want to puke.
 
I don't know about how any of you can taste, splenda. i use it all the time, I just about every beer I make (i don't like very dry beers) I enter contests all the time and I have never gotten a comment about tasting splenda. Now I talking about masters, Grand masters 3 and 5's. If they can't taste it, I don't think you taste can taste it. I will let you know that the packets are much more concentrated than the baking version. The carrier used to vary the concentration is Maltodextrin. Which is what you get if you use carapils malt. There is big difference when you know it's in there then I get all kinds of people tasting it. But if you taste it blind you can't tell the difference.

Jokingly I told my wife I could taste artificial sweetener in anything.
Then one day I had a granola/ breakfast bar thing and enjoyed it until the aftertaste hit me. I looked at the label and sure enough, those asshats slipped some in on me. This was my blind taste test.
I can taste it in anything and I would taste it in your beer. Likely your judges were slowly killing themselves with diet soda in which case they would not be as sensitive.
Splenda does NOT taste like sugar and it should be illegal unless you are diabetic.
 
Jokingly I told my wife I could taste artificial sweetener in anything.
Then one day I had a granola/ breakfast bar thing and enjoyed it until the aftertaste hit me. I looked at the label and sure enough, those asshats slipped some in on me. This was my blind taste test.
I can taste it in anything and I would taste it in your beer. Likely your judges were slowly killing themselves with diet soda in which case they would not be as sensitive.
Splenda does NOT taste like sugar and it should be illegal unless you are diabetic.

I agree. It's the aftertaste that is so notable. The hazelnut I made tasted good... as long as you never swallowed and drew a breath across your tingue afterwards. When I let my LHBS sample the beer with a few of his friends, they all said there was something off in the beer making it undrinkable, but couldn't determine what it was (they were tasting blind). The rest of my beers sampled recieved good critiques.
 
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