Made Simple Invert Sugars. - Jeff Alworth's Method.

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Schlenkerla

Schlenkerla

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I have a new Nitro Tap on my keezer and a presently unused Rocket Hand Pump so I'm on this English beer kick as of lately. Been Brewing English Beers and I've been reading " Secrets of Master Brewers" by Jeff Alworth namely the British Ale Traditions chapter.

In this chapter he describes making invert sugars and why you want to use them. Its mainly for some enhanced complex flavors, and then better attenuation. He suggests it as a 1:1 or 50/50 substitution for Crystal Malt. Jeff cites this as Ron Pattison's method. (An English Historian living Amsterdam.) He says its particularly good for bitters, milds, browns, and even porters & stouts.

- Invert #1 - Golden - 20 to 30 minutes @ 240 - 250F.

- Invert #2 - Amber - 90 to 120 minutes @ 240 - 250F.

- Invert #3 - Brown - 2.5 to 3.5 hours @ 240 - 250F.

- Invert #4 - Dark Brown - 4 to 5 hours @ 240 - 250F.
​

The recipe is easy and straight forward with only three ingredients;
- 1 pint of Water
- 1 pound of Sugar
- 1/4 Teaspoon of Citric Acid
​
Its easy to make. I have an electric stove and has settings 1 thru 10. Starting out on 5 (medium heat setting). Boil a pint of water, take off the heat and add the sugar and completely dissolve then add citric acid and place back on medium heat. Its very close to 200F raise the heat to 230F. At 230F, I dial the heat back to low (2 setting). Dial the heat into 240-250F range. Then heat for the given duration. When the time is up I poured it into a pint mason jar. Thats it!!!

I made three inverts today. One #2 and two #3's. I changed up the sugar types. Cane on the #2, Demerara & Piloncillo (Panela) on the #3's

- The cane #2 Amber has a nice honey-like taste.

- The Demerara #3 Brown has a good rummy and raisin like taste.

- The Piloncillo #3 Brown has a good plum or dried prune like taste.

​
One twist to make cook time easier you can turn the oven on. Set it to 245F. After both hit the temperature range you can put it in the oven. The pot needs to be oven proof. I did this on the last one I made today.
 
Those look great. I wonder if you could use the oven trick with the sugar in the mason jars. I assume they would be oven safe. Did the sugar boil or foam in the oven at all?
 
Elduder said:
Those look great. I wonder if you could use the oven trick with the sugar in the mason jars. I assume they would be oven safe. Did the sugar boil or foam in the oven at all?
Click to expand...

I thought of that but didn't try.

My thought and guess at the time was I wanted a pound of sugar per pint. The evaporation of water allowed for a the perfect fit in a pint mason jar. You could use a quart mason jar instead. A pint would be too small at the start of the boil.

No there was no boil over. It does tend to splatter a tiny bit like a simmering spaghetti sauce. The appearance of the syrup at 240-250F is like a very slow simmer. Almost in slow motion. The bubbles form, rise, pop then dissipate over and over.

The pot I used was a heavy stainless sauce pot with thick copper and stainless steel layered bottom. It heats very evenly.

As for your idea, if the glass can take that heat for many hours without splitting then I'd do it for convenience sake. For cheap insurance, you could put the jar in baking pan to contain it just in case the jar breaks. Sad it would be, but better than having to clean up that burnt up mess.

If you try that, let me know how it works for you. Ok
 
Kegged the first cask ale recipe made with golden invert. Threw in a hop ball filled with Citra. It's a half ounce of whole leaf hops.

It tastes good now. It's hopped with 7C at 60 minutes and a late addition of Pacifica. Citra should make it smell awesome.

The hop ball is pretty big. It's about the size of a baseball. It barely fits into the keg.

View attachment 1501893199804.jpg
 
Schlenkerla said:
Kegged the first cask ale recipe made with golden invert. Threw in a hop ball filled with Citra. It's a half ounce of whole leaf hops.

