Candi sugar made in the mash

[highgravitybacon]

So a little trivia. Clear candi sugar / invert sugar. People make with citric acid, or buy dextrose. Maybe there is no need. Apparently in the stew of enzymes in the mash, there is one called Saccharase, but also known as invertase -- that will convert sucrose to fructose and glucose. You could in theory add sucrose directly to the mash and have it come out as fructose and glucose. Invertase has an optimum temp of 140F and ph of 4.5.

Just an interesting tidbit for the day. I have no issues using plain sucrose in the boil, but I like the better living through chemistry going on here.

 

[Osedax]

Seems to make sense to me. However, 4.5 ph is low for a mash. Also the sugar won't contribute much flavorwise. It usually takes longer than 60 min to get invert/candi syrup.

 

[daksin]

Interesting theory. I'd love to see an experiment, but honestly, I'm like you. Adding sucrose in the boil has always worked for me perfectly, never had a single beer fail to dry out.

 

[highgravitybacon]

Seems to make sense to me. However, 4.5 ph is low for a mash. Also the sugar won't contribute much flavorwise. It usually takes longer than 60 min to get invert/candi syrup.

In the mash, it will still function outside of its optimum ph. The alpha and beta amylase have differing optimum ph ranges, but both are active in the mash despite this. It's less about getting flavor than simply pointing out the magical powers of enzymes.