Priming with Maple Syrup

[Rob2010SS]

I know this is probably a topic that's been beat to death. Everything I've read says it really all ferments out and if you want maple flavor, use fenugreek.

Anyone had good results priming a stout with maple syrup?

I also want to experiment and try brown sugar but I think that'll do the same thing...

 

[Rob2010SS]

This actually leads me to another question...

Molasses came up as something I may want to experiment with as a priming agent. