How to make your own Candy (Invert)
Sugar
Some Belgian beer styles require high alcohol content
without too much body. To achieve this result, Belgian
brewers use what is known as Candy Sugar as an adjunct in
their recipes. Candy Sugar is made from cane sugar
(sucrose) by splitting the sucrose molecule into its dextrose
(glucose) and fructose components. This process is called
“Inverting”. The resulting syrup is much sweeter than the
original crystal sucrose and is also known as “Invert
Sugar”.
You can make Candy Sugar at home with some basic
equipment and ingredients. To make approximately 1kg of
Candy Sugar, simply follow these instructions.
Equipment Needed:
•
•
•
•
1 x Large Saucepan (3 – 4 litres will be adequate, large enough to hold all the ingredients).
1 x Candy Thermometer (optional but easier to use than the “Cold Water Candy Test, see over page).
Stove or portable cooker.
Shallow pan lined with baking paper (for cooling the Candy Sugar).
Ingredients:
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•
•
1kg Table Sugar (cane sugar).
¼ tspn Citric Acid (or 10ml Lemon Juice).
Water (as required).
Method:
1. Place the sugar into the saucepan, adding just enough water to completely dissolve the sugar and make a thick
syrup.
2. Add the Citric Acid (or Lemon Juice), stirring gently but thoroughly until well mixed.
3. Turn on the heat source and slowly bring the mixture to the boil.
4. As you boil, evaporation will cause the temperature to begin rising, so have a
small amount of water on hand and add a tablespoon of water whenever the
temperature gets above 135°C.
5. Keep the temperature of the boiling syrup between 127° and 135°C (between
Hard Ball and Soft Crack stage as described below).
6. The colour of the syrup will gradually change from clear to light amber and
on to deep red as the boil proceeds.
• Light candy sugar is a very light amber-yellow (honey) colour. This can take as little as 15 minutes.
• Dark candy sugar is very deep red. This can take several hours.
7. Once the syrup has reached the colour you desire, stop adding water and let the temperature rise to 150°C
(hard crack).
8. Turn off the heat and pour the syrup into the baking paper lined shallow pan to cool. As the syrup cools it will
go rock hard, and you will be able to break it into chunks (or “rocks”), bag in a zip-lock bag and store in the
freezer until you are ready to use.
9. To make it into syrup before use, simply redissolve it in hot water before adding to your brew.
Cold Water Candy Test
You can tell the approximate temperature of your Invert Sugar as it heats up by dropping a small amount into a glass of
cold water. As it cools it will take one of the forms listed in the table below:
Stage
Description
At this temperature, a little of the syrup dropped into cold water will form a
Thread
soft, flexible ball. If you remove the ball from water, it will flatten like a
Stage
pancake after a few moments in your hand.
At this temperature, a little of the syrup dropped into cold water will form a
Soft Ball
soft, flexible ball. If you remove the ball from water, it will flatten like a
pancake after a few moments in your hand.
Drop a little of this syrup in cold water and it will form a firm ball, one that
Firm Ball
won’t flatten when you take it out of the water, but remains malleable and
will flatten when squeezed.
A little of the syrup dropped into cold water will form a hard ball. If you
Hard Ball
take the ball out of the water, it won’t flatten. The ball will be hard, but you
can still change its shape by squashing it.
As the syrup reaches soft-crack stage, the bubbles on top will become
smaller, thicker, and closer together. At this stage, the moisture content is
Soft Crack low. When you drop a bit of this syrup into cold water, it will solidify into
threads that, when removed from the water, are flexible, not brittle. They
will bend slightly before breaking.
At these temperatures, there is almost no water left in the syrup. Drop a
Hard Crack little of the molten syrup in cold water and it will form hard, brittle threads
that break when bent.
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Temperature
110°-113°C
113°-116°C
118°-121°C
121°-130°C
132°-143°C
149°-155°C