Invert sugar

[Elbone]

sucrose that is simply split into its components fructose and glucose, without caramelization? Wasted effort, IMHO.

Agreed, but if you had taken the time to read the link in the OP before issuing your blanket statement that "Invert is worthless" you'd have known that's not what he was talking about. Various grades and colors of invert sugar have been used in British beers for well over a century. I don't think they'd have gone to the cost and trouble to produce them if simple cane or beet sugar would've accomplished the same thing. You cannot produce accurate recreations of certain historical styles without them.

Are candi syrups in Belgian beers worthless? They're just invert sugar, after all.

[pepperford]

Elbone, what do you use for carmel colorant? This is another search the web for days subject. I assume this is mostly an aesthetic issue that can be ignored if I like a pale mild.

[spiderwrangler]

Elbone, what do you use for carmel colorant?

Time and heat is my understanding...

[Elbone]

Elbone, what do you use for carmel colorant? This is another search the web for days subject. I assume this is mostly an aesthetic issue that can be ignored if I like a pale mild.

What I've learned about caramel coloring is that to be be beer-stable, It must be a class III caramel that's cooked with a nitrogen source like ammonia. The caramel coloring you can find online made for the baking industry will react with the protein in the beer and precipitate out in a brown sludge (trust me, I speak from experience). I convinced a caramel company to send me a class-III caramel sample and got a 2-oz. jar but the smallest amount they'll sell me is a pallet with six 5-gallon buckets. I've made one attempt to make my own per the instructions on Unholy Mess, but I burned it and it smelled like burnt ass. I'll try again at some point.

So yeah, just leave it out. It makes very little flavor contribution anyway. And try the mild recipe I linked to above. Best beer I've made in a while and it's nice and dark without any caramel color addition. Just multiply all the amounts by 1.2 to convert it to a 6-gallon recipe.

I mash this one at 156F. Very satisfying and you just about can't drink it fast enough to get drunk.

[Elbone]

Also, try the 1924 Barclay Perkins RNS (Royal Navy Stout). Produces a tropical stout that I'm really enjoying. Shows off the dark invert character.

[pepperford]

The stout of sea men. The Lee's is on the top of my brewing list. I'm hoping to brew three or four milds in the near future to give a style talk for my club. Should be fun for me and confusing for them. Thanks for the help.

[spiderwrangler]

The stout of sea men.

Didn't Wynkoop just do this?