Glucose??

[firefly]

Hi...made some neutral spirit that I have in a jar with some charred oak and a few hot peppers...been doing the freezer in/out routine.....taste is coming along but I have some liquid Glucose but not sure how to use it....
Tried pouring a little in a shot glass and poured some spirit inside but the glucose did not mix with the spirit......The glucose came hard...

My spirit was still cold from the freezer so maybe I gotta wait till it warms up??

Would 1 teaspoon sound correct for 500ml of spirit??

[firefly]

anyone.......

[The Chemist]

Hmmm...it should work...

But, I don't deal with the liquid stuff. What proof are we talking? If it's not already cut (i.e. at barrel proof), you might mix the glucose with the dilution water. If it was really cold, might be a problem--think cold molasses.

[firefly]

Yes it's dilutted to 40%....

Should I just pour it in and shake it up??....I guess I;ll give it a try and see what happens...Thanks Chemist

P.S; that's exactly what it looked like....thick rolled up molasses....

[The Chemist]

Should I just pour it in and shake it up

That's what I'd do!!

[firefly]

Thank you Chemist.....I will try it out.....

[lawnman]

i thought gloucose was another form of sugar but can be used as a smoothing agent might want to try maple syrup as is sweet what are you trying to achieve and whats your prob with taste wise ??
i have a kilo of liquid glocouse but never got any good results from it.
sorry there just read your post agian on how to use it just wack it in ya diluted brew and give her a good stir and it will mix together.

[firefly]

well...I had a neutral spirit so I added some charred oak and some hot peppers....There was no problem taste wise ...just experimenting.....dont want anything too sweet and I had some european connection glucose lying around so I wanted to try it.....

Results: color was nice....light brown....taste was pretty good....just a bit sweet....and after drinking....you feel the effect of the hot peppers...
funny thing though.....before I put it in the freezer....the color was nice....now it seems cloudy....and it seems more on the yellow side....not the nice brown anymore......I wonder if it's the glucose that changed it color......

[EuroStiller]

Glucose (Glucose Syrup)(Corn Syrup) is just dextrose (monosaccharide) in liquid form. It will not incorporate well into alcohol unless it is warmed first. Are you attempting to sweeten your alcohol? If so, warm the glucose then add it to your base. Shake vigorously to incorporate. Keep your mixture at room temperature and shake it daily until you have the desired flavor level your looking for from your other ingredients! After, you can return it to cold storage, if you want! Just remember that glucose is
A) Hygroscopic- attracts water, keep bottle sealed up tight!
B) Glucose is 15-20% sweeter than Sucrose (disaccharide), table sugar
C) Glucose, when put in solution, lowers the freezing point of what ever it is in, even alcohol!

I hope this helps some, even if the information comes late!

EuroStiller- The Doctor

[HookLine]

B) Glucose is 15-20% sweeter than Sucrose (disaccharide), table sugar

That is not my understanding of it:

Glucose (dextrose) is less sweet than sucrose because sucrose is half dextrose, half fructose, and fructose is sweeter that glucose. So sucrose is sweeter than plain glucose, and plain fructose is sweeter than sucrose.

Also plain (ie low fructose) corn syrup is mostly glucose, not entirely. High fructose corn syrup has roughly the same ratio of dextrose and fructose as sucrose.

[EuroStiller]

Well I goofed; I meant Invert Syrup, so there! Was a long week for me, and the morning coffees had not kicked in yet!

Adjustment:
A) Sucrose is roughly half glucose and half laevulose or dextrose.
B) HFCS is 42% fructose, extracted by enzymatic reaction from maize.
Okay, this is coming back to me now. That’s why the US uses HFCS in soda and the rest of the world is still using mostly sugar.

EuroStiller- The Doctor*
*Now with added caffeine!!

[pintoshine]

Caution: Off topic content.

