Brown Ale + Maple Syrup...

Anyone have a suggestion for using maple syrup? I've been requested by some family members to make a Maple Brown Ale, but I'm not too sure about how much maple syrup to use, as well as what grade to use...

From BYO:

Maple Brown Ale

Author: John Huegel
Issue: June 1996
Online Date: Tuesday, 03 September 2002
(5 gallons)

"This is one of the first recipes I made up, and it is a favorite. The secret is the maple syrup. I made it with syrup from my dad's trees that was reduced over a wood fire. This gave it a slightly smoky flavor. The maple and the Cascade hops go well together. Be warned: This is a strong one."

Ingredients:
3 lbs. hopped amber malt extract
3 lbs. hopped dark malt extract
1 lb. crystal malt, 40° Lovibond
1 quart (3 lbs.) maple syrup
2 oz. Cascade hops
Doric dry ale yeast
3/4 cup sugar
Step by Step:
Rehydrate dry yeast in 1 1/2 cups sterilized water at 80° to 100° F up to an hour before pitching.

Add grains (in bag) to 1 gallon cold water. Steep until 160° F, hold 15 minutes, remove grains. Add extract and maple syrup. Boil 55 minutes. Add Cascades and boil for five minutes. Add 3.5 gallons cold water in carboy. Pitch rehydrated yeast into 7-gallon carboy. Bottle with sugar dissolved in 2 cups of water.

OG = 1.075
FG = 1.018

Obviously, you can sub in malts in promash or another program to get to the same OG for an all grain.

I have read that adding something like maple syrop is best done in secondary, or at the end of primary fermentation. Supposedly you are more likely to preserve some of the maple flavor this way.

Edit: Also, use grade B maple syrup instead of A.

I've done a maple brown ale before.

I used 6.5 gal of sap for the strike water. This was an extract brew. Lightly hopped. I also added 1 pint of pure maple syrup to the last 5 of the boil. I brewed it more like a mild than a brown really. At first the maple was almost nonexistent in the bottled beer. However the maple showed up after 6 months in the bottles. It is still faint but I really like the beer. It's subtle. If you wanted more maple flavor I would think about the secondary but make sure to account for adding all of that sugar. Ask if you've got more questions.

+1 on grade B maple syrup, and even grade C if you can find it. Grade A just doesn't have much in the way of flavor.

I added 1/2 cup when I was bottling but ALSO added the normal Corn Sugar. Pretty foamy!! so back off a little with the carbing sugar.

Also - JUST a word of warning - My brown Maple ale was the only one that I have ever had a "twang". went away after 4 weeks but IF you get it (not saying you will) just hang tight - it'll diminish over time.

People loved mine

Definitely grade B syrup. Darker beers are better for Maple syrup. I have done a mild as well that turned out pretty good. I tried making a lighter beer hoping more maple flavor would come through, but it ended up being really thin with pretty harsh alchohol taste. It worked to get drunk on, but wasnt what I was going for. I like to add it to secondary and have tried using it to prime with. About a quart in secondary on a 5 gal batch should be good, but will add a good amount of alchohol. Priming with it is hard, I tried 1 1/4 cups in 5 gal for my first and it overcarbed. Dropped to 1 cup on my second and it overcarbed... I have used corn sugar since. If you can get it right to prime with, it adds maple to the aftertaste. I currently have a sweet stout in secondary with maple and a sample the other day tasted pretty good. Im not a fan of using sap as the water to mash or brew with. no good reason for not liking it though...