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Light Maple Ale
I have been kicking this one around for a month now. Kinda scared because my first two custom brews were horrible. But the stuff in the mail so it's a tad late now.
1/4# Flaked Barley
1/4# Flaked Rice
1/4# Flaked Corn
!/2 # Crystal malt
3.3# gold LME
1oz Sazz (60)
1oz Sazz (15)
2# Maple at flame out.
I haven't seen a light Maple beer so i figured I'd be an idiot and try it out.
I have one recomendation. I've found that the maple flavor really shines though when you add it to the secondary instead of the boil. Primary really rips apart the aroma of the maple. I've made a couple of different versions of maple beers and it always seems to hold true.
I brewed a maple porter by making a regular porter then adding a 1/2 gal bottle of grade B maple syrup at the secondary. I agree with waiting until then if you want the maple flavor to shine through nicely. It will start fermenting vigorously when you add it. That said, 1/2 gallon was WAY too much. I'm not sure how much that works out to in pounds (I guess 4 lbs, since 1/2 gal is 64 oz). It was like drinking watered down maple syrup! I ended up salvaging the batch by brewing another batch of a dry stout and mixing the two together - that turned out pretty good.
So, 2 lbs is probably fine. Check what grade you're using also. The more expensive grade A syrup has less of a "mapley" taste, which is why I used the grade B. All depends on your preference, but just know what you're shooting for...
Good luck!
Secondary the maple it is...............
Hi all I was just wondering how you added maple syrup to the secondary ? did you disolve it in water cool it and then add it? Have you thought about maybe useing a maple extract ? HELP!! I am a total newb and am wanting to make this beer 
Thanks
If you're using commercially produced maple syrup and you have just opened the can/jug then you can just pour it in; it's pasteurized.
I made a Maple Pale Ale last year and was unimpressed. I don't think it's worth the cost of the syrup. I posted a thread here if you're interesetd.
On a side note, I'm making my own syrup this year! Boiled 8 gals of sap down to a quart of syrup yesterday and the trees are running like crazy. If it keeps on this way I'll probably get in at least a gallon or two this season.
Ever think about just using the sap as your brewing water. Maybe bring it to a boil then let it cool, mash & sparge with it.
Just curious, couldn't do it here.
Brewski wrote:
Ever think about just using the sap as your brewing water. Maybe bring it to a boil then let it cool, mash & sparge with it.
Just curious, couldn't do it here.
The guys on basic brewing radio recently sat in on a session with a couple girls that used sap as the brewing water.
The problem is one of those guys suggestingly convinced them to add 2lbs of maple syrup to the wort at flameout. WTF???? How do you know what brew with sap is like if you go and a the syrup to the beer too!!!
Otherwise it would have been an interesting experiment.
Its like, "here tell me what this cocoa bean tastes like, but put this chunk of Hershey's in your mouth first."
DUMB!
Htey did report that the gravity of the sap alone was 1.008. and that it basically tasted like...water.
I plugged 1-1/2# of maple syrup into a 5-1/2 gal BeerSmith batch to get 1.008. ???
So, I'm thinking you might could get an interesting brew if you took sap, boiled it down to 50% of original volume and brewed with it.
Not going to happen in northern Missouri, but it would be cool if someone picked up on this & did it.
Last year I made a Maple Pale Ale (recipe on the board here somewhere). I did use the sap as my water, and then added syrup to the secondary. As I said, I wasn't impressed.
Having made some syrup this week I can tell you that maple sap is like 2% sugar, it's barely noticable. My kids say it tastes like river water. That is, just like water but with a bit of a wild tinge to it. The only thing about it is that when it dries on your fingers it leaevs a faint sweet scent that is nice.
You really have to boil it down by at least 50% to get any noticeable sweetness. I've abandoned the idea of using it as brew water; if I make a maple ale again I'll just use the syrup and leave the sap for boiling. Although...I have like 15 gallons of sap and the trees are running like mad, I'll probably have another 20 gals by the weekend; it's possible I won't have the time or desire to boil it all down, it might just find its way into my next berw as a 'secert ingredient'.
kissmeagain123 wrote:
Have you thought about maybe useing a maple extract ?
Thanks
This was something I was thinking of as well. I have read multiple posts of people not being impressed with the maple flavor left by adding maple syrup, (most likely due to the high fermentability of maple syrup). I was thinking of using some maple extract in a stout recipe, but I probably won't get to it untill next fall. ( I tend not to drink dark, heavy beers in the spring and summer.) So if you try this before this fall please post your results.
Good luck
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