How much Maple Syrup?

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Poobah58

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I made 3 gallons of Maple Syrup Cider. I'm going to carbonate 2.5 gallons of it. I come up with about 4.5 oz of Maple Syrup to get about 3 volumes CO2. Am I on the right track?
 
How did you calculate this? I would like to prime a nut brown with maple syrup if that will work but I have no idea if it's compatible sugar or how much to add to the 5 gal batch.
 
Normal sugar
4.2 grams sugar per teaspoon

A 50 ml serving of maple syrup has 43 grams sugar,
so teaspoon of maple syurp is 4.3 grams

Use that to figure out how much you need.
 
Is the sugar in maple syrup fermentable sugar? For just the hint of maple would you recommend just dropping some grade B syrup in secondary fermentation and doing a tertiary fermentation instead of priming with it? I have no problem with a high-gravity beer, but I've never done the maple thing before.

My gut reaction to the higher sugar content is that it's just a round-off error, but I could speculate that since it's not in a crystalline form it's denser than solid sugar. I'm no chemist though...

Thanks!
 
i read in a magazine that it was approximately 1 1/4 cups of maple syrup to prime 5 gallons of beer for carbonation... i'm currently fermenting a batch of maple porter that i put about 3/4 cup of maple syrup in the last 10 minutes of boil, i'm then going to put 3/4 cup in the secondary and also prime for bottling with the syrup.... hopefully i won't overdo the syrup flavor
 
Aye. Well I went for it and after looking at several recipes I put 2 lbs of real maple in secondary. It's going to be rather alcoholic...I'm going to need a tertiary fermentation I think.

I'll let you know how it turns out...
 
Not trying to hijack this thread, but I've got some 'Maple' questions along the same lines as well....

I'm brewing 10 gallons of Maple Nut Brown Ale and am debating about when to add the Maple Syrup Grade B.....either in last 3 minutes of boil OR directly in the secondary fermenter. I see above that someone was adding it to their secondary.

If I add it to my secondary, will it just sink to the bottom and settle?

If I add at the end of the boil, will the yeast consume too much of the maple during primary fermentation?


I'm curious to hear how the maple syrup priming turns out for you guys. I think I'm going to stick with corn sugar for this batch, in case I screw up the amount of carbonation and end up with 10 gallons of flat beer.

Thanks
 
BHB, I stuck it in secondary, and I'm afraid of the alcohol content it's producing. I've had active fermentation for about 4 days now (about a bubble every 5 seconds). Just something to consider.

In principle, the maple flavor is coming from non-fermentable stuff in the maple, so you should be ok adding it to the boil.

I'm afraid my alcohol content is going to start stressing the yeast. Does anyone have suggestions for how to bottle condition a high-gravity beer? Should I pitch a stronger yeast strain when I bottle (and add priming sugar), or am I asking for trouble if I do that?

Cheers
 
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.
 
This was for a 5-gallon batch, so 2 oz of syrup per gallon? Cut it in half and we'd be just fine, right?
 
has anyone tried this recently? is it worth giving it a try? is the head still white or somewhat maple colored? so a little more than 1/2 cup to carb 5 gallons?
 
Soon I'll be working with priming a 5 gal batch of Nut Brown with Grade B Maple Syrup. I have found a wide range of answers as to how much syrup to use. I also haven't found a calculator that differentiates between grade A or B. I have read anywhere from 0.5 cup - 1.5 cups. I have considered shooting for the middle and using 1 cup but has any one had experience using grade B for priming?
 
Just had a thought, maybe I should be going about this another way...

Maybe the amount of syrup to be used needs to be measured in weight instead of volume? For example the calculator that Poobah used told me I needed to use 0.5 lb of syrup to get 2.6 volumes of C02 in 5 gals @ 68*F. However, there is still the issue of grade A vs grade B.
 
Reporting back... I ended up using about 9 ounces by weight of Grade B Syrup (3/4 cup). Carbed up nicely.
 
Quite a bit actually but I also used maple in the boil and in the secondary. At first it was hard to tell because of the roasted flavor from the chocolate malt, but after I let it mature a little longer the maple came through. I tasted at each stage of my maple additions and by far priming with maple gave the most flavor.
 
cool, I bottled a blueberry wheat with 3/4 cup of grade B local maple syrup yesterday. It tasted pretty good before so I am waiting with my fingers crossed...
 
Reviving this thread... Going to make a vanilla maple porter soon. Going to buy a 32oz bottle of Grade B Maple Syrup

- 3/4 cup or 6 fl oz. grade B maple syrup to prime with

- 8 fl oz. grade B maple syrup in last 5 min of boil

- 1.5 vanilla beans + 18 fl oz. grade B maple syrup to secondary
 
I never had much luck getting a lot of maple flavor in anything I brewed and the syrup itself is so expensive I found the results to be rather disappointing cost vs. actual flavor achieved. I know a lot of us do it yourself type homebrewers are going to poo poo this but the best way to get a nice maple flavor is using maple extract. I used 2 oz when bottling a brown I did earlier this year and I was really happy with the results. I found the extract at a Meijers. Flavor was better than when I used even grade B maple syrup. Save the syrup for pancakes IMHO.
 
I never had much luck getting a lot of maple flavor in anything I brewed and the syrup itself is so expensive I found the results to be rather disappointing cost vs. actual flavor achieved. I know a lot of us do it yourself type homebrewers are going to poo poo this but the best way to get a nice maple flavor is using maple extract. I used 2 oz when bottling a brown I did earlier this year and I was really happy with the results. I found the extract at a Meijers. Flavor was better than when I used even grade B maple syrup. Save the syrup for pancakes IMHO.

5 gallon batch?
 
5 gallon batch?

Yeah, the flavor wasn't real in your face but it was stronger than when I put 32oz of grade B in the secondary. You could always add more or less to taste. I feel like there's a lot more control over the flavor and way cheaper with extract is all.
 
Yeah, the flavor wasn't real in your face but it was stronger than when I put 32oz of grade B in the secondary. You could always add more or less to taste. I feel like there's a lot more control over the flavor and way cheaper with extract is all.

Great, I'm going to go this route I think. I wanted to use the Grade B stuff to be able to say on the label I used "real vanilla beans AND maple syrup" in the brew, but I guess in the end the extract I got is real maple syrup:

Ingredients: water, alcohol, pure maple syrup concentrate, caramel color

5 gallon of porter sitting on my 2 vanilla beans in my secondary right now. Going to bottle in another week w/ the extract and can't wait. Will report back.
 
I am very new at brewing and just began a primary fermentation on a maple chipotle ale. I did not boil with any maple and am planning on adding about 10 oz of grade B maple to the secondary and then prime with 5 oz.

I have a 3 gal batch, do you think this would be a good ratio of maple and will not over carbonate?

Thanks for the help!
 
If you're in Canaa using maple syrup, I would recommend using the nutritional info on the container to calculate the quantity of sugars in your specific syrup.

You should be able to use the recommended serving size, and grams of sugar per serving to figure out your priming amounts.
 
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