Help making maple beer

My brother asked me if I could make him a maple beer. I decided I would try to make my own recipe but had a few questions; what style of beer would go best with the maple syrup, how much maple syrup should I use in a 5 gallon batch, how long would a beer like that have to age before bottling

I made a brown ale with maple syrup (as well as molasses and brown sugar) that turned out pretty well. It ended up taking about 4 weeks before it was ready to bottle and I used 8 oz of maple syrup.

I just made a maple wheat using maple sap for the entirety of the brew water, and I added some syrup that I boiled down just a couple of hours before. I can't say that I'm really happy with the flavor though. First, don't waste anything with maple flavor during the boil and primary, the smell dissipates very quickly. My suggestion would be to account for the extra sugar and add it in secondary. Then if you want use it to prime as well. Also use a very clean yeast, I used white labs American hefewisen , and it came out perfect for a hefewisen! Lost all maple character however.

I agree with ylpaul, and did one last year with all sap, and syrup at kegging. I used an amber beer for my base recipe. For me, I would have enjoyed more hops instead of trying to let the maple shine. And I would have turned down the amount of syrup at the end, just too sweet. I did an in-glass blend to achieve both of those characteristics, and the beer was a major hit. If I were doing it again, it would be a porter recipe, well hopped, good grain flavor, and then maybe 4oz of syrup for a subtle flavor.

I was just reading about maple syrup in how to brew, and Palmer recommends 1 gallon of syrup for a 5 gallon batch,this seems like a lot to me, and would cost quite a bit too, especially since in my area we had a really bad maple syrup season.

I read that too. I could not imagine how sweet that would be. Now, if you used it as part of the grain bill and fermented it out, we're talking a different animal. Then you'd get some flavor and aroma, without the sweet. It just depends on how sweet your syrup is. Some are boiled longer and thicker instead of thin. It would be a bit of guess as to the potential it could yield. Have fun.

I can't find much info about maple beer online or in books. I've tried a beer from le grimoire in Quebec call des erables and it was pretty good, but can't find any info on that beer.

I'm looking to make a 8-10 % abv beer, either a brown ale or a porter, with a nice maple aroma and noticeable maple flavor but not overpowering. Also thinking of adding some cinnamon as well, but not sure how that would turn out.

I was toying with the idea of using maple flavor extracted from the maple syrup itself. At least this way I could get the aromatics and flavor minus the heavy sugar load. You could use any base you wanted and just add maple, I would stick with my maple sap base however and just use a different yeast.

Look into fenugreek. It tastes like maple; in fact artificial maple stuff is generally made with it