For the real entrepreneur, rock candi can be made right in your kitchen. Just heat a solution of plain white sugar and water,then put it in a tall container and drop strings in. For dark candi sugar keep it on the stove longer and it will caramelize (turn brown). In time the dissolved sugar will crystallize around the string. This will require planning as it can take many weeks.

In theory, pure cane sugar is the same as to candi sugar, it's all just sucrose. I have used plain sugar, candi sugar and home made rock candy. The plain sugar gave a Tripple I brewed a very "cheap" flavor. Candi sugar was definitely better, however my best results came from homegrown rock candy. I have no explanation as to why.

FRUIT
Raspberries, peaches and - for the more daring lambic brewer - black currents are what you might expect. The normal everyday versions that are available in your local supermarkets and produce stands are what you want.

I have no information about grapes for the Muscat brewer, but I would be inclined to try a wine making variety as opposed to Concord. A variety of extracts are available through stores that carry wine making supplies.

Cherries are the odd fruit out. Resist the temptation to toss sweet eating varieties into your Lambic. What you want are sour or "pie" cherries. These are in season at the end of June and I have found that they freeze uncommonly well. The ones that I found were yellowish and red. This is no doubt due to picking pre-ripened fruit. I've also gone to pick-your-own farms and found sour cherries that were candiapple red and truly wonderful in terms of look and taste. I kept the store bought ones in the freezer for six months, and when I thawed them I found they had a huge cherry pie aroma.

As far as sanitizing goes I have read that as many as 70 wild yeast varieties can be in a Lambic. Since almost all the bacteria in Lambic ale is the kind you must avoid in conventional brewing anyway, I decided to just rinse and freeze ( which will not kill a lot of microorganisms). No bad results to report.

CORRIANDER
Coriander is a beauty. It is a great spice on its own, but it is usually associated with the use of Curacao orange peel in the making of wit bier. Ironically, the orange peel is not the source of the citrusy flavor of Wit, that is provided by the coriander! Coriander is a bi-product of the cilantro plant. If You've ever eaten Indian or a good grade of Mexican food you know what that is. Coriander is the seed you end up with when cilantro goes to seed. There are those who insist that this tan, pepper corn-like seed must be ground finely to be useful. I will not refute this as I am no expert, but my experience has clearly shown otherwise. I brewed a golden ale with some coriander once, crushing it with a rolling pin to break the husks and adding it into the secondary fermentation. It worked great. It can be boiled briefly, be added at knock out or even later. There are no rules, except for one-its influence will fade over time, blending with the flavors of whatever beer its in.

ORANGE PEEL
Curacao orange peel is an unusual thing. We've all bought oranges at the store. We pick over the bin and grab the ones that are most, well, orange. Sometimes we go for the part green ones,which are often tastier than their commercial navel counterparts though not as visually appealing. So you order bitter orange peel and figure "Hey, I know what I'm in for." Then they arrive, you rip open the package, gasp and scream "Those %&**@#% brew shop morons sent me mold!"

Good news, you'd be wrong (probably!). I've only seen photos of Cura‡ao orange peel, but they corroborate other descriptions I've heard. They are bluish-green with white under sides and horrible looking. Be thankful the photo here is not in color!

This seasoning is a major component of Wit bier, contributing not the citrusy tartness, but a more herbal presence. They seem to be hard to find but probably worth it. The way I see it, nobody would put something that ugly into their beer if it wasn't a REAL good idea!

MISC. SPICES
Although spices are used spiratically at best in modern brewing, there was a day when they were popular. These were the days preceding introduction of the hop, when the role of microbiology was not understood. Off-flavors were more common than in today's controlled brewing environment. It has been suggested that this was the reason for using spices, as they could hide significant imperfections. Perhaps modern the use of spices is a hold over from those times.

They may be added at the end of the boil but seldom during, or in the secondary fermentation. Keep in mind their influence will deminish in time.

Ginger:
My only experience with this spice was in a stout. I added a sliver of fresh ginger into every bottle a week after bottling (I was young!). The beer was not contaminated, had an verwhelming ginger flavor and gushed soft foam upon opening.

Cumin:
Unusual (duh!). Try some Wit Amber if you're curious.

Paradise/Cardamom Seeds:
An old, exotic spice said to have been grown in the hanging gardens of Babylon. One of the worlds most expensive spices, it is aromatic (used in some perfumes) and a reputed aphrodisiac.

Nutmeg:
I put this in my Holiday Barley Wine. I prefer it in nut form, broken into large pieces with a hammer. 1 nut per gallon in this heavy beer (OG:.122, TG:.040) is plenty.

Sweet Gale Seeds:
Noted in Radiate's book on Belgian Ale. Has a bitter, aromatic leaf. I put some in boiling water to check out its aroma. It was a dead ringer for fennel sausage.