Molasses/barley malt syrup report:

It actually tastes pretty good. The malt syrup kept the molasses flavor from being overwhelming, and the molasses drowned out the nasty flavor of the malt. (I know I've had better tasting barley malt; this is Eden brand malt and Wholesome brand molasses.)

It didn't sit on my stomach quite as well as other gels. I don't know whether that's because of the mineral content, or whether it's somewhat acidic, or something else, or just what my stomach wanted to do today. It didn't cause me any real problems, just didn't seem to clear my stomach as easily as I'd like.

Bottom line, I'll try it one more time before I give up on the idea.