Author: Greg Foster

Belgian beers are known for a few things such as possessing unique esters and phenols compared to styles from other regions, as well as being higher in ABV while maintaining the quintessential dryness expected in styles like Golden Strong and Tripel. In order to accomplish this wonderful melding of drinkability and buzz-building strength, brewers of Belgian ale often employ the use of sugar, usually added to the boiling wort in amounts of up 10% to 20% of the fermentables.

Briefly, I want to discuss some differences in the types of sugars commonly used in brewing. Pure sucrose sourced from sugar cane or beets, also known as table sugar, is made of a glucose molecule bonded with a fructose molecule and is the building block of many Belgian candi sugars and syrups. While completely capable of being used in beer, some smart people discovered yeast more readily digests sugar that has been inverted, a process that splits the fructose and glucose apart, producing a moderately viscous syrup that’s perceptibly sweeter than sucrose alone. Dextrose, on the other hand, which is commonly known as priming sugar to homebrewers, is a simple sugar derived from corn that consists of a single molecule of glucose, meaning it does not require any inversion. When it comes to Belgian candi, there are two main options, a crystalline rock or syrup. While researching the topic revealed some terminological confusion, it seems candi sugar is commonly reserved for the type that comes in non-inverted rock form, while candi syrup refers to the inverted liquid form. Regardless of the veracity of these claims, this xBmt concerns the latter.

Stan Hieronymous, in his fantastic literary tribute to Belgian beer, Brew Like A Monk, tells of how a friend who began making his own candi sugars recognized that given the Belgian spirit to “make a great beer with what we have,” spending upwards of $2 per pound was “anti-spirit.” A homebrewer’s mentality, indeed! Sharing this spirit, I hit the web in search of recipes for my preferred form of sugar, candi syrup, eventually settling on a simple method that produced beers I was largely pleased with. However, due to the veil under which makers of candi syrup tend to keep their processes, I began to wonder how close my hack was to popular commercial varieties. An xBmt born!

| PURPOSE |

To evaluate whether a beer produced with commercial candi syrup is distinguishable from the same beer produced with homemade candi syrup.

| METHODS |

There is a lot of controversy in the brewing community on how to correctly make candi syrup. As far as I can tell, nobody has cracked the code for making a perfect commercial candi syrup clone, but I was confident I could make something reasonably close. After a good deal of research, I settled on modifying a recipe I found on the Sui Generis Brewing blog. My quest for candi perfection led me to brew up 7 different batches in total, with my two favorites happening to be made from dextrose rather than the usual sucrose, which made things a little easier since the inversion step isn’t required with dextrose due to the fact it is a single molecule of glucose.

As a sponsor for this xBmt, Home Brew Supply provided the Westvleteren 12 clone kit called The Pious, made popular by user Saq on HomeBrewTalk.com. Since the kit came with two different candi syrups, a lighter D-45 and a darker D-90, I set out to make similarly colored syrups of my own, the details of my process can be found at the bottom of this article.

About 48 hours prior to brewing, I pitched the provided vials of WLP530 Abbey Ale Yeast into separate jars of previously canned starter wort and spun them on two stir plates.

The following day, with signs of active fermentation all but gone, I stuck both starters in the fridge for a 24 hour cold crash.

Brew day began with the crushing of grains, which took a little while given how big this beer was!

I proceeded to heat up my strike water and measure out my brewing water additions then I mashed in, double checking to ensure I hit my target temperature.

My RIMS rig recirculated the wort for a full hour, after which I transferred the sweet liquor to the kettle then performed a quick batch sparge. The wort was boiled for an hour with hops added per the recipe’s instructions. Upon completion, I quickly chilled the entire batch.

The wort was then split evenly between two 6 gallon PET carboys, dosed with oxygen, then pitched with equal amounts of yeast split from the starters.

In hopes of keeping the yeast from becoming stressed during fermentation, I split the candi syrup additions into two stages, immediately adding 1 lb of the commercial D-45 syrup to one carboy, slightly more than the recipe called for, while the other carboy received an equal amount of my homemade light candi syrup. Both fermentors were put into the same fermentation chamber controlled to 75˚F/24˚C. I checked on the beers a day later to find both were making a yeasty mess, so I swapped the airlocks for blowoff tubes.

I began gently raising the temperature in the chamber 3 days into fermentation until it reached 82˚F/28˚C, this took another 3 days. Activity appeared to be winding down around a week in, so I added the remaining 2 lbs of D-90 and dark homemade candi syrup to their respective carboys. Fermentation took off quickly then appeared complete a week later, at which point hydrometer readings revealed the beers to be sitting at nearly identical SGs.

I proceeded to cold crash overnight then transfer them via a closed pressurized system from the carboys to my serving kegs.

