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DDW, The Color House Caramel for Brewing
Every day more than 1.5 billion servings of food and beverages containing DDW colorants are consumed around the globe. With seven caramel manufacturing sites on five continents, DDW is the world leader in caramel color.
Caramel in the Brewing Process 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 to beer. It also has applications in a variety of related products, including cider and non-alcoholic malted beverages. What is Caramel? Caramel results from the controlled heat treatment of carbohydrates, typically glucose syrup. The glucose and food-grade catalysts are used to facilitate the browning process and provide stability. The finished beer caramel, a long polymer chain, is a positively-charged colloidal solution and is therefore stable in beer, which also has a net positive charge. Caramel is inert, physically stable when stored properly and has bacteriostatic properties. Why Use Caramel?
Caramel is a great way to adjust beer color throughout any part of the brewing process. Caramel allows you to adjust color in the kettle, as late as final filtration or in the serving tank. With caramel you can darken your beer without adding the astringent flavors associated with dark malt. Dosage Dosage will vary by style. Traditional ales require 0.02% or more of caramel coloring to add color. Certain dark beers, including some stouts and bocks, might require a higher caramel dosage. Lagers require less caramel to obtain color consistency than other types of beers (typically 0.01%). Adjusting a lager type beer to a bock beer color would require an addition of 0.05-0.075%. Caramel Product Selection Gusmer offers six different grades of caramel color to the brewing industry. Most products come in 5 gallon pails, 55 gallon drums or 275 gallon totes. (The total weight may vary from product to product depending on the density of the material.)
DDW Product
Color Intensity
Color IOB
Color EBC
Hue Index
Percent Solids
Feature
(Typical)
(Typical)
(Typical)
#305
.070 – .080
20,500
19,000
5.6
74%
Slight sweet and spicy accent
#304
.070 – .080
20,500
19,000
5.6
74%
For malta or pilsner
#303
.127 – .133
35,000
34,000
5.5
65%
Available globally
#301
.106 – .111
31,500
29,800
5.5
66%
Most widely-used beer caramel globally
#300
.080 – .090
24,500
22,000
5.6
74%
Popular in North America
Contact Gusmer Enterprises about DDW technical tips for caramel in the brewing process and test methodology.
866.213.1131 | www.GusmerBeer.com 23
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