Type of Sugar for Simple Syrup - Tiki Drinks and Food

A AceExplorer Grand Member (8 years) Deep in the Jacksonville Flori-duh jungle. Joined: Apr 03, 2008 Posts: 2564	A AceExplorer Posted posted on Tue, Aug 18, 2015 7:31 AM On 2015-08-18 06:16, Swanky wrote: Not sure how much a little alcohol will help, but a lot of sugar will. It is the high sugar content that keeps mold from growing. It may grow on the inside of the bottle, but rarely on the sugar syrup. Refrigeration will also slow the process as will alcohol, but that's usually at about 80 proof. i.e. 50/50 mix of sugar syrup and overproof. I add a drop or two of lime juice to aid in the breakdown of the sugar in water and to help keep it from crystalizing later. Hi Swanky, I believe you. I can't explain it, but I have had some trouble with my boiled and non-boiled sugar syrup (without added PGA) growing organisms at the 1:1 ratio. And last week my buddy down the street also reported that he had organisms growing all over the top of his syrup (but not on the bottle wall) in his fridge. I understand it is the osmosis effect which is supposed to kill organisms in the concentrated sugar syrup, however in real life I have not really seen that benefit. This is one of the reasons I originally started researching this, and testing at home, with input from The Bum. To get around this I've started adding 2 oz PGA to each 16 oz bottle of syrup. Or, for 1 cup sugar and 1 cup water, 1 oz PGA. Like I said, I do believe you. It's just that I'm not experiencing that here in Florida. I cannot explain it at all, and fortunately, my frustration has lead me to more drinking. :) You're making me think of setting up a test where I make THREE medium bottles of 1:1 syrup, heat the syrup (and the bottles) not higher than 180 degrees to establish sterility, and without addition of PGA, let one sit in a back corner of my fridge, one at room temperature, and the third bottle with added PGA to see how all three scenarios play out. Adding a bit of lime juice to prevent crystallization is also intriguing -- I have never had a bottle of syrup crystallize on me, even when I made "rock candy syrup" at the 2:1 ratio. Maybe some of us here in Florida just suck... (Be nice - we have many of your parents, lol!)

On 2015-08-18 06:16, Swanky wrote:
Not sure how much a little alcohol will help, but a lot of sugar will. It is the high sugar content that keeps mold from growing. It may grow on the inside of the bottle, but rarely on the sugar syrup. Refrigeration will also slow the process as will alcohol, but that's usually at about 80 proof. i.e. 50/50 mix of sugar syrup and overproof.

I add a drop or two of lime juice to aid in the breakdown of the sugar in water and to help keep it from crystalizing later.

Hi Swanky, I believe you. I can't explain it, but I have had some trouble with my boiled and non-boiled sugar syrup (without added PGA) growing organisms at the 1:1 ratio. And last week my buddy down the street also reported that he had organisms growing all over the top of his syrup (but not on the bottle wall) in his fridge. I understand it is the osmosis effect which is supposed to kill organisms in the concentrated sugar syrup, however in real life I have not really seen that benefit. This is one of the reasons I originally started researching this, and testing at home, with input from The Bum. To get around this I've started adding 2 oz PGA to each 16 oz bottle of syrup. Or, for 1 cup sugar and 1 cup water, 1 oz PGA.

Like I said, I do believe you. It's just that I'm not experiencing that here in Florida. I cannot explain it at all, and fortunately, my frustration has lead me to more drinking. :)

You're making me think of setting up a test where I make THREE medium bottles of 1:1 syrup, heat the syrup (and the bottles) not higher than 180 degrees to establish sterility, and without addition of PGA, let one sit in a back corner of my fridge, one at room temperature, and the third bottle with added PGA to see how all three scenarios play out.

Adding a bit of lime juice to prevent crystallization is also intriguing -- I have never had a bottle of syrup crystallize on me, even when I made "rock candy syrup" at the 2:1 ratio.

Maybe some of us here in Florida just suck... (Be nice - we have many of your parents, lol!)

Post #749393 by AceExplorer on Tue, Aug 18, 2015 7:31 AM