It tastes good now. It's hopped with 7C at 60 minutes and a late addition of Pacifica. Citra should make it smell awesome.

The hop ball is pretty big. It's about the size of a baseball. It barely fits into the keg.
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What is that hop ball, looks sweet. Does it float with the hops in it?

if you could post where you go it i'd be appreciative!
 
HausBrauerei_Harvey said:
What is that hop ball, looks sweet. Does it float with the hops in it?

if you could post where you go it i'd be appreciative!
Click to expand...

It sinks as the hops get soaked.

To be honest, it's basically a large stainless tea ball. I just dubbed it as a hop ball.

I think I got it at Target or Walmart a while back to spice up some cider. It got lost in kitchen drawer for a while then ran a across it looking for some miscellaneous utensil in the back of a drawer.

Check those places for a large tea ball.
 
My attempt at the Amber invert from yesterday. This was stupid simple. I used the oven method at 250F for 90 mins. Thanks for the directions! This will be used in an ESB style ale I'll be brewing in a day or so.
20180114_065116.jpg
 
bstacy1974 said:
My attempt at the Amber invert from yesterday. This was stupid simple. I used the oven method at 250F for 90 mins. Thanks for the directions! This will be used in an ESB style ale I'll be brewing in a day or so.
View attachment 553690
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Glad you found this easy. I think you're the first one to post results.

I loved my Cask #1 and the Mexican Mild made with piloncillo. Used the golden invert on a double batch of pale ale that used for tailgating. Still working on the 2nd keg. I have yet to use my demerrara on the other cask. That might be my next beer to brew.

It definitely dries out the beer.
 
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I kegged about a week ago. Still undercarbed right now, but I really like the flavor. I think the invert helped me get below 1.020 with the Danstar London ESB yeast. FG was 1.015.
Its still cloudy but I'll post a pic later today.
 
I've been making invert sugar using this method for years and it's really improved my British beers.

Another thing I've found is that many British clone recipes don't come anywhere near the color of the actual beer due to the addition of caramel coloring at the brewery, so many people use black/chocolate malt in small amounts for color. Why not make your own caramel coloring instead? It's easy. I made 2 pints of the stuff and it came out to about 5300 SRM, so I never use more than 10 ml to kick up the color. I think I have enough to last me a lifetime. I adjust the color of many of my beers and the coloring doesn't alter the taste, since it's used in such small amounts.

To determine the SRM of your coloring, just pour a glass of water into a pint glass and pour a commercial IPA or something of a known color into an identical glass. Add the coloring one drop at a time while stirring, until they are the same color. Then create a 1-pint Beersmith/whatever recipe with a new grain ingredient called My Caramel Coloring (or whatever, I think I copied the existing Sinamar ingredient and renamed it) and adjust its SRM until the number of drops/ml used (1 ml = 20 drops) provides the correct color.

Here's the text I copied from the now-defunct website (currently riddled with spam and possible malware.) I've also included a link to the archived, spam-free version of the page.
==============================================
Caramel Colorant – for adding color to beers, usually historic British Ales.

So…here is a very very simple way of making caramel colorant.

On color and time…

The color depends on how long you cook the sugar. I can’t give you a time. You have to learn from experience. Start by just doing a little and seeing from your ‘eye’. Pull a little sample every bit or so so you can see how the color progresses. Do, for the love of everything holy, understand that the dial on your stove has more levels than ‘inferno’. Cook gently and don’t be in a hurry. If it spells like ‘burnt ass’ throw it away, start over. For those kitchen experts, you don’t need water, but you already know that. There is also a way to make ammonia caramel, the one specific to beers, but that is very finicky and can produce cancer causing chemicals, seizures in rats, growth of tail, barking at moon, etc etc. So lets just stick with this way right now. The best way to tell the ‘color’ is to dilute it in water and compare it to a know SRM/EBC beer. Then back calculate.

