Maltitol Syrup ("Imitation Honey")

[esarkipato]

Has anyone seen or used this type of product before?

http://www.amazon.com/HoneyTrees-Imitation-Honey-12-Ounce-Plastic/dp/B000YSVLVU

What little I can find of it is regarding the digestive properties (or lack thereof). It's technically a hydrogenated glucose syrup. A report by the WHO is here: http://www.inchem.org/documents/jecfa/jecmono/v040je07.htm.

It's marketed to diabetics as sugar free, but I don't think that means it's necessarily non-fermentable. My first taste was suprisingly good - not as complex as honey but more flavor than table sugar. If it's not fermentable it could be a great back-sweetener for bottle conditioned beers, ciders, meads, etc.


Any experience anyone has would be appreciated.

 

[RogerMcAllen]

Ingredients:
Maltitol Syrup - Some sweetness, mainly a non-caloric thickener
Natural And Artificial Flavor - Flavor
Acesulfame K - High potency sweetener, where the real sweetness comes from
Malic Acid - Acid for microbial stability on the shelf


It should be non-fermentable, so your back-sweetening idea would work as long as you don't mind the honey flavor and a little extra body.

Overall, this wouldn't really be a great way to sweeten since the real sweetening power comes from the AceK. You would be better off using Splenda (sucralose) or just straight AceK, but I'm not sure there is a commercially available AceK.

 

[esarkipato]

Awesome, didn't realize that the Acesulfame Potassium was the more active ingredient as far as sweetening goes. I think I'll at least try it on a portion of spiced cider that I was hoping to bottle-carb. Thanks!

 

[malkore]

maltitol I think is a sugar alcohol, and those can give some people stomach discomfort too (gas...). its used in fitness supplements like protein bars and protein cookies sometimes to aid in the texture too.

 

[broadbill]

Awesome, didn't realize that the Acesulfame Potassium was the more active ingredient as far as sweetening goes. I think I'll at least try it on a portion of spiced cider that I was hoping to bottle-carb. Thanks!

One concern is that one or more of those ingredients may inhibit the yeast, and your bottle carbing might fail. just a thought