Garton's sugar (part one)

Many thanks to Eric from Butcher's Tears for sending me a Garton's patent. Which explains what the sugar was used by Boddington and described simply as "Garton".

The patent kicks off with some general discussion about the sugar used in brewing.

William Garton, of the Town and County of Southampton, Brewer. “Improvements in Brewing, and the Preparation of a Material to be Employed THEREIN."

It has been usual for some time past to employ as a substitute for a portion of the malt used in the brewing of beer a prepared sugar known in the trade as saccharum.

This saccharum is chiefly manufactured from cane sugar by the well known processes of inverting with an acid at certain temperatures; but in consequence of its highly vinous and fermentable character, and the absence of dextrine, the malt used in conjunction with it has to be manipulated in such a way as to retain a larger proportion of dextrine than is usually left by the ordinary methods of brewing, and difficulties arise in effecting this result in some breweries, and the beer produced has in some cases too sweet a flavour, and in others it attenuates too freely.
Letters patent, 27th March 1876, N° 1311, page 1.

It's good to have confirmed that saccharum was invert sugar. As well as the method of its manufacture using acid.

There was also a second method using the starch from grains.

The article is also manufactured partly from amylaceous substances and partly from cane sugar by a combined process, that is, acid is employed to convert the starch to dextrine-dextrose, when the temperature is reduced and cane sugar added to the acid solution, and as it is necessary to defer the neutralization for several hours to insure a proper inversion of the cane sugar, a further conversion of the rice product takes place and the dextrine cannot be kept intact, consequently this combined process only supplies an inappreciable amount of dextrine to the dextrose and invert sugar produced, therefore almost the same results as those above named are caused.
Letters patent, 27th March 1876, N° 1311, page 1.

Invert was sometimes combined with straight glucose.

Sometimes ordinary glucose is mixed with invert sugar in brewing, but owing to the small quantity of dextrine it contains the objection before referred to is not overcome, and although the mixture gives a heavier final gravity to the beer this is due to the presence of inert bodies, which impart an undesirable bitter flavor.
Letters patent, 27th March 1876, N° 1311, page 1.

Next time we'll discuss dextrine-dextro-laevulose. Won't that be fun?