golden syrup

i hear that golden syrup can be used instead of sugar in my brews (only using kits at the moment).
WELL THREE THINGS I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW....
1. how much syrup would it take to replace 1 kilo of sugar

2. could it be used in cider

3. how would it affect the colour and flavour of the finished brew

just trying to be creative in my brewing till i get my haed around setting up for A.G brewing :drink:

Hi bmr

Here is how I understand things. White sugar is simply sucrose whereas invert cane sugar (golden syrup is a close comparison) is when you take sucrose and boil it with citric acid (lemon juice does the job) to break the sucrose into its constituent parts of fructose and glucose. Your yeast in the wort will quite happily metabolise both fructose and glucose.

If you just use the sugar with your kit the conversion happens within the wort. The enzymes in the wort will first seperate the fructose and glucose and then the yeast will go on to ferment out these simple sugars.

So to your questions:

1. how much syrup would it take to replace 1 kilo of sugar
Both will ferment out completely but there is water added to make golden syrup. I have looked at my calculations and I would add about 15% if you were replacing golden syrup for sugar. So in your case about 1.15kg should do it.

2. could it be used in cider
Absolutely

3. how would it affect the colour and flavour of the finished brew
If you are adding it to a very pale beer you might see a bit of dfference with a slight caramel tint but other than that I would expect a negligable effect in colour. From a flavour perspective I don't think it makes any difference. Some people claim to be able to tell but I have yet to be convinced.

If you are really looking for ways to improve your kits then either splash out on some spray malt and substitute this for the sugar or go for the two tin kits that don't require any sugar. I realise that this will put quite a bit onto the cost of your brew but I think you will really be able to taste a massive difference.

Hope it all goes well :thumb:

many thanks i allready use 2 tin kits woodfords nelsons revenge but i also do a john bull cider thought i could maybe improve that but it seems golden syrup is not the answer