#5
Post
by Blktre » Mon May 01, 2006 12:34 pm
Sugars:
I've played alot with different sugars; after reading Moshers book, I started exploring the ethnic groceries in my area. Following are the ones I've tried (origin point as well - some may be made in other places as well),and my impressions of each - tasting the sugar itself, and how it came through in the beer.
Hopefully it will be of interest. YMMW!
Demara/Turbinado - light brown cane sugar, U.S. Came as granulated loose sugar in a box. Not a big "character" sugar, more complex than the bleached white stuff. Little to no color contribution.
Muscovado - Dark brown cane sugar from Barbados. Came in a 10 to 12 oz. square block. Much more character and color than Demara/Turbinado. Very rich sweet molasses character. Lots of color/character contribution.
Piloncillo - Medium brown cane sugar from Mexico. Came in a 12 to 18 oz. bag of small cone shapes (like little fez hats). Darker than D/T, not as dark as muscovado. Earthy and not as richly sweet as the muscovado. Fair bit of color/character contribution.
Panocha - Very dark cane sugar from the Phillipines. Came in a bag of 2 (approx. 8 oz. ea.) rounded disc shapes. Much darker than piloncillo, not as earthy - very rich molasses/carmel sweetness - but different than the muscovado, which is perhaps a little "cleaner" in taste - perhaps not as many impurities? Ton of color/character contribution.
Palm sugar - very light, creamy sugar from Thailand, made from palms (as opposed to sugar cane). Came in flat disc shapes - one time 2 larger pieces @ about 8 oz. ea, the next in smaller discs about 2 oz. each.) Somewhat buttery sweetness. No color contribution, some character (mouthfeel mainly) contribution
Gula Jawa - a very dark brown palm sugar from Indonesia. Creamy rich molasses/buttery carmel flavor. Came in a 12oz. roll. Extremely rich, very sweet, though not like pure cane sugar - creamier (if that makes sense...). Ton of color/character contribution.
Jaggery/Gur - Butterscotch colored palm sugar from India. Came in a large 2# cone shape (like a fez hat). Creamy sweet, nut buttery, interesting earthy character. Very light color contribution, fair bit of character contribution.
Chinese yellow lump candy - Hard yellow crystallized rock candy from China. Came in a 14 oz. box of various size chunks. Sugar sweet with a light honey character which came through very nicely in a blonde ale. Very little color contribution (bit of yellow, perhaps), honey like aroma was noticable.
Dark candy syrup - this is the new stuff (tjthresh had a post about it as well...) Came in a 500 ml plastic bottle - extremely dark, lots of intense flavor. Lot of character and color contribution. The dubbel I made with it has an almost smokey quality to it - similar to a scotch ale where you heavily carmelize a portion of the wort.
Theres also a clear candy syrup awaiting approval into the US. If you really study traditional Belgian brewing, they use syrup.....the rocks are Americanized.......
Just call me Andy!
Lupulin Threshold Shift
lupulin threshold shift \lu·pu·lin thresh·old shift\ n
1. When a once extraordinarily hoppy beer now seems pedestrian.
2. The phenomenon a person has when craving more bitterness in beer.
3. The long-term exposure to extremely hoppy beers; if excessive or prolonged, a habitual dependence on hops will occur.
4. When a "Double IPA" just is not enough