Given the higher OG of these beers, I decided to let them age for a couple of months in my keezer on CO2, after which they were both nicely carbonated and crystal clear, though a visual difference was quite apparent.

| RESULTS |

A total of 27 avid homebrewers, craft beer drinkers, and BJCP judges participated in this xBmt. With this many tasters, 14 (p<0.05) would be required to correctly identify the different beer to achieve statistical significance; however, only 11 (p=0.27) were able to do so, suggesting a general inability for participants in this xBmt to reliably distinguish a beer made with commercial candi syrup from one made with homemade candi syrup.

After data collection had concluded, a few brew club members approached me insisting they could indeed tell a difference between the samples. For fun, we decided to run a quick and certainly less-than-scientific test of their claims. Four members were repeatedly given “blind” side-by-side samples of the only the two beers that were different, fully aware of the nature of the xBmt at this point and blind only to which sample was in which cup, then asked to select the one they thought was made with commercial candi syrup. Collectively, this group selected the correct sample 9 out of 10 times. Huh! I inquired on what differences they thought they were perceiving and they reported the homemade candi batch tasted more complex, though not necessarily in a good way. One taster who never chose wrong was adamant the beer made with my homemade candi syrup had the unmistakable aroma of shiitake mushrooms.

My Impressions: Since I’d already noticed a stark flavor and aroma difference between the commercial and my homemade candi syrup when tasted on their own, I was pretty confident I wouldn’t have too much trouble with the triangle test. I was wrong. I completed multiple blind triangle tests as well as a few side-by-sides and I couldn’t differentiate between the two beers using taste or smell, they were far more similar than I had expected. One thing that did not surprise me was the beer being absolutely delicious. The homebrewsupply.com kit is actually based off of a very highly regarded homebrewtalk recipe by user Saq. This is the second time I’ve made a Westy 12 clone, both times based on Saq’s advice, and there’s a pretty good chance I’ll brew it again in the future because it always gets rave reviews.

| DISCUSSION |

To me, this is one of those xBmts where a non-significant result should feel like a personal victory– participants were unable to reliably distinguish a batch of beer made with my homemade candi syrup from one made with much more expensive (though less time consuming) commercial syrup, an obvious indication mine was a good enough approximation of the commercial variety. Perhaps, but I’m left with lingering doubts due my candi syrup tasting, in my opinion, clearly inferior to the store bought variety. Bias? Of course, but I still feel like I have much more work to do before I can claim to have discovered the holy grail of candi syrup production. I already have a few ideas I plan to experiment with, definitely count on a detailed future article following up on my sugary progress.

I would be remiss if I didn’t conclude with a strong safety warning. If you choose to make your own candi syrup using the recipe here, I implore you to please take extreme caution with sodium hydroxide. Caustic chemicals are no joke, so do your research and take all precautions before you even consider utilizing hazardous materials.

If you have any experience with using and/or making your own candi sugars and syrups, please share your thoughts in the comments section below!

How I Made My Candi Syrup

Both the light and dark batches of candi syrup started with 1.5 lbs of dextrose, 1/2 tsp of light DME, and 200 mL of distilled water that I combined in a large pot. This mixture was heated very slowly, stirring gently from time to time until everything dissolved into a thick syrup. While it continued to heat, I prepared my pH adjuster of choice, food grade sodium hydroxide, also known as lye, which is very scary and dangerous stuff! I donned my safety goggles and gloves before adding 1 tsp of lye to 40 mL of water, which I set aside to fully dissolve. Once the molten sugar reached my desired 290˚F/143˚C, I slowly added portions of the dissolved lye solution to the pot, a step that not only induces instant maillard reactions and sugar browning, but also a violent eruption of molten sugar bubbles. Seriously, if attempting this on your own, please be very, very, very fucking careful!

For both batches, I let the sugar cook until the color roughly matched that of the commercial varieties, which obviously took longer for the darker syrup than the lighter, then I very slowly added 1/2 cup of boiling distilled water so the final product would remain in liquid form. In the end, I was pleased with how similar my homemade syrups appeared next to their commercial counterparts.

A comparison of the syrups side-by-side left me with a definite preference for the commercial varieties. Not that my homemade candi syrup was bad, but I perceived a slight burnt flavor and aroma that lingered on the palate while the commercial stuff was smooth, sweet, complex, clean, and had no off-putting characteristics. I plan to continue tweaking this process until I get it right, but based on the results of this xBmt, it would seem the homemade syrup worked quite well. Your mileage may vary.

Support for this xBmt comes from Home Brew Supply, a full service walk-in and e-commerce store selling quality home brewing recipe kits, ingredients, equipment, and much more! The next time you’re in the market, give Home Brew Supply a look!

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