Brewferm advice

[burgo]

I am starting to look towards a future project, a Brewferm ABDIJ. I have read in several posts about using candi sugar as the fermentable, what are people's experiences. I have had a quick look on a couple of sites and not found anything that sounds remotely similar to candi sugar so had planned on good old plain sugar, will using this have a detrimental effect on strength or more importantly it's taste. Are these kits as good as they sound ?

[brewin_bear]

I got mine fron Hop&Grape http://www.hopandgrape.co.uk/catalog/de ... L20011976&

Mine is Grand Cru and has just finished it's first week in the keg at room temp and will go into garage so don't really know how it tastes yet. Although initial samples seem very promising.

[verno]

I made homemade candi sugar and used that and brewing sugar half half. I am not sure what its like yet as its only been bottled for 4 weeks, but I do plan to try a bit this weekend.

to make it homemade I read it from a website, basically you boil table sugar for a while using a jam thermometer. Apparently that splits the sugar or something. I can't remember the site but a google search is how I found it.

[RatboyOllie]

i used plain brewing sugar and it turned out great ! smells, looks and tastes like a good belgian beer. If you like belgian beers, youll like this kit !

[Mogwyth]

Candi Sugar is what is known as inverted sugar, the nearest you can get to it in shops is golden Syrup which is partialy inverted. This is what I posted on anothoer thread.

Just tested my Diabolo as it appears to have finished fermenting, down from 1071 to 1006 so about 8.5% abv tastes like a winner

Made it up with 650 grams golden syrup, definitely in the barley wine region for flavour at the moment. Hopefully I'll bottle it tomorrow I wish I had something smaller than 500ml bottles though as this I think this one is going to need drinking with care, definitely not a supping ale .

[shazza]

hi.used to do invert sugar on a regular basis at home in the late eighties(dave line?'s recipes,i think):sugar,citric acid and countless hours of boiling.yes it would "turn" ,but ,jayzuz,life's too short for the miniscule difference it made(makes) to the finished product.damnnit, we're home-brewers not beer technologists with sterile laboratory environments and health&safety goons and accountants to contend with! I gave up on AG and obsessive practices when my boys were born in the early 90s.Circumstances for the last15-16 years permitted me to purchase German lager for home consumption but recently I have had to reappraise the situation;and, by gum ,was I glad I did. ................Google research revealed a different world to the fusty ,musty times of snobby winemakers and their token corner of the shop given over to the "beermakers".Here was beer Nirvana.Here was the Cornelius Keg.Here was Jim's Beer Kit.Here was Ditch.Here IS Cooper's Stout.My only wish(no regrets) is to have got here sooner.Enoy the experimentation lads.BTW Brewferm do a lovely candy sugar but I don't waste it in beer:it makes the perfect sweetener for Irish Coffee.Enough ranting.goodnight.

[PMH0810]

Hywel at thehopshopuk.co.uk carries candi crystals and will even recommend which ones for which kit. I have only made Premier Cru, Old Bruin and Framboos and even then only with Crystals.

Now willing to go towatrds T&L with these kits as with Crystals they taste as good as draft.

[JayBee]

You can get it here http://www.the-home-brew-shop.co.uk/aca ... ugars.html
Good supplier with very quick delivery. I use it in my Brewferms, especially the strong ones. Something not as strong like the Gallia ( excellent kit ) I found better with 300 grams of light candi and 300 grams of light spraymalt. Don`t expect these kits to become really good until around the 4 month mark though.
I also like to add some light candi sugar to a wheat beer as well. I added 200 grams to my coopers wheat kit along with a couple of other bits, curacao peel, saaz hops etc and its the best kit I`ve done.

[bigbob]

did my first taste of my grand cru last night. just up to the 6 week conditioning and its absolutely stunning! can't wait to try it after another few months but its still brilliant as is

[kfm]

did my first taste of my grand cru last night. just up to the 6 week conditioning and its absolutely stunning! can't wait to try it after another few months but its still brilliant as is

same here bob - did mine with cooled, boiled water and have never seen a Brewferm beer clear so quickly; 2 weeks after bottling it was crystal. fermented mine for 17 days and gave bottles the same time in secondary bulk-primed with 230g of demerara. head is immense and clngs all theway down the glass. Watered it down a tocuh to give ABV 0f 7% rather than 8 but it still has a kick. started messing with the strong brewferm kits to see if one can (ie a 9 litre) can be made up to 18/20 litres (enough to fill a corny) with some extra fermentables; first try was with a diabolo kit and i have a gallia on too with oak chips. anything worthy of praise will get put up in the adapted kit post -