One Thousand Leaves (Maple strong ale)

I got some free maple syrup and I was thinking of trying to make this:

One Thousand Leaves:

Batch Size (fermenter): 2.00 gal
Bottling Volume: 2.00 gal
Estimated OG: 1.074 SG
Estimated Color: 15.7 SRM
Estimated IBU: 30.5 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 72.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 83.3 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
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Amt Name Type # %/IBU
4 lbs 8.0 oz Pale Malt (2 Row) UK (3.0 SRM) Grain 1 80.9 %
1.0 oz Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 2 1.1 %
1 lbs Maple Syrup (35.0 SRM) Sugar 3 18.0 %
0.75 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] - Boil 60.0 Hop 4 30.5 IBUs
1.0 pkg London ESB Ale (Wyeast Labs #1968) [124. Yeast 5 -


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge


Basically it is 80% Maris Otter, 20% grade b maple syrup. I think I am gonna brew this tonight, post some thoughts if you have any. I'll post how it turns out.

If you want 2 gallons to bottles, plan on 2.5-3 gallons into fermenter. When are you planning on adding the syrup?? Adding it in the boil will give you a very different flavor compared with adding it post boil (and chill).

I don't want 2 gallons, actually just 1.75 to fit in a 2 gallon bucket. I'll be adding it during chilling, as the beer drops from 160-140 degrees.

You'll probably get closer to 1 gallon to bottles then...

I have several quarts of grade B syrup on hand. Made a maple mead/wine with some last December (14%) that should be going to bottle sometime this month. Will have to see how much I'll have left after I make the second batch. Might use some in a brown ale. Used some grade A in a brown that the maple flavor wasn't really there... Never using grade A for anything again (since finding the grade B)...

Golddiggie said:

You'll probably get closer to 1 gallon to bottles then...

I have several quarts of grade B syrup on hand. Made a maple mead/wine with some last December (14%) that should be going to bottle sometime this month. Will have to see how much I'll have left after I make the second batch. Might use some in a brown ale. Used some grade A in a brown that the maple flavor wasn't really there... Never using grade A for anything again (since finding the grade B)...

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I do small batches like this a lot, usually just lose about a quarter gallon. I'm not all that concerned about quantity so it's cool.

Have you tasted your maple mead? How did it turn out?

I'm prepping up to brew this as I type by the way.

Haven't tasted it, but the smell coming out of the aging vessel was divine. I just need to figure out when to bottle it. I'll pull a sample before then for tasting and to get a SG on it. Worst case, I'll add some more syrup to it.

Just finished brewing it. OG came out to 1.082. I'll post results when I have 'em.

Nice... Never know what the sugar content will be from year to year, or batch to batch.

Golddiggie said:

Nice... Never know what the sugar content will be from year to year, or batch to batch.

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Indeed. I also used some of the syrup to make a maple porter. The sugar content was so high it came out ten points over my target of 1.055. The finished porter has over 7% alcohol, but you'd never know from how smooth it is. A great beer for the holidays.

I bottled the maple strong ale a week ago. It tasted very good at bottling. I'll post results when it is carbed and drinkable.

I bottled up my maple mead/wine the other day. Smelled great at bottling. I tasted the FG sample (the few drops I collected)... It finished a little more dry than I was expecting, but has good flavors there. It was at room temp (mid 60's F). I put the last bottle into the fridge to chill and try on Saturday when a few other brewers will be over. Got about 38 more [375ml] bottles of it. Might let it rest/age until spring time and try another bottle. Maybe do that every 3-6 months to see how it progresses/ages in bottle.

