HomebrewandBeer.com forum

I notice when reading thru the forum that a lot of HBers are looking for an alternative to sweeten their cider and GBs. The usual suggestion is lactose (& tons of it!). No good for the lactose-intolerant though. I'm wondering if Splenda sweetener could be used instead? I'm not sure exactly what's in it, but I use it on my cereal etc (for dieting) and it definitely doesn't have any artificial saccharin-like aftertaste like the kits have. It claims to be "made from sugar but without the calories", so I'm wondering whether it would just ferment out like sugar, or leave some residual sweetness? God knows how much you would need! The packet says one teaspoon of Splenda is the same sweetness as a teaspoon of sugar. Anyone tried it? Anna

Did i hear you ask a chemistry/biology question?

Splenda contains sucralose, an artificial molecule produced when 3 hydroxyl groups are replaced by chlorides on sucrose.

From trawling various brewing forums it seems there is no definitive answer. The theory is that yeast is not able to metabolise it as they do with sucrose so it is in theory, non-fermentable like lactose.

A few things to take into account. Splenda is packaged in a number of ways, each one containing a differing amount of other products. Some contain lactose. Most contain maltodextrin which is partly fermentable.

So the short answer is yes, you can use it and it should result in a sweet product after fermentation but you need to be aware that 1 tsp of splenda is not = 1 tsp of sucralose. 1 tsp contains less than 1% sucralose as the molecule itself is reported to be 600 times as sweet as sucrose.

I think you should give it a try and report back!

Oh Doc! What a smarty-pants you are! I'm willing to try it with my next cider but would you like to hazard a guess at how much to use in say, a 15L brew of all apple juice? I'm thinking the powdered stuff that looks like sugar would be easier to use - I'll check the box out next time I'm in the supermarket to see what else is in it (or maybe just do some Googling right now...). I'll be back....

Anna wrote:Oh Doc! What a smarty-pants you are!

He really is a doc. PhD that is, in chemistry or something similarly cerebral!

Yes Warra, I figured as much. Well, here goes the Google research:

"SPLENDA® Granular is great for cooking and baking. It measures cup for cup like sugar. It is also great for sprinkling in beverages, but you may find the sachets more convenient for single-serve beverages.

1 teaspoon SPLENDA® Granular has the equivalent sweetness of 1 teaspoon of sugar. In its granular form, SPLENDA® sweetener has 1.9 calories or 8 kJ per teaspoon. SPLENDA® Granular has 88% less calories than sugar. There are no calories in sucralose. The calories in SPLENDA® Granular come from the small amount of maltodextrin (a starch like ingredient) in this easy-to-use and easy-to-pour product."

So... if it has the same equivalent sweetness as sugar, how is this calculation: '

1 tsp (6 gm) per 250 ml (simply because I'd put a teaspoon in a cup of tea)
Brew of 15L = 15,000 ml
15000 / 250 = 60 cups
Therefore 6 x 60 = 360 gm of Splenda!

What do you think Doc?

Calculations look fine to me even if you are combining imperial and metric!

And yes, I am a chemist (not be be mistaken with a pharmacist).

Imperial - what? Cup? Can't you have a metric cup?

I'll try it with my next cider (got one on at the moment with 500 gm lactose). Do I now qualify as a "Research Assistant"?

BTW guys: Doc, if I ever get to meet you I'll be quite disappointed if you don't actually look like Homer Simpson!

And Warra: Ditto Maxwell Smart.

Am i a yellow, balding, fat man? Ah, no.

Both the cup and teaspoon measurement are imperial.

L, mL, g are metric.

Yeah I know that, but can't you have a metric cup and metric teaspoon? (glad you're not yellow!)

Discussion of metric & imperial cups split off to this thread.

Cheers,
Greg