Corn Sugar vs Cane Sugar vs Candi Syrup

lytnin · June 19, 2014, 4:54pm

Last night I popped open one of my recently-brewed tripels. Color, clarity and carbonation were spot on. Had a nice tart pop up front, but then had a sort of stale/flat/astringency to it. I have tasted this once before in a honey blonde that I did where I added a “honey blend” that may or may not have been real honey. I looked through some books I have and tripel recipes there call for either Belgian candi syrup or corn sugar. I used demerrara in my tripel. I have heard and read numerous times that table/cane sugar will give the same result as candi sugar but at this point I don’t know that I’m buying that.

I guess what I’m looking for is what is the flavor difference other people have experienced between corn sugar, candi syrup, and table/cane sugar, if any.

For what is worth I think my other processes were sound (no hot-side aeration, yeast starter, proper fermentation temps) so this is why I am only looking at the sugar aspect at this point.

denny · June 19, 2014, 5:01pm

I can guarantee you that corn, cane/beet, and clear candi sugar all taste the same in the finished beer, which is to say they have no flavor at all. Demerara will give it a slight bit of honey-like flavor.

65ss427 · June 19, 2014, 6:32pm

I agree wholeheartedly with Denny. Use table sugar. It’s cheaper and you’ll notice absolutely no difference.

denny · June 20, 2014, 12:10am

all that said, the darker candi syrups (NOT rocks) are delicious and will make a huge impact on flavor.

hd4mark · June 23, 2014, 12:47pm

+1 on table sugar. I have stopped using anything else in Belgian style beers. Used to pay for the Belgian Candi (rocks) sugar and there does not seem to be any difference except the higher price. Same results with corn sugar but it is not as pricey as the Candi. To boost the gravity and lighten your beer without changing the flavor go with Domino.

shaky6 · June 30, 2014, 7:20pm

I tried the cane sugar once, be careful. It surely didn’t disolve like corn sugar in the boil water and I ruined a batch with no carbonation because I didn’t scrape the sugar goo out of the bottom of the boil pot into the bottling bucket.