Naw, the sweetness factor has nothing to do with it. ADM pushed a lot of money to support legislation to make a quota on the amount of (sucrose)sugar that could be imported into the USA. The quota had the desired effect of increasing domestic sugar prices because the supply dwindled. Then ADM, who had already developed a source of HFCS55, finally got the price of sugar above its own product and quickly lured the soda manufacturers over to the slightly cheaper sweetener.

Basically it's an old management lesson about a bird who flew south too late. He fell from the sky from the cold. A bull walking by dropped a pile of crap on the bird. The bird was offended at first but then started getting nice and warm. He began to sing, which got the attention of a cat. The cat pulled the bird free from the crap and ate him.
The lesson is: Those who crap on you are not necessarily your enemy. Those who pull you from a pile of crap are not necessarily your friends. If you are sitting warm and happy in a big pile of crap, keep your mouth shut.

[EuroStiller]

Thanks, but I'll just go warm up in my steam-shower and have a spoonful of sugar after!!


I know it's a bit harsh but I must share this quote from the little library I keep:

On Legislation: "Legislation nowadays is largely in the hands of illiterate people, and the illiterate will take good care that their illiteracy is not made a reproach on them."
Katharine Fullerton Gerould (1879–1944)

Ouch, huh
And I don't want any backlash, I did'nt say the dead chick did!!

EuroStiller- The Doctor

[The Chemist]

B) Glucose is 15-20% sweeter than Sucrose (disaccharide), table sugar

Glucose (dextrose) is less sweet than sucrose because sucrose is half dextrose, half fructose, and fructose is sweeter that glucose. So sucrose is sweeter than plain glucose, and plain fructose is sweeter than sucrose.

Chemistry is not always additive, as far as such things as flavor, sweetness etc. Sucrose isn't simply a 'mixture' of half glucose and half fructose, but a substance in which each molecule is a glucose bit chemically linked to a fructose bit. So it's entirely possible that the linked structure is less sweet than either of the unlinked ones by themselves, and I believe (though I don't have it right in front of me) that that is the case. Starch, for instance, is a whole bunch of linked glucoses, but it ain't sweet.

[EuroStiller]

I though we were done beating this dead horse! Guess I was wrong!

Chemist, I was trying to keep things simple. I am aware that chemical bonds exist and I am also aware that there is more glucose in sucrose than fructose. I am also aware that free fructose is sweeter tasting in the mouth that free glucose, but the effect on the body is entirely different. If you want to discuss organic chemistry at length, we can do that outside of this board. But, please let this topic rest in peace already!

EuroStiller- The Doctor

[The Chemist]

I though we were done beating this dead horse! Guess I was wrong!

Chemist, I was trying to keep things simple. I am aware that chemical bonds exist and I am also aware that there is more glucose in sucrose than fructose. I am also aware that free fructose is sweeter tasting in the mouth that free glucose, but the effect on the body is entirely different. If you want to discuss organic chemistry at length, we can do that outside of this board. But, please let this topic rest in peace already!

EuroStiller- The Doctor

Ah...but dead horses are the most FUN to beat!!!

No need to get your knickers in a twist, I was responding more to Hook's premise that 'fructose is sweeter than glucose, and fructose is sweeter than sucrose, so glucose has to be less sweet than sucrose'.

I wasn't aware that there is more glucose in sucrose than fructose...I heard it was 1:1...

Still not trying to twist your knickers, but I think the organic chemistry of sugars, within reason, is entirely appropriate for this board. I see no reason to euthanize this topic while there is still misinformation about.

[Tater]

I though we were done beating this dead horse! Guess I was wrong!

Chemist, I was trying to keep things simple. I am aware that chemical bonds exist and I am also aware that there is more glucose in sucrose than fructose. I am also aware that free fructose is sweeter tasting in the mouth that free glucose, but the effect on the body is entirely different. If you want to discuss organic chemistry at length, we can do that outside of this board. But, please let this topic rest in peace already!