I ordered up some maple sugar that I want to use in something. Not sure what just yet, but I will. Also have 8 more quarts of syrup in reserve (not going to use all 9, want one to use on food :rockin for now. Need to see what size batch I should make in order to get more flavor at the end. Or I'll just order some more and go nuts. lol

Golddiggie said:

I bottled up my maple mead/wine the other day. Smelled great at bottling. I tasted the FG sample (the few drops I collected)... It finished a little more dry than I was expecting, but has good flavors there. It was at room temp (mid 60's F). I put the last bottle into the fridge to chill and try on Saturday when a few other brewers will be over. Got about 38 more [375ml] bottles of it. Might let it rest/age until spring time and try another bottle. Maybe do that every 3-6 months to see how it progresses/ages in bottle.

I ordered up some maple sugar that I want to use in something. Not sure what just yet, but I will. Also have 8 more quarts of syrup in reserve (not going to use all 9, want one to use on food :rockin for now. Need to see what size batch I should make in order to get more flavor at the end. Or I'll just order some more and go nuts. lol

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What's up with it being so cloudy? I thought you brewed it last December?

afr0byte said:

What's up with it being so cloudy? I thought you brewed it last December?

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psst... frosted bottle...

I'll try to get a picture of it in a glass on Saturday.

This looks like a super interesting recipe. I just put it into Brewpal and it predicts an OG of 1.080 (which as you say depends on the sugar content of the syrup). It also predicts a FG of 1.025. Would you expect it to finish that high? Considering the style, that might not be bad, but in my almost 1 year of brewing I haven't had anything finish that high. And I've done a couple batches with OGs around as high as this one.

You said you bottled it, right? So, what was your FG?

Also, I did a quick search for maple syrup sources in Michigan (where I live) and none of them specify Grade A or B on their websites. Do you think that is unusual for small local producers of maple syrup? Would I just need to contact or visit them to ask them specifically for a dark syrup?

I ordered mine from Amazon, from a source in VT. GREAT stuff, just not cheap. Well, compared with the grade A crap you'll find at the grocery store it could be a better deal. I haven't looked at prices on quart bottles there in some time.

signpost said:

This looks like a super interesting recipe. I just put it into Brewpal and it predicts an OG of 1.080 (which as you say depends on the sugar content of the syrup). It also predicts a FG of 1.025. Would you expect it to finish that high? Considering the style, that might not be bad, but in my almost 1 year of brewing I haven't had anything finish that high. And I've done a couple batches with OGs around as high as this one.

You said you bottled it, right? So, what was your FG?

Also, I did a quick search for maple syrup sources in Michigan (where I live) and none of them specify Grade A or B on their websites. Do you think that is unusual for small local producers of maple syrup? Would I just need to contact or visit them to ask them specifically for a dark syrup?

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I never took an FG reading because I have so little to work with. However, Beersmith predicted an FG of 1.015. Tasting it, that seems accurate. It really wouldn't matter much if it finished a little higher, it's so dry that there isn't much sweetness at all.

I got my syrup from a local producer, and it was labeled grade B. I think you can probably just ask them for some.

You might need to wait until spring to get some more from them though. Unless it's a large enough place that has some still hanging around.

This is the stuff I bought... Think my total count is about 16-17 quarts purchased so far. I have 9 in the closet right now, used 6 in the maple mead/wine and used another on waffles. :rockin: I have another one in the fridge right now that I'm using on waffles, and whenever else it's needed/wanted. Stuff is DAMN good.
Gave some to my mother to use a few weeks back. My nephew used some on his latkes on Saturday night. He was going to use it again on b-fast the next morning. IMO/IME, once you go grade B, grade A just isn't an option.

OK, just tasted this at Christmas dinner...fantastic. Very dry for a Fuller's strain beer, not boozy at all, with some dry maple and touch of chocolate. A little bit woody, earthy, and all around a very nice beer. I wouldn't change a thing with the recipe. Very nice to sip on a cold winter night.

This recipe, along with a bunch more, are available in my e-book which you can get for donating $25 to my nanobrewery Kickstarter project. There are also some other cool rewards. Check it out: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1463544393/crooked-run-brewing-a-farmhouse-nanobrewery