Invert sugar is used in a lot of English-style beers; it is simply table sugar (sucrose, a glucose chemically bonded to a fructose) broken down into its constituent glucose and fructose molecules. In theory it is easier for yeast to ferment this sugar, hence why it is popular in high-gravity brewing.
- 2lbs sugar (cane/raw sugar preferred for better flavor)
- 1/2 tsp cream of tartar or food grade acid
- 2-4 Tbsp corn syrup or Lyles golden syrup (different crystal types in the sugars will disrupt crystallization)
- 2 cups water
The Process
- Bring water to a near boil 190F, turn off heat and start adding sugar, cream of tartar, corn sugar and mix until completely dissolved. DO NOT BRING TO A BOIL UNTIL ALL SUGAR IS DISSOLVED.
- Once the sugar is dissolved place a candi thermometer into the mix and gently heat the mixture to 260-275F
- Hold in this temperature range for 30 minutes after this time the sugar will be inverted.
The Syrup
- During the last few minutes of the boil bring a volume of water to a boil that is equal in volume to the water you added initially*.
- Once the inversion time is done, turn off the heat on the stove and slowly blend in the heated water from step 1. WARNING: you are adding near-boiling water to a sugar mix well over water’s boiling point. This will boil up explosively – go slow, and be careful!
- Pour into mason jars while hot – this’ll sanitize the jars and make pouring easier (the sugar will be more liquid at this point). If you lack mason jars, let the sugar mix cool and pour/spoon it into your storage container.
*You can add more or less water than this, depending on how thin/thick you want your syrup. I find the 1:1 ratio is a good balance between pour-ability and concentration. Simply heating this syrup in hot tap water is enough to make it flow freely – which is perfect for adding to a fermenting beer.
- Hint: if you really want to hit a specific degree of fluidity, pick up a bit of the syrup on a tea spoon and blow on it to cool – it’ll then pour like the completed syrup. This lets you dial-in your water level.
Extras
Avoiding Crystallization
Crystallization is the bane of making invert or candi sugar – it can render a batch of sugar unusable if it gets too bad.
- Pre-clean everything with low-mineral water (good tap water works; distilled/RO water otherwise). Clean your pot, stir-spoon, and anything else that will contact the mix. Dust can nucleate crystals, so get rid of it.
- Use a stainless steel spoon to stir the sugar – it’ll cause less of a heat shock and is more easily rid of crystal-nucleating dust.
- Once the sugar is dissolved – but before it starts boiling – rinse any crystals stuck to the side of the pot into the sugar mix with water. A pastry brush or clean BBQ brush works well for this. Make sure these crystals are dissolved before bringing to a boil.
- Once the sugar is boiling, avoid stirring. That water-addition trick I used previously should be a last ditch effort to cool your sugar. Careful control of the element, and removing the pot from the element if its close to overheating, are much better mechanisms of control.
- If you must stir, avoid splashing the sides of the pot.
- Add a small portion of corn syrup