Priming with hard candy

[mschmidt001]

I am planning on priming a wheat beer with lemon heads. Has anyone e done this before? What should I consider in the process?

 

[Unicorn_Platypus]

make sure there's no preservatives in the ingredients or your beer won't carb

 

[Andrew Hodgson]

Unsure if trolling or...

genius?!

Just use sugar.

 

[MaxStout]

I've seen those "carbonation drops" some brew stores sell (an expensive way to buy sugar). And I thought, "why not just put a lemon drop in each bottle?"

Never tried it. Might work.

 

[HomeBrewMasterRace]

I'm interested to know if this will work- could be a unique way to make flavored beers.

I'd double check the sugar content though against those carbonation drops so you don't get bottle bombs

 

[Jayjay1976]

Try cough drops for a soothing winter ale

 

[mschmidt001]

make sure there's no preservatives in the ingredients or your beer won't carb

Good call. I'll make sure.

 

[mschmidt001]

Unsure if trolling or...

genius?!

Just use sugar.

Nah. Ima use candy.

 

[mschmidt001]

I've seen those "carbonation drops" some brew stores sell (an expensive way to buy sugar). And I thought, "why not just put a lemon drop in each bottle?"

Never tried it. Might work.

That's what gave me the idea. In fact they came with the kit. I just downsized and got a 3 gal fastferment that came with an extract kit.

 

[Jayjay1976]

Werther's original?

 

[agrazela]

Website says they’re 18g sugar per 31g serving, so you should be able to figure dosage from that. My concern would be the impact of glaze, wax and mineral oil on head retention. If they are truly only 58% sugar, there must be A LOT of coating on them.

http://www.lemonhead.com/products/the-original-lemonhead/

 

[mschmidt001]

I am planning on priming a wheat beer with lemon heads. Has anyone e done this before? What should I consider in the process?

Both carnauba wax and mineral oil are in them. Will that effect anything?

 

[mschmidt001]

Website says they’re 18g sugar per 31g serving, so you should be able to figure dosage from that. My concern would be the impact of glaze, wax and mineral oil on head retention. If they are truly only 58% sugar, there must be A LOT of coating on them.

http://www.lemonhead.com/products/the-original-lemonhead/

40% could be lemon juice, at least I hope. I think the wax is just a coating but I'll try to wash it off with sanitizer.

 

[ApolloSimcoe]

I think I would bottle as normal but do a few bottles with the lemon drops and see what you get. You won't potentially ruin the entire batch and if it works you could do a full batch next time.

 

[TechFanMD]

My concern would be more in how fast they would dissolve, so I would drop one in a glass of water (or some old throwaway beer if you have it) to see if it dissolves well. The carb drops you buy really seem to dissolve pretty quickly....in my observations they are completely dissolved in under 5 days. I know that the lemon drops will eventually dissolve, but how long will it take? You might be waiting for months to have carbed beer.

 

[agrazela]

40% could be lemon juice, at least I hope. I think the wax is just a coating but I'll try to wash it off with sanitizer.

No way it's 40% (single strength) lemon juice. That would be way too much water for a hard candy, it would have no shelf stability.

Looking at the website again, something isn't adding up if it is only 18g of sugar, but 90 calories. 18g of sugar would be more like 72cal (4cal per g of carbohydrate). So really, either they contain something more like 22.5g of sugars per 31g, and the extra 4.5g of sugar is "not reported" because it's not "added" sugar (like, maybe THAT comes from the lemon juice), OR (and perhaps more likely) the extra 18cal is coming from ~2g of added waxes/oils (9cal per g of fat).

(But then, they list 0g fat...so I say they're lying about something! Or, maybe wax and mineral oil aren't considered "foods," so they don't have to be listed as "fats"? In that case, the government is lying!)

To "wash off" the coating, you'd probably have to use hot liquid, and effectively "dissolve away" the entire outer coating, probably ~10% of the weight of the thing, then strain out the hard candy innards. Probably could just use hot water, not sanitizer. Sounds like a lot of trouble.

