So I brewed a Brown Ale and had some pure maple syrup that wasn't being used. So I decided to use the maple syrup to prime the beer. Here's what I learned:
1. There are a lot of unknowns with maple syrup. The amount of fermentable sugar varies from grade to grade. Additionally, the amount can vary between syrups of the same grade (2 different Grade B syrups can have different amounts of fermantable sugars).
2. Priming with maple syrup seems a more effective way to brew a beer with maple flavor than simply adding it to the boil or even to a secondary (although adding to all 3 may be the most effective). The lower the grade, the higher the maple flavor that remains. This is because there are more non-fermentables in lower grade syrups. Therefore, use the lowest grade you can get a hold of (most people use B). I used Grade A and there are only subtle maple flavors in the beer.
3. Don't use too much maple syrup when priming (I would err on the low side).
My batch, which was only primed with 1.25 cups of Grade A syrup, was WAY over-carbonated so be careful. Luckily, I didn't have any bottle bombs but I probably came close. After 1 week the bottles were carbed enough to create foam volcanoes even after refrigeration. I had to uncap every bottle, very slowly (took almost an hour to uncap them without foaming over), and let the CO2 escape for a while before recapping. They are carbed to perfection now but I probably let them sit for another hour after I had finally gotten the caps off. Just thought I'd share my experience with other brewers hoping to prime with maple syrup.
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- Primary 1:
- Primary 2:
- Secondary 1:
- Secondary 2:
- Bottled:
- Kegged 1: American Amber
- Kegged 2: Arrogant Bastard Clone
- Kegged 3: Apfelwein
- Kegged 4: Coffee Porter
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