Crazy8
Well-Known Member
So I cant seem to find an answer for this. In the distant past I had seen a root beer recipe or two that called for cream of tarter. What does cream of tarter do for the root beer?
Why cream of tarter?
- Thread starter Crazy8
- Start date
Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:
microbusbrewery
Senior Member
Never seen it in a root beer recipe, but I used to have a Ginger Beer Plant and I heard claims that it increased head retention.
Yeah, I'm assuming head formation and retention as well.
OP
OP
Crazy8
Well-Known Member
Thank you all very much. I was leaning towards something to do with the head retention, but was not 100% sure. Thanks again.
Kythcat
Active Member
FlyingDutchman
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Feb 27, 2012
- Messages
- 53
- Reaction score
- 4
I'm not sure how it would help with head retention. You need a protein for that.
Cream of tartar (or tartaric acid) is used to break up and stabilize table sugar (which is a disaccharide and is relatively low in sweetness) into its 2 component parts: fructose (considerably sweeter) and glucose. In cooking, this is referred to as "inverting" sugar. Critic acid is also a popular acid used for the same purpose.
Cream of tartar (or tartaric acid) is used to break up and stabilize table sugar (which is a disaccharide and is relatively low in sweetness) into its 2 component parts: fructose (considerably sweeter) and glucose. In cooking, this is referred to as "inverting" sugar. Critic acid is also a popular acid used for the same purpose.
I think it's used with egg whites to stabilize them when they are whipped. Now, it's possible that it is being used to invert sugar somehow, but, I'm not sure why you need that with root beer.
The third possiblity, possibly the most likely, it has been used incorrectly for years to help with the head when it's really not doing anything at all.
MrFoodScientist
Well-Known Member
Table sugar (sucrose) heated in the presence of an acid will hydrolyze to its constituants: glucose and fructose. Cream of tartar (tartaric acid) is used for this purpose because it doesn't have as strong a flavor as other readily available acids such as citric acid.
An invert sugar solution is helpful for a couple of reasons. 1) it is sweeter, and 2) it keeps better than a sucrose solution.
Fructose ranks highest in sweetness, followed by sucrose and glucose is third, so an invert sugar solution is sweeter than a sucrose solution.
It keeps better because it has twice as many solute molecules since each sucrose molecule will hydrolyze to one molecule of fructose and one molecule of glucose. This inhibits microbial growth a little bit and because there are now different types of molecules in solution, they interfere with each other's crystallization.
So when adding cream of tartar to a recipe, it needs to be added as the sugar is heated, and you won't achieve very much inversion without some significant heating. I've done 1 lb of sugar solution boiled for about 20 min to get where I want to be with it.
Otherwise, you're just adding an acid to your recipe, and a weak one at that. I'm not sure that on it's own it really does much for head retention. I've never seen a difference in head, but I haven't been really looking for that either.
An invert sugar solution is helpful for a couple of reasons. 1) it is sweeter, and 2) it keeps better than a sucrose solution.
Fructose ranks highest in sweetness, followed by sucrose and glucose is third, so an invert sugar solution is sweeter than a sucrose solution.
It keeps better because it has twice as many solute molecules since each sucrose molecule will hydrolyze to one molecule of fructose and one molecule of glucose. This inhibits microbial growth a little bit and because there are now different types of molecules in solution, they interfere with each other's crystallization.
So when adding cream of tartar to a recipe, it needs to be added as the sugar is heated, and you won't achieve very much inversion without some significant heating. I've done 1 lb of sugar solution boiled for about 20 min to get where I want to be with it.
Otherwise, you're just adding an acid to your recipe, and a weak one at that. I'm not sure that on it's own it really does much for head retention. I've never seen a difference in head, but I haven't been really looking for that either.
OP
OP
Crazy8
Well-Known Member
Wow I cannot tell you how informative and educational this is. I hate science, well maybe science hates me, but this I dont mind at all and I find somewhat interesting. Now with heating up the sugar for a long period of time before adding cream of tarter, I always add my brown sugar and other spices at the last 5 minutes of a boil. Is that long enough? For the sake of the sugar and sweetness, can I add the sugar sooner without any harm done to sweetenss and such?
