Using Black Treacle

[homebrewaddict]

Hello,

I am brewing a brown ale today, and I am adding 454 g of Black Treacle (1 small can). Does anybody out there know what the approximate SG yield and Lovibond color of Black Treacle is??

Thanks.

[paul84043]

I don't know anything about it's color properties, but i do know that it gives the Ultimate Porter I made with it way too strong of a flavor. It's pretty much the only batch I have made that I will probably never finish.

[Richard English]

Black treacle (molasses) is almost pure sugar so you need to use similar quantities as you would for sugar.

Having said which, its strong flavour will give your beer a definite taste that you might not like. Remember, when the Jamaicans ferment molasses they sell the end result as Jamaica rum!

Stick to grapes for wine, cactus for tequila, molasses for rum - and malted barley for beer!

[homebrewaddict]

I ended up using half a pound in my batch. I found a site that gives rough values of 36 points for SG and 100 L for color.

While it is true that I may not like the taste, that is the main reason I am trying it out! I am duplicating a basic brown ale recipe of mine and trying different things to see how they affect the flavor and also to see if I enjoy it! First variable = black treacle!

[Richard English]

Fair comment.

I tried it once, though. Never again - the taste was too cloying for me. Like rum, it's not a "clean" taste.

[homebrewaddict]

Isn't it the same stuff that makes Old Peculiar so good and...peculiar?
:D

[Richard English]

I wouldn't have thought so, although I agree that OP is rather a heavy beer.

Unfortunately, in the UK brewers and other makers of alcoholic drinks do not not have to show the ingredients they use. This is different from all other foodstuffs where the complete recipe must be shown on the package.

This exemption has been granted because (why else) of pressure from the chemical fizz manufacturers who don't want drinkers to realise what rubbish goes into their concoctions. You will notice that most of the better brewers do show what they use - usually just water, malted barley, hops and yeast!

[Theakston]

Originally posted by homebrewaddict
Isn't it the same stuff that makes Old Peculiar so good and...peculiar?
:D

Yes it is. Although the exact recipe is a secret, it is said to contain 3 types of sugar. Mollasses certainly plays a role somwhere (although black treacle is not pure mollasses, there is a subtle difference, something to do with when the sugar is extracted from the cane and refined, mollasses is the by product, treacle has mollasses and sugars I believe).

It is not uncommon to find sugars in many english ales. Many Belgian ales also use candy sugar.
(We've been over the whole adjuncts thing before and the horse is definitely beyond flogging it's more a case of whether they add flavour or are used to keep the costs down).