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making maine maple brew
what is the the best way to give an ale a maple flavor?...i just got my pure maine maple syrup, should i use it as a priming sugar or boil it into my wort? how much should i add for a 5 gallon recipe? any suggestions...
I would add a pound or so at the end of boil, or with 5-10 minutes left. That should give a good maple sweetness without tasting like the tree itself.....you could always split the batch into two 2.5 gallons each, and use two different amounts. Then you would know if you prefer a heavy or light maple flavor profile....
If you add the maple syrup during prior to the ferment then most of the sweetness of the maple syrup will get fermented out. I would look into using at a priming agent to retain more of the flavor. If you want the flavor to be subtle then in the boil it should be fine. If you want a more pronounced flavor then I think the priming agent is the best bet.
I think brewskinewbski could speak about this from the point of a HEAVY honey user. I think that he gets good honey flavor as a priming agent. Maybe he'll see this post and chime in to that point.
Would adding it the secondary be too over powering for an ale, more suitable for a porter? What about priming with granulated maple sugar, would it impart flavor?
if i use the maple syrup as a priming sugar would would be an applicable amount for a 5 gallon batch?
I just made a batch using maple sap and syrup (both local, from Maine). http://www.brewingkb.com/recipes/maple- … -2780.html My brew water was maple sap; I used a pint of syrup at the end of the boil and another pint when I racked to secondary. The maple aroma was pretty heavy when I bottled so I chose to prime with corn sugar. I want to drink it, not put it on waffles.
I'll try it this weekend and can give you an idea of the taste then.
Lee wrote:
I want to drink it, not put it on waffles.
I'll try it this weekend and can give you an idea of the taste then.
I just had the most bizarre mental image of trying to explain to your boss that no, you have not been drinking, you had waffles for breakfast!
Actually my boss is a homebrewer so he'd probably ask for a waffle for himself. 
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