US Caramel in Brewing-Web
US Caramel in Brewing-Web
US Caramel in Brewing-Web
Caramel in Brewing
A valuable brewing ingredient for more than a century, caramel contributes to the character of beer on every continent. Caramel provides color, flavor, and consistency in beer. It also has applications in a variety of related products including cider, shandy, and non-alcoholic malted beverages. Caramel, by weight, is the worlds most widely-consumed coloring ingredient in foods and beverages.
What is Caramel?
Caramel is produced from the controlled heat treatment of carbohydrates, typically glucose syrup. The glucose can be combined with food grade catalysts to facilitate the browning process and provide caramel color stability. A standard beer caramel is a long polymer chain that is a positive-charged colloidal solution, which lends to its beer stability due to the positive charge of the beer (malt protein charge). Caramel, an inert, physically stable product when stored properly, will not promote bacterial growth. Beer caramels are available in a range of color intensities as well as a variety of different hues (from pale yellow, to red, to brown).
Brewery Applications
Each brewery may have its own particular caramel application method; in general, brewers add caramel either at the wort boiling stage (if large volumes are required) or at the end to standardize color lost in batch processing. Brewers can make adjustments to final beer color by adding caramel to the beer during the filtration process. The caramel can be added to ensure finished product color consistency or to target a darker color without significantly adding to the beers calories or gravity. The dosage of beer caramel varies by type. Traditional ales contain 0.02% or more to add color and some flavor character. Certain dark beers, including some stouts and bocks, may rely on higher caramel dosage. Lagers require more minimal caramel amounts for color consistency (typically 0.01%) than other types. Adjusting a lager type beer to a Bock beer color would require an addition of 0.05-0.075%.
International Standards
The World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations (UN) Joint Evaluation Committee for Food Additives (JECFA)1, the European Union and United States recognize four classes of caramel color. Furthermore; the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) identifies caramel color as GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe)2. These authorities specify caramels purity standards3, and D.D. Williamsons caramels meet these standards. All beer caramels are in Class III; however, not all Class III caramels are stable in beer. Hence, D.D. Williamson performs a test on each batch of its beer caramels (300-series) to ensure its stability in beer. Class III caramels that are not beer-stable result in beverage turbidity.
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Brewing Advantages
Advantages of using caramel apart from its stability as a beer color include its ease of addition in metered volumes, its cost effectiveness compared to other coloring choices, and its unique flavor. Caramel can be utilized to adjust the final beer color (or adding to the visual appeal) without changing the character of the beer.
JECFA Compendium of Foods Additive Specifications, 2006. United States Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Title 21, Section172.1235. Food Chemicals Codex, Sixth Edition.
beer-stable powder DDWs darkest beer-stable liquid low solids for direct addition general purpose dark Emkamalt; yellow tone provides a sweet porterine flavor for malta or pilsner available globally most widely-used beer caramel globally popular in North America
Test Methodology
1 Color Intensity = Darkness = Absorbance of a 0.1% (w/v) solution of caramel in deionized water measured in a 1-cm cell at 610 nm wavelength 2 Color I.O.B. = Institute of Brewing = Absorbance of 0.1% (w/v) solution at 530 nm x 100,000 3 Color EBCs = European Brewing Convention units = Absorbance at 430 nm x dilution x 25 4 Hue Index = Redness = Log((ABS @ 510 nm)/(ABS @ 610 nm)) x 10 5 Fermentability % = DP1% + DP2% + DP3%
For samples or technical questions, please e-mail us at info@ddwmson.com +1 502 895 2438
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October 2011