Splenda for sweetening

sharingan

Hi,
I am wondering if people have good ratios for using Splenda for sweetening dry ciders.

I am making a Turbo Cider and a Fruity Ginger Beer that have fully fermented. As a result they are very dry, even a bit tart. I would like to sweeten them slightly and people recommend Splenda for it.

Am I right in assuming that Splenda won't ferment ? How much do I need to use (teaspoons) to impart a mild sweetness to a 1 Gallon Demi John ?

BeerNut

I've used it and it's been fine. Half as much again as the amount of sugar you're priming with gives you a good dose of sweetness.

Blackjack

Daft question - does Candarel do the same thing?

BeerNut

Don't think so. Different ingredients.

sharingan

BeerNut wrote: »

I've used it and it's been fine. Half as much again as the amount of sugar you're priming with gives you a good dose of sweetness.

That little? Sounds good. I was gob-smacked by the price of the stuff. A huge box for 75g ?!!! of the stuff?

I have a few fun little brews that could do with some sweetening. Glad to know that his is a reasonably economical option.

Sky King

Howsa bout those little sweetner tabs? how many of those = a spoon of sugar??

Khannie

They're supposed to be 1 tab = 1 spoon. I find that 1 tab is slightly less than 1 spoon. If you crush them between two teaspoons they generally mix well with other stuff. Very cheap own brand ones available in lidl / aldi / tesco.

I'll probably use them for sweetening my cider. No calories. The vast majority of the table sugar equivalent of splenda is just a bulking agent anyway. Tablets seem like the way to go to me.

BeerNut

Sky King wrote: »

Howsa bout those little sweetner tabs?

Compare the price of the tabs to the loose powder.

Khannie

BeerNut wrote: »

Compare the price of the tabs to the loose powder.

The equivalent amount of sweetness is significantly cheaper with the tablets. They just require crushing if you want to use them in something at room temperature (or you could add a lot of them to a small amount of boiling water). They dissolve in seconds.

Sky King

Too late, I impulse-bought the tabs when I was buying glucose and raisins. that's why I was asking!

I have an elixir brewing at home as I type. Not much foam at all on the top but it's going snap crackle and pop if I listen carefully so I presume she's faring OK.

BeerNut

Khannie wrote: »

The equivalent amount of sweetness is significantly cheaper with the tablets.

That would suggest they're made of something different from the powder.

Sky King

Splenda is 600 times sweeter than sugar.

My guess is that the powder is cut with something neutral-tasting, and that the mini tabs are pure sweetness.

BeerNut

My guess is that the tabs are saccharine. Yuck!

Khannie

BeerNut wrote: »

That would suggest they're made of something different from the powder.

Yeah, the powder has a bulking agent added to it so that you can accurately compare it to spoons of sugar.

BeerNut wrote: »

My guess is that the tabs are saccharine. Yuck!

The cheapo ones are a mix of saccharine and cyclamate. They're grand actually. Significantly better than pure saccharine. The alternative is Candarel which is aspartame based or Splenda which is some other thing that I can't remember.

edit: My own plan is to use the cheapo ones in my pear cider intitially, just because I have them and have no aversion to them.

Khannie

Did a bit more reading. The bulking agent is usually either "highly fluffed" maltodextrin or dextrose. Dextrose will definitely ferment, not sure about maltodextrin. I can't see it having a large effect on fermentation either way.

Splenda tablets (which are almost certainly just pure sucralose) or candarel tablets (aspartame) dissolved in a small amount of hot water are likely a good bet. I'm still going to stick with my cheapo cyclamate / saccharine ones. They're approximately 1/10th the price of splenda tablets and as I said I think they taste grand.

For anyone else considering them: The lidl brand is "Cologran" tablets. They do one with a bulking agent too if you'd prefer that for whatever reason.

edit: Further, further reading. Splenda tablets look like the best bet. From here:

Aspartame-based sweeteners such as 'Canderel' are non-fermentable, but break down quite quickly when in the presence of alcohol and the sweetening effect is lost within a week or two, so OK for short term serving. Saccharin is the most common and surprisingly widely-used sweetener as this is unaffected by the alcohol, but it is said to adversely affect the taste of the product and it's use is frowned upon. Sugar-based sweeteners like 'Splenda' are also unaffected by alcohol, have no apparent adverse effects upon the taste of the cider and are non-fermentable, so are one route forward if sweetening is your aim. This sugar-based sweetener can also be obtained in it's pure form - but it is expensive, though you only need very small amounts so is cost-effective in the long run. However, even though it's based on sugar, it is still artificial and many frown upon it's use.

Khannie

Bought some splenda this evening to sweeten my brew when it's finished. Turns out the tablets are only 11% sucralose (the rest is mostly lactose, so happy days) so I'd imagine the bulky boxes are significantly less sucralose than that.

€6.91 in my local store for 300 tablets, which is about the equivalent of 1.5KG of sugar by sweetness. Pricey enough compared to the lidl sweetener, but I expect it to be noticeably nicer in cider.