Creamy Head Ale

[Ed]

This was an experiment to test the effect of using candy sugar in brewing. It is claimed to improve head, add alcohol/vol, and impart little taste as it is 100% fermentable. To measure the effect I used what would be the standard Coppers Kit Larger with yeast as supplied. The reason for doing so was to have the only variable being the addition of the candy sugar (besides the extra pkt of yeast). Going to keep this one simple so not planning to add hops or rack.

Kit: Coopers Lager, 1 kg Coopers brewing sugar, 500g home made candy sugar, 2 pkt Coopers Ale yeast.

Qty: 23L

OG: 1.048 @ 26C

Brewing notes:
Day 1: Pour boiled water over candy sugar, add brewing sugar, Coopers lager, stir over gentle heat until desolved and place in bath of cool water. Mix yeast into 1/3 cup warm water rest 30 min. Add wort to fermenter and fill to 23L. Pitched yeast @ 26C & placed fermenter into cold water container for brewing @ 22C. Started first bubbles 2 hrs in.

Day 2: Bubbling away. Temp = 22C.

Day 3: Bubbling away. Temp = 22C.

Day 3: Bubbling considerably slower. Temp = 22C.

Day 5: Stopped bloping. Temp = 22C.

Day 6: G = 1.010. Tastes ok, quite cloudy, large head. Will take another hydrometer reading tomorrow.

Day 7: G = 1.010. Will bottle tonight or maybe wait a few more days for a little more settling.

Observations: Good head on pour from fermenter . Tastes not much different to standard Coopers Lager Kit, maybe a little creamier and fuller mouth but still should end up a quaffer. Alc/vol should end up over 6% after bottle conditioning.

Conclusion: This performed as expected, will plan to add candy sugar to other brews if I'm looking to up alc/vol, increase head, and not add much body. Will make another posting when bottle conditioning is complete and I get a chance to really test it out. See pic below straight out of fermenter.

Cheers, Ed

[yardglass]

Ed,
i could look at Beer all day, that's a nice straw colour isn't it.

i spose you have posted elsewhere but could you outline your steps for the Candy Sugar please ?

would love to shove some in the next PM.

cheers
yardy

[Ed]

G'day yard, if you have a candy thermometer just follow this link http://oz.craftbrewer.org/Library/Metho ... andy.shtml

I don't have one so made it like this and used raw sugar instead:
1) Measure 500g sugar & pinch of citric acid into pot, add enough water to dissolve.
2) Bring to gentle boil and hold until desired colour change is reached (will go through from pale colour to deep red and take from 15 minutes to a few hours depending on desired colour).
3) Add enough water, a tablespoon at a time, to control boil (as the water evaporates, temp will increase, therefore water addition will keep it in check)
4) When desired colour is attained, turn up heat to reach "hard crack" stage, this can happen quite quickly (to measure this without a thermometer, drop a spoonful of the solution into a glass of cold water and when it cools it should be hard and brittle)

Costs only cents to make and you can get the citric acid from the supermarket in the spice section. I plan to add this to more brews in future, I quite like the head and added alc/vol. I was surprised to note that there didn't seem to be any cidery flavours as a consequence of using it.

Cheers, Ed

[yardglass]

thanks Ed,
that'll give me even more time in front of some type of heat source, muttering madly about fermentables and pawing over my brew notes like a lunatic...

cheers
yard

[Ed]

Hey, I have to print all day next to an oven chucking out 180C
You can always just buy some candy sugar from the brew shop, but I figure it's so cheap and easy to make, who wants to spend the dollars
Cheers, Ed

[yardglass]

Hey, I have to print all day next to an oven chucking out 180C
You can always just buy some candy sugar from the brew shop, but I figure it's so cheap and easy to make, who wants to spend the dollars
Cheers, Ed

that's right mate, anything to save a buck.

sorry, but i go one better, the job we're welding atm must stay between 250*C - 300*C.

combine that with a tropical summer, pheeew thirsty work.

[Ed]

Sheesh, I'll stop complaining then.

Bottling my lager tonight. Been in the fridge for weeks, almost crystal clear, hope there's some yeasties left for the bottle conditioning

Cheers, Ed

[mark68]

I did a bit of surfing on the subject of candy sugar and found that coopers brewery have been using icing sugar to make their mix.The only difference between normal sugar and this stuff is the addition of corn or wheat starch to the sugar,which,depending on the amount used could add body to the brew as i believe it doesn't ferment fully out.Have tried this stuff on a coopers real ale and it gave a nice sweet edge to the bitterness of the hop extract.

[tyrone]

Hay yardy...today it was 51 in the kitchen i'm wearing what might as well be a demin jacket working at a grill plate that is 1m long and has a grill below it while doing 200+ meals in 2 hours.I need a beer and a real job

[yardglass]

i'm on a construction project in Central Qld, 56*C ground temp a few weeks ago, surface temp of the steel was 65*C.

[gregb]

My office is air conditioned. I do have to walk up Martin Place to the client site - also air conditioned.

Cheers,
Greg

[yardglass]

My office is air conditioned. I do have to walk up Martin Place to the client site - also air conditioned.

Cheers,
Greg

be sure and keep your fluid intake up and have plenty of rest breaks in the shade.

we don't want you getting heat stress.....

[gregb]

Thanks for look pout for my wellbeing, Yard. There are a couple of suitable cool spots to take drink stops.

Cheers,
Greg

[KEG]

Sorry to dig up an old thread, but Ed:

When you've got the candy sugar how you want it in the pot, how do you cool it? pour it onto a tray of greaseproof paper or something? wouldn't want it cooling in the pot i'd imagine, it'd be a pain to get out.. i can also envisage foil lining in a tray getting really irritating, sticking to the candy when you try to peel it off.

[muddy]

[url]oz.craftbrewer.org/Library/Methods/Sanders/candy[/url]

An article on making candy sugar by Graeme Sanders[/url]

[muddy]

http://oz.craftbrewer.org/Library/Metho ... andy.shtml

Try again, Not real flash with computers

[scblack]

My office is air conditioned. I do have to walk up Martin Place to the client site - also air conditioned.

Cheers,
Greg

You must be careful in an air conditioned office. Ours has been lately edging past 23degrees - above the standard 22degrees.

Makes life quite uncomfortable.