My concern would be more in how fast they would dissolve, so I would drop one in a glass of water (or some old throwaway beer if you have it) to see if it dissolves well. The carb drops you buy really seem to dissolve pretty quickly....in my observations they are completely dissolved in under 5 days. I know that the lemon drops will eventually dissolve, but how long will it take? You might be waiting for months to have carbed beer.

Carb drops are pelletized granules of sugar, easily comes apart and dissolves quickly. A hard candy is one big sugar crystal, so you'll be far better off finely crushing the lemonheads...probably gonna have to anyway, to get the exact sugar dosage you want. Assuming you CAN get the dosage you want, given the uncertainty about actual sugar content in the candy.

Maybe you should crush some up, put them in water as suggested above, and see how much of an oil slick you get. And post pics, of course!

Then again, maybe you should just use sugar and lemon juice. Be a lot easier, more precise, and get the same--or better--effect!

 

[passedpawn]

40% could be lemon juice, at least I hope. I think the wax is just a coating but I'll try to wash it off with sanitizer.

Note that any sugar in the candy will be fermented, so you probably won't be left with a sweet lemonhead flavor. If you remove the "sweet" from many foods, they are nothing like the original. Get a chunk of baker's chocolate, which is chocolate without sugar added, and see how much you like it

I don't understand your goals here. I don't see how adding the candy adds anything here (except quite a lot of risk of bottle bombs or uncarbed beer).

 

[Jayjay1976]

Other suggestions:
gummy bears
cinnamon red hots
life savers
jolly ranchers
sour patch kids

 

[Lefou]

mmmm sour patch

 

[mschmidt001]

Note that any sugar in the candy will be fermented, so you probably won't be left with a sweet lemonhead flavor. If you remove the "sweet" from many foods, they are nothing like the original. Get a chunk of baker's chocolate, which is chocolate without sugar added, and see how much you like it

I don't understand your goals here. I don't see how adding the candy adds anything here (except quite a lot of risk of bottle bombs or uncarbed beer).

My goal is the lemon flavor and the candy was measured based on serving size. We'll see how it carbs.

 

[mschmidt001]

Here is the bottling day. Half my batch bottled with priming tabs that came with the kit and the other half with lemon heads. The first picture is down the bottle with the spots at the bottom being the candy that resolved with the sanitizer. Results will be after Christmas.

 

[Jayjay1976]

I'm super pleased to see you're actually trying this! Can't wait to read about your results!!!

 

[passedpawn]

I'm super pleased to see you're actually trying this! Can't wait to read about your results!!!

Haha, no doubt.

 

[Jayjay1976]

If this works I'm going to prime with gummy bears when I attempt to clone Short Fuse's Bearie-White.

 

[mschmidt001]

It worked. With normal sugar it is sweeter, heavily carbed but no bombs. It is cloudier but tastes like a solid wheat beer. The one with lemon heads is clearer and tastes closer to a saison, also heavily carbed with a hint of dry lemon. I was shooting for a shandy flavor but missed the sweetness of one. No head retention in either beer.

 

[ApolloSimcoe]

Cool. Let us know how these change or develop as you drink them.

 

[S-Met]

It worked. With normal sugar it is sweeter, heavily carbed but no bombs. It is cloudier but tastes like a solid wheat beer. The one with lemon heads is clearer and tastes closer to a saison, also heavily carbed with a hint of dry lemon. I was shooting for a shandy flavor but missed the sweetness of one. No head retention in either beer. View attachment 604772

You wont get much head in those champagne glasses. What does it look like in a tall pint or proper beer glass?

Edit: spelling - damn fat fingers on touch screen phones.

 

[Soulshine2]

i

Other suggestions:
gummy bears
cinnamon red hots
life savers
jolly ranchers
sour patch kids

If a candy has a hard shiny outer coating it is because they roll the candy in a drum and add liquid carnauba wax ...(source- "how its made" episode)