Instructions for making your own ‘simple’ caramel colorant:

• 2 parts light brown sugar
• 1 part water
• Heat brown sugar and water in a very heavy bottomed pot
• Stir as it cooks and darkens
• Stop when nearly black. If it smells ‘burnt’ start over.
• Stop by adding 1 part water and stir to dissolve. Be careful as it will spit like an angry Llama.

Warnings:

• You can really screw up a pot if you get it too hot
• Have a good bit of ventilation, as this can smoke a bit.

Use 2x as much brown sugar (by weight) for the final amount of caramel colorant. E.g. if you need 50g of caramel colorant then you need 100g of light brown sugar.

https://web.archive.org/web/2012030...blog/beer-brewing-info/making-brewers-caramel
 
I make candi syrup that is commercially available and have experimented for years. I found that by raising the pH I got better color development. You can acidify toward the end for preservation and preventing spoilage. Unfortunately you can absolutely not raise the pH in any commercially available product, but for home use it's all good!

Try pickling lime and baking soda to raise the pH on your next attempt and I bet you get darker results! Again, acidify at the end or preservation!
 
Also adding amino acid and nitrogen sources help color development. DAP in yeast nutrient and other sugar sources can be helpful. Experiment!
 
Schlenkerla said:
Glad you found this easy. I think you're the first one to post results.

I loved my Cask #1 and the Mexican Mild made with piloncillo. Used the golden invert on a double batch of pale ale that used for tailgating. Still working on the 2nd keg. I have yet to use my demerrara on the other cask. That might be my next beer to brew.

It definitely dries out the beer.
Click to expand...

Care to share your Mexican Mild recipe?
I’ve used piloncillo in a schwarzbier with good results.

The Mexican Mild sounds delicious.
 
AzOr said:
Care to share your Mexican Mild recipe?
I’ve used piloncillo in a schwarzbier with good results.

The Mexican Mild sounds delicious.
Click to expand...
Yeah, see post number 5.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/index.php?posts/8009989

The recipe uses Maris Otter, #3 Invert, Black Malt.

I only used a 60 minute hop addition, so as to taste the piloncillo.

The original recipe calls for 1oz Kent Golding at 60 and 1 oz at 5 minutes.

I'd do both hop additions if I was to remake this beer.
 
Oops! I blame my iPad for not seeing the link. Has nothing to do with me not wearing my reading glasses.

Thanks for sharing. I’m putting this in my to brew que.
 
AzOr said:
Oops! I blame my iPad for not seeing the link. Has nothing to do with me not wearing my reading glasses.

Thanks for sharing. I’m putting this in my to brew que.
Click to expand...
No big deal...[emoji482]

The recipe comes from The Secrets of Master Brewers.

The original recipe calls for 60L crystal malt but is subbed for the piloncillo invert. This is the authors suggestion if you want to make authentic English ales.

Inverts can be a 1:1 replacement for crystal malt or you can cut crystal by 50%. Using 50/50 crystal and invert. They are a pound for pound equivalent.

Cheers [emoji482]

20180302_120326.jpg
 
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20180516_184348.jpg
Doing this now using turbinado. This pic is shortly after dissolving the sugar, so it started out dark. Think I'll do just 90 minutes for #2. It's a small pot, but I had to use the meat thermometer as the sugar solution is too shallow for the candy thermometer. At 240-250 I get almost no bubbles. Fingers crossed.

Edit: ended up doing 2.25 hours. The colour was amber going on brown, and the flavor a pleasant toffee. If I can remember, I'll post beer tasting notes in a couple weeks. Thanks again, Schlenkerla.
 
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Reporting back with results. The beer turned out well. It definitely has toffee flavor and aroma, and probably works better than crystal malts in that regard. I didn't get as much color as I expected though (included 9% by dry sugar weight). Next time I might boil longer and maybe turn the heat up slightly so that there's at least a gentle boil. Everything considered, I'm pleased with the results.

