Belgian Sugar and Syrups

[SeeRoe]

I've been brewing for quite some time now and really want to begin perfecting my favorite style of beer, the belgian strong. While it is my favorite, I've only brewed a couple random recipes here and there. But I want to begin with something I've always been puzzled by... The syrups and sugar.

Some places just recommend not buying the fancy stuff and use beet sugar. Some say Syrup, some say the sugar?

For instance the recent AHA competition winner--- their recipe says both!:

Simplicity Candi Syrup (0.5 SRM)
Blanc Soft Candi Sugar (0.5 SRM)

So really, what's the deal here? Which should I go with? I'll be doing 1.5 gallon batches so I can make 2-4 brews every week and keep costs low but if every time I try something need I have to buy 1+ pounds of syrup that won't all be used it'll get costly.

Thoughts? Maybe places I can read more about this style?

 

[theseeker4]

I've been brewing for quite some time now and really want to begin perfecting my favorite style of beer, the belgian strong. While it is my favorite, I've only brewed a couple random recipes here and there. But I want to begin with something I've always been puzzled by... The syrups and sugar.

Some places just recommend not buying the fancy stuff and use beet sugar. Some say Syrup, some say the sugar?

For instance the recent AHA competition winner--- their recipe says both!:

Simplicity Candi Syrup (0.5 SRM)
Blanc Soft Candi Sugar (0.5 SRM)

So really, what's the deal here? Which should I go with? I'll be doing 1.5 gallon batches so I can make 2-4 brews every week and keep costs low but if every time I try something need I have to buy 1+ pounds of syrup that won't all be used it'll get costly.

Thoughts? Maybe places I can read more about this style?

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=114837

Check that thread out for a nice how-to to cheaply make your own candi syrup at home, and make exactly as much as you need.

 

[IslandLizard]

+1^

Sugar syrups will keep for a long time, nothing can grow in them. Some sugar syrups need to be cooked for hours, so after your small test batches have come out well, you want to step up to larger ones. It takes about the same time and amount of energy to prepare 1 cup of sugar syrup as 2 quarts or a gallon, so preparing larger quantities is way more efficient. But only few things are worse than burning a gallon of sugar syrup, so beware.

For all good measure, beet sugar and cane sugar are chemically the same, sucrose. The only difference lies in the impurities in the raw sugars. Some of those can be beneficial for certain processes, but once refined, white sugar is all the same, regardless of source.

For brewing it is not necessary to perform the last step in making hard candi from the syrup, it can be pitched directly, similarly to the commercial syrups such as Simplicity, Golden, D45, D90, etc. You can easily store them in containers (or bags) for future use. Simplicity is inverted sugar (glucose/fructose syrup), AFAIK.