# Invert Sugar Syrup



## Rifleman (Jan 2, 2010)

Has anyone had experience using invert sugar syrup (like Numoline) for post-finish sweetening? Thanks for the advice.


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## Hillbilly Bill (Jan 2, 2010)

Rifleman said:


> Has anyone had experience using invert sugar syrup (like Numoline) for post-finish sweetening? Thanks for the advice.


 
I am not familiar with Numoline, but any time you boil complex sugar in water, you invert the sugar into a simple sugar which is sweeter to the taste and more easily digested. I am sure it would be fine for use in back-sweetening, but you can make your own simple syrup for only pennies and it will work just as well.


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## surlees (Jan 2, 2010)

Rifleman,

Welcome to the forum!

I also am not familiar with Numoline; however, I know invert sugar is acceptable for use. I just started a CC Showcase Cab. Sauv. yesterday and invert sugar was listed as an ingredient in the grape pack to be added. Most people wanting to sweeten use a solution of 2 parts table sugar to 1 part boiling water. I think it's just because bags of sugar are more readily available than invert sugar.

Fred


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## Rifleman (Jan 2, 2010)

Thanks guys for the quick response.
Numoline is a brand name for a naturally stabilized invert sugar.
It is used a great deal by professional bakers and confectioners as it remains stable over a wide temperature range.
I asked because my wife does a lot of baking and we have a ton of the stuff and it is already pre-calculated for density in liquid form.
I just didn't know if there was some got-ya using it in wine making. 
Thanks again for the advice.


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## Wade E (Jan 2, 2010)

Never heard of before either. Can you tell us what ingredients are in it that keeps it stabilized?


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## Rifleman (Jan 2, 2010)

I am not sure.
All of the liquid invert sugars, Numoline, Trimoline and Nevuline all list the only ingredient as , "Liquid Invert Sugar". 
From what I have found in researching it is that it is the way it is processed and not the ingredients that makes it useful in the baking indusrty to..."be very concentrated and very thick, used to prevent crystallization, resists humidity, acts as an anti-oxidant, increases carmelization, improves texture, preserves aroma, flavor, and color."


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## Hillbilly Bill (Jan 2, 2010)

Rifleman said:


> I am not sure.
> All of the liquid invert sugars, Numoline, Trimoline and Nevuline all list the only ingredient as , "Liquid Invert Sugar".
> From what I have found in researching it is that it is the way it is processed and not the ingredients that makes it useful in the baking indusrty to..."be very concentrated and very thick, used to prevent crystallization, resists humidity, acts as an anti-oxidant, increases carmelization, improves texture, preserves aroma, flavor, and color."


 
OK... that may be good, but the phrase "increases carmelization" has me wondering. When we make simple syrup to back-sweeten out wines we do not want caramelization, so we are careful to stir the sugar as it is dissolved and inverted. I have been doing this for years (not in wines though) and I am always careful not to let the sugar caramelize because this can affect the taste of your product as well as sweeten it.
That being said, you may like the taste that inverted caramelized sugar adds to your wine. The only way to find out is to try it.


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## upper (Jan 2, 2010)

I used to feed Drivert sugar to honeybees,they seemed to digest it better..........Upper


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## Rifleman (Jan 2, 2010)

Ok. Now I am really curious with all this input. I am going to try to back-sweeten a couple of gallons of some really dry wine I made from Thompson Seedless this past fall that is just about ready for bottling. I will let you all know how it turns out.


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## upper (Jan 2, 2010)

Rifleman,I too did a 6 gallon juice of T seedless.I have 4 gallons left,and sweetened some the other night,pretty good.Now mind you this is my Jackle batch and only just over 2 months old....Upper


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## Luc (Jan 3, 2010)

Hillbilly Bill said:


> I am not familiar with Numoline, but any time you boil complex sugar in water, you invert the sugar into a simple sugar which is sweeter to the taste and more easily digested.



Only if you add citric acid. The acid splits the table sugar in the individual components. The heating is only acquired to speed up the process.


Luc


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## Hillbilly Bill (Jan 3, 2010)

Luc said:


> Only if you add citric acid. The acid splits the table sugar in the individual components. The heating is only acquired to speed up the process. Luc


 
Thanks Luc for the clarification... in the past when I needed to invert sugar I did add lemon juice and I had forgotten all about that. I must have been enjoying the wine a little too much last evening.
Bill


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## Hillbilly Bill (Jan 3, 2010)

Luc said:


> Only if you add citric acid. The acid splits the table sugar in the individual components. The heating is only acquired to speed up the process. Luc


 
Luc,
I knew I had inverted sugar before without adding lemon juice... for instance when I prepared my hummingbird solution. I looked around and this is what I found on Wikipedia. Obviously, it is better to use some citric acid, but inversion can occur without the citric acid in the presence of enough heat. 


*Inverting sugar*
*Invert sugar syrup may also be produced without the use of acids or enzymes by thermal means alone: two parts granulated sucrose and one part water simmered for five to seven minutes will convert a modest portion to invert sugar.*

Here is a link to the entire article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inverted_sugar_syrup


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## Midwest Vintner (Jan 4, 2010)

Luc said:


> Only if you add citric acid. The acid splits the table sugar in the individual components. The heating is only acquired to speed up the process.
> 
> 
> Luc



ah, well this explains why my father always puts in some lemon.


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## Tokengimp (Mar 24, 2012)

*Inverted Sugar*

A portion of Sugar will invert by heat alone but it must be boiled for 5-7 minutes with ratio of 2-1 Sugar to Water. 

The term 'inverted' is derived from the method of measuring the concentration of sugar syrup using a polarimeter. Plane polarized light, when passed through a sample of pure sucrose solution, is rotated to the right (optical rotation). As the solution is converted to a mixture of sucrose, fructose and glucose, the amount of rotation is reduced until (in a fully converted solution) the direction of rotation has changed (inverted) from right to left.
C12H22O11 (sucrose, Specific rotation = +66.5°) + H2O (water, no rotation) → C6H12O6 (glucose, Specific rotation = +52.7°) + C6H12O6 (fructose, Specific rotation = −92°)
net: +66.5° converts to −39°
Hydrolysis is a chemical reaction in which a molecule breaks down by the addition of water. Hydrolysis of sucrose yields glucose and fructose about 85%, the reaction temperature can be maintained at 50–60 °C (122–140 °F).

Inverted sugar syrup can be easily made by adding roughly one gram of citric acid or ascorbic acid per kilogram of sugar. Cream of tartar (one gram per kilogram) or fresh lemon juice (10 millilitres per kilogram) may also be used.
The mixture is boiled for 20 minutes, and will convert enough of the sucrose to effectively prevent crystallization, without giving a noticeably sour taste. Invert sugar syrup may also be produced without the use of acids or enzymes by thermal means alone: two parts granulated sucrose and one part water simmered for five to seven minutes will convert a modest portion to invert sugar.
All inverted sugar syrups are created from hydrolysing sucrose to glucose (dextrose) and fructose by heating a sucrose solution, then relying on time alone, with the catalytic properties of an acid or enzymes used to speed the reaction. Commercially prepared acid catalysed solutions are neutralized when the desired level of inversion is reached.
All constituent sugars (sucrose, glucose and fructose) support fermentation, so invert sugar solutions may be fermented as readily as sucrose solutions.


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