20180616_134500.jpg
 
So I gave this a try today. First attempt was with demerara sugar and I think I did something wrong as the color was very dark for only 25min at 240F and the consistency is more like putty than syrup. I had it on the stove top until I got it up to 240 then moved it to the oven. The stove was oscillating to keep heat and the bubbles were getting more intense so maybe the temp may have exceeded 240.

Smells a bit like molasses, but so does the raw sugar, does not taste burnt. If I can get it out of the jar will it still be useable?

I also tried some plain cane table sugar afterwards to check the process doing pretty much the same thing, maybe a bit slower to get to 240, and it came out very golden and flows like syrup.

Just looking at the color difference between processed white sugar and demerara sugar I guess the demerara syrup should get darker quicker.
 
ba-brewer said:
So I gave this a try today. First attempt was with demerara sugar and I think I did something wrong as the color was very dark for only 25min at 240F and the consistency is more like putty than syrup. I had it on the stove top until I got it up to 240 then moved it to the oven. The stove was oscillating to keep heat and the bubbles were getting more intense so maybe the temp may have exceeded 240.

Smells a bit like molasses, but so does the raw sugar, does not taste burnt. If I can get it out of the jar will it still be useable?

I also tried some plain cane table sugar afterwards to check the process doing pretty much the same thing, maybe a bit slower to get to 240, and it came out very golden and flows like syrup.

Just looking at the color difference between processed white sugar and demerara sugar I guess the demerara syrup should get darker quicker.
Click to expand...
I'm gonna assume that you weighed and measured everything right. My guess is you had a temperature issue. My inverts are syrup but pretty stiff syrups much like extract. I think you should be able to use it as planned. Just do a double boil with it to soften it up to make it pourable. Put your jar in a pot of warm water and bring the water to a boil. It should thin out after awhile.

My inverts with demerara and piloncillo/panela were dark very early. That's to be expected. Both are lesser refined sugars. The latter being actually unrefined.

I've made a ESB with straight up demerara added to the brew kettle during the lauter. It's was a brew club favorite. Most of them couldn't tell what the contributing factor to the taste. It gave a spiced rummy like taste to the beer.

BTW - If you see any of your invert forming crystals it didn't get fully inverted. Something was wrong with your acid that you added. I'm betting that is not the case.
 
Thanks for the info @Schlenkerla , I was only doing a half size 8oz batches so I cut things in half but believe I measured correctly. The one items I was not so sure on was the citric acid, I used half a gram of dry citric acid granules.

On the stove the pot looked like rhys333's pic in post#31, in the oven the surface was flat with random smaller bubbles coming and going. ​

I think the small amount of material could of been part of my problem and I may have overheated the sugar into a different temperature stage(crack level?) if that is still possible with inverted sugar. I did not see any crystal but it did get a little bit of foam when I poured it from the pan into the mason jar.

Can I put the pan into the oven at like 220 or 230F and let it come up easy to 240 in the oven? I know it would makes it a bit hard to tell when it actually hit 240F but I plan to go beyond golden most of the time anyways.

I think it will respond to a hot water bath, I made a dent in the surface and it leveled out after 30min or so at room temp. I will dissolve some in warm water to see if I can detect any burnt flavors before using it. ​
 
ba-brewer said:
Thanks for the info @Schlenkerla , I was only doing a half size 8oz batches so I cut things in half but believe I measured correctly. The one items I was not so sure on was the citric acid, I used half a gram of dry citric acid granules.

On the stove the pot looked like rhys333's pic in post#31, in the oven the surface was flat with random smaller bubbles coming and going. ​

I think the small amount of material could of been part of my problem and I may have overheated the sugar into a different temperature stage(crack level?) if that is still possible with inverted sugar. I did not see any crystal but it did get a little bit of foam when I poured it from the pan into the mason jar.