Thank you all for your input on this. Very intriguing
Thank you all for your input on this. Very intriguing
Kythcat
Active Member
What I actually do is put my sugar and cream of tartar in a pan, add the water, then start heating to almost the boiling point (if i can see the bottom of the pan, it's ready). So, yes, you can add the sugar sooner w/o any harm. IMO, it's even better.
FlyingDutchman
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Feb 27, 2012
- Messages
- 53
- Reaction score
- 4
Adding the sugar right at the beginning is the only way to do it. Breaking apart chemical bonds is a very difficult process (on a molecular level). The purpose of heating (and adding cream of tartar) is to facilitate this process.
Here is how I do it:
2lbs 3oz table sugar
2 cups water
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar (although I usually use critic acid here - personal preference)
Put all 3 ingredients in a pot that has a good sealing lid. Turn the heat on - med to med/high. Stir the mixture frequently to prevent scorching. Once all the crystals are dissolved and the solution starts to bubble, lid it up. Take it to a full rolling boil for 5 minutes, remove the lid, and stick in a candy therm if you have one. Continue to boil uncovered for an additional 15 mins or so. If you have a thermometer it should read somewhere around 235°f-240°f. Kill the heat, remove thermometer, and put the lid back on while it cools. Once cooled it should have the consistency of corn syrup.
As far as adding other spices and such, I'd steer clear. This is about the process of making sugar. Once the sugar making process is completed, you can then start brewing up your recipe. The invent sugar is pretty much bulletproof at this point, so it does not matter when you add it.
Here is how I do it:
2lbs 3oz table sugar
2 cups water
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar (although I usually use critic acid here - personal preference)
Put all 3 ingredients in a pot that has a good sealing lid. Turn the heat on - med to med/high. Stir the mixture frequently to prevent scorching. Once all the crystals are dissolved and the solution starts to bubble, lid it up. Take it to a full rolling boil for 5 minutes, remove the lid, and stick in a candy therm if you have one. Continue to boil uncovered for an additional 15 mins or so. If you have a thermometer it should read somewhere around 235°f-240°f. Kill the heat, remove thermometer, and put the lid back on while it cools. Once cooled it should have the consistency of corn syrup.
As far as adding other spices and such, I'd steer clear. This is about the process of making sugar. Once the sugar making process is completed, you can then start brewing up your recipe. The invent sugar is pretty much bulletproof at this point, so it does not matter when you add it.
MrFoodScientist
Well-Known Member
I was going to post essentially the same thing as FlyingDucthman, it takes a good amount of heat and time to get the sugar to invert, it's best not to add anything else until it is inverted. You need enough water that the sugars won't caramelize or burn (you'll know if they do, add more water immediately if the solution starts to turn brown), but not so much that it won't get up to 240°F.
Great info here. I've just been adding a teaspoon to my ginger brew batches (which include the sugar, ginger, and spices), but will try making the invert sugar first in my next batch, then adding the ginger and spices.
Any guidelines on amount of COT to water/sugar to use? I've been making a 2.5 gallon decoction of ginger as my base, but it sounds like 1 tsp isn't enough for this volume.
MrFoodScientist
Well-Known Member
This Recipe is the best one that I have found so far. It requires a thermometer, but it works well.
Wow. Great stuff, MrFoodScientist.
It appears I've just adopted a vestigial ingredient thinking I was being all fancy and making invert sugar, when in reality I've just been making my ginger decoctions slightly more acidic, before adding my lemon and lime juice to it.
My ginger beer never lasts more than a couple weeks and obviously crystallization isn't an issue, so I'm 86'ing this from my future recipes/experiments. So, thanks!
It appears I've just adopted a vestigial ingredient thinking I was being all fancy and making invert sugar, when in reality I've just been making my ginger decoctions slightly more acidic, before adding my lemon and lime juice to it.
My ginger beer never lasts more than a couple weeks and obviously crystallization isn't an issue, so I'm 86'ing this from my future recipes/experiments. So, thanks!