EuroStiller- The Doctor

Ah...but dead horses are the most FUN to beat!!!

No need to get your knickers in a twist, I was responding more to Hook's premise that 'fructose is sweeter than glucose, and fructose is sweeter than sucrose, so glucose has to be less sweet than sucrose'.

I wasn't aware that there is more glucose in sucrose than fructose...I heard it was 1:1...

Still not trying to twist your knickers, but I think the organic chemistry of sugars, within reason, is entirely appropriate for this board. I see no reason to euthanize this topic while there is still misinformation about.

I second that

[HookLine]

Chemistry is not always additive, as far as such things as flavor, sweetness etc. Sucrose isn't simply a 'mixture' of half glucose and half fructose, but a substance in which each molecule is a glucose bit chemically linked to a fructose bit. So it's entirely possible that the linked structure is less sweet than either of the unlinked ones by themselves, and I believe (though I don't have it right in front of me) that that is the case. Starch, for instance, is a whole bunch of linked glucoses, but it ain't sweet.

Maybe I didn't say it right, but I didn't mean it was a simple additive calculation. I was just reporting their experimentally established relative sweetness. My source is a reliable one, Organic Chemistry, (McMurry, 7th Ed., Table 25.2, page 1005). According to his table (reproduced here) their relative sweetness is:

Glucose 0.75
Sucrose 1
Fructose 1.75

So my original point is still valid, that glucose is less sweet than sucrose, which in turn is less sweet than fructose.

(Interestingly, in the cited table lactose is only given a relative sweetness of 0.16.)

Eurostiller: The Chemist is a long term member on this forum, who is very well qualified to comment on such issues, seeing as he is a real chemist, who also actually works in the alcohol distilling industry.

I think the organic chemistry of sugars, within reason, is entirely appropriate for this board.

I second that

I third it.

[Dnderhead]

I also fiend this interesting for the reason of "finishing" some times you want to add sweetening without body or body with out sweetening I fiend this info is handy

[The Chemist]

Thanks for the correction, Hook...ya learn something everyday! I had it in mind that glucose was sweeter, but obviously missed it.

Dnder--you're right about the 'finishing'. Usually, glycerol ("beading oil") is used for 'non-sweet' body, and I generally use either sucrose or fructose for sweetening. Most rums, I find, have about 2g/l sugar at 40%, usually fructose (speculative, but certainly a monosaccharide), but sometimes sucrose.

[goose eye]

these boys i no bartered a 50 lb rock of glucose solids - brewers crystal but it turn to rock
dont no sweetness but it didnt turn out what a sack of suger would an took a act of
congress to melt it an was real sticky. sack said made in canada

so im tole

[EuroStiller]

Hook- Thanks for the information!

Chemist- I apoligizie. I was not aware that you were in the trade, literaly! The good majority of my sugar knowledge I now see can fill a thimble compared to yours! And mine is more geard towards the effects on/in the body. Only as of late, have I really been trying to gather a deeper knowledge of sugar outside the body, i.e., sugar washes, etc
Once again, sorry and I do appreciate the knowledge everybody shares!

EuroStiller- The Doctor

[The Chemist]

LOL!!

No foul, Euro. I used to work in anesthesiology research, so I know how MDs look upon chemistry: useful in the body, who cares about the rest! At first it bothered me. This guy's a doc, and doesn't remember basic chemistry, that I KNOW he once had to learn? But, I soon realized that I'd rather be in the care of someone focused on MEDICAL chemistry...not all the rest of it!

[muckanic]

Prolly old news to some, but a bit of vanilla can add the sensation of sweetness without resorting to sugars. Just make sure that if it's an essence, it isn't too cheap and nasty. Presumably, the essence route in most cases provides glycerine and sugar anyway.

PS: has anyone ever tried acidifying their rum? The reason I ask is the guilt I feel from mixing it with cola, but coupled with the simultaneous pleasure at the combination. Vanilla is presumably sneaking in that way as well.