Can I put the pan into the oven at like 220 or 230F and let it come up easy to 240 in the oven? I know it would makes it a bit hard to tell when it actually hit 240F but I plan to go beyond golden most of the time anyways.

I think it will respond to a hot water bath, I made a dent in the surface and it leveled out after 30min or so at room temp. I will dissolve some in warm water to see if I can detect any burnt flavors before using it. ​
Click to expand...

Is a half gram on the low side or heavy side? I think I would lean to heavy since its primary purpose is to invert the sugar. Keeps it from separating and/or recrystalizing after its cooled.

I assume it will work if you pop it into the oven at 220F. Do you have a cheap oven thermometer? If you do you can clip onto the pan rim. This way you can tell when it will hit the temp.

Also ovens can have big temp swings in the heating cycle, electric ovens with that large glowing element can overheat anything if it's too close to it. Make sure your pot is on the middle or higher rack. You can use a pizza stone or large cast iron skillet as a heat diffuser under your pot. The added thermal mass would curb the heat spikes and help sustain heat.

I'd try that, also do a full pound or eliminate the oven method and just do it in the stove. With the stove or the oven with remote thermometer you can remove the pot from the heat source temporarily if it goes too high.

Seems to me the full pound is the easiest fix for what may have happened.

Taste it/smell it, my guess it's not obviously burnt tasting. Mine has a definite raisin or plum/prune like taste. Reminds me of special B, specifically when I have used too much of it in a beer.

This is the Dingemans description of special B in northern brewer. In here they mention a subtle note of burnt sugar. If it tastes like this you're good to go.

"Special B[emoji768] is the darkest of the Belgian caramel malts, and oh how special it is. It has a unique aroma and flavor that is very complex. It imparts a heavy, dark caramel taste with more subtle notes of burnt sugar, raisin, and dark dried fruits such as cherries and plums. It can also deliver some of the softer roasty notes of a chocolate or black malt but without the astringency or bitterness. Special B[emoji768] will produce a deep brown color with ruddy highlights and add body and foam stability like all caramel malts. Use it to brew traditional Belgian Abbey and Trappist Ales, Dubbels and Dark Strong Ales, but also try it in brown ale, stout and porter, doppelbock, or any other dark beer, to add an extra layer of complexity. 120-140°L"

497156.jpeg
 
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Schlenkerla said:
Is a half gram on the low side or heavy side? I think I would lean to heavy since its primary purpose is to invert the sugar. Keeps it from separating and/or recrystalizing after its cooled.

I assume it will work if you pop it into the oven at 220F. Do you have a cheap oven thermometer? If you do you can clip onto the pan rim. This way you can tell when it will hit the temp.

Also ovens can have big temp swings in the heating cycle, electric ovens with that large glowing element can overheat anything if it's too close to it. Make sure your pot is on the middle or higher rack. You can use a pizza stone or large cast iron skillet as a heat diffuser under your pot. The added thermal mass would curb the heat spikes and help sustain heat.

I'd try that, also do a full pound or eliminate the oven method and just do it in the stove. With the stove or the oven with remote thermometer you can remove the pot from the heat source temporarily if it goes too high.

Seems to me the full pound is the easiest fix for what may have happened.

Taste it/smell it, my guess it's not obviously burnt tasting. Mine has a definite raisin or plum/prune like taste. Reminds me of special B, specifically when I have used too much of it in a beer.

This is the Dingemans description of special B in northern brewer. In here they mention a subtle note of burnt sugar. If it tastes like this you're good to go.

"Special B[emoji768] is the darkest of the Belgian caramel malts, and oh how special it is. It has a unique aroma and flavor that is very complex. It imparts a heavy, dark caramel taste with more subtle notes of burnt sugar, raisin, and dark dried fruits such as cherries and plums. It can also deliver some of the softer roasty notes of a chocolate or black malt but without the astringency or bitterness. Special B[emoji768] will produce a deep brown color with ruddy highlights and add body and foam stability like all caramel malts. Use it to brew traditional Belgian Abbey and Trappist Ales, Dubbels and Dark Strong Ales, but also try it in brown ale, stout and porter, doppelbock, or any other dark beer, to add an extra layer of complexity. 120-140°L"

View attachment 589463
Click to expand...
All good tips and suggestions, Thanks again

Looks like I may have used only half the amount of citric acid, I should of looked for weight of citric acid in the first place. 1.66g/cm^3 and 5mL per teaspoon gives just over 1gm for a 1/8th a teaspoon.

I took this picture to show the two batches and I think I figured out my problem. I read pint in your instruction but weighed out half a cup of water. With half as much water does this cancel out my problem with half as much citric acid? ​

No pizza stone but plenty of cast iron pans so I will preheat one of those to help add some thermal stability next time.

I dissolves some in a small amount of water and did not get any burnt flavors or any of the dark fruit notes for that matter. I took 2.5gm and dissolved into 4oz of water which was close to intended usage of 8oz in a 3gal batch. I would say the water took on a light golden color so maybe a 4 or 5 SRM shift in color, slight molasses aroma and not much flavor or sweetness. Not sure I believe beersmith's prediction of color contribution for invert sugar but if I adjust the SRM value for 8oz in 3gal to get 4.5srm the invert would need to be 37SRM so something like invert#2. I think the wrong amount water makes it look darker than it actually is.
IMG_0253 - Copy.JPG
 
ba-brewer said:
All good tips and suggestions, Thanks again

Looks like I may have used only half the amount of citric acid, I should of looked for weight of citric acid in the first place. 1.66g/cm^3 and 5mL per teaspoon gives just over 1gm for a 1/8th a teaspoon.

I took this picture to show the two batches and I think I figured out my problem. I read pint in your instruction but weighed out half a cup of water. With half as much water does this cancel out my problem with half as much citric acid? ​

No pizza stone but plenty of cast iron pans so I will preheat one of those to help add some thermal stability next time.

I dissolves some in a small amount of water and did not get any burnt flavors or any of the dark fruit notes for that matter. I took 2.5gm and dissolved into 4oz of water which was close to intended usage of 8oz in a 3gal batch. I would say the water took on a light golden color so maybe a 4 or 5 SRM shift in color, slight molasses aroma and not much flavor or sweetness. Not sure I believe beersmith's prediction of color contribution for invert sugar but if I adjust the SRM value for 8oz in 3gal to get 4.5srm the invert would need to be 37SRM so something like invert#2. I think the wrong amount water makes it look darker than it actually is.
View attachment 589502
Click to expand...
If you want a dry English Pale as an easy quaffer this will work with an once or two of roasted barley and your base grain. Using Williamett and Fuggles or Kent Golding.

That way if the color is off it's no big deal and you'll have a nice session beer.
 
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Pure honey is something like 80-85% invert sugar. You can also do the oven method of honey in a canning jar at 250 degrees F, and then watch it darken over time. It's a pretty painless method.

I use Costco honey because it is reasonably priced, verifiably sourced, doesn't add in "fake honey" and does not have a single strong taste such as orange blossom.
 
kmarkstevens said:
Pure honey is something like 80-85% invert sugar. You can also do the oven method of honey in a canning jar at 250 degrees F, and then watch it darken over time. It's a pretty painless method.

I use Costco honey because it is reasonably priced, verifiably sourced, doesn't add in "fake honey" and does not have a single strong taste such as orange blossom.
Click to expand...

A few facts here, sugar is cheaper, starts with zero color and has a neutral flavor profile.

Using honey you're already at golden from the start with flavor that's quite a bit different taste wise. It's an interesting thought though. In Brew like Belgian (Stan Hieronymus) sights a similar Randy Mosher idea of using corn syrup and DAP for the making inverts.

With regards to using honey could you cite suggested times and colors with a flavor profile to match?
 

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