Several winemaking books suggest using sugar syrup at a concentration
of 1 lb sugar per 2 UK pints of total volume (800 g/litre) to feed the
must for strong wines.

Suppose I let the solution boil for a minute or two, then use boiled
water to make up the exact volume, and store it in sanitized beer
bottles with sanitized reusable caps (I use Betadine/Iodophor to
sanitize).

How long is it safe (from infection in brewing/winemaking terms) to
keep it for re-use after opening it, pouring out some solution, and
recapping it?


--
Usenet is a cesspool, a dung heap. [Patrick A. Townson]

hi! I've kept simple syrups stored in tupperware (scant sanitization) for
months in the 'fridge without problem. I've also kept a batch of syrup for
over a year by periodically adding H2O & re-boiling it w/o any apparent
cooties. HTH. regards, bob



"Adam Funk" wrote in message
...
Several winemaking books suggest using sugar syrup at a concentration
of 1 lb sugar per 2 UK pints of total volume (800 g/litre) to feed the
must for strong wines.

Suppose I let the solution boil for a minute or two, then use boiled
water to make up the exact volume, and store it in sanitized beer
bottles with sanitized reusable caps (I use Betadine/Iodophor to
sanitize).

How long is it safe (from infection in brewing/winemaking terms) to
keep it for re-use after opening it, pouring out some solution, and
recapping it?


--
Usenet is a cesspool, a dung heap. [Patrick A. Townson]

On 2008-10-09, bobdrob wrote:

hi! I've kept simple syrups stored in tupperware (scant sanitization) for
months in the 'fridge without problem. I've also kept a batch of syrup for
over a year by periodically adding H2O & re-boiling it w/o any apparent
cooties. HTH. regards, bob

Thanks!

Out of curiosity, why are you adding water to the syrup later?
Doesn't that make it hard to know how much sugar you're adding to the
wine?


--
This sig no verb.

I teach culinary arts in a vocational school- we make a gallon+ of syrup at
a time for baking applications etc. & I don't use it in my wines. I'm
offering personal experience regarding the longevity of sugar syrup storage.
We add water to the reboil to replace the liquid boiled away & keep our
syrup from becoming too sweet (tastewise) for our pastry work. Some of my
students are REALLY GOOD at boiling stuff down... Since you would be
measuring SG with a hydrometer, you can add less by volume of the denser
syrup to your wine & still acheive the same desired SG. I'd use the left
over syrup to sweeten cocktails, iced beverages, etc, and make a new batch
as necessary. cheers!


"Adam Funk" wrote in message
...
On 2008-10-09, bobdrob wrote:

hi! I've kept simple syrups stored in tupperware (scant sanitization)
for
months in the 'fridge without problem. I've also kept a batch of syrup
for
over a year by periodically adding H2O & re-boiling it w/o any apparent
cooties. HTH. regards, bob

Thanks!

Out of curiosity, why are you adding water to the syrup later?
Doesn't that make it hard to know how much sugar you're adding to the
wine?


--
This sig no verb.

On 2008-10-11, bobdrob wrote:

I teach culinary arts in a vocational school- we make a gallon+ of syrup at
a time for baking applications etc. & I don't use it in my wines.

Aha.

I'm offering personal experience regarding the longevity of sugar
syrup storage. We add water to the reboil to replace the liquid
boiled away & keep our syrup from becoming too sweet (tastewise) for
our pastry work. Some of my students are REALLY GOOD at boiling
stuff down... Since you would be measuring SG with a hydrometer, you
can add less by volume of the denser syrup to your wine & still
acheive the same desired SG. I'd use the left over syrup to sweeten
cocktails, iced beverages, etc, and make a new batch as necessary.
cheers!

OK, thanks for the advice. I think I'll stick to the more controlled
approach.


--
This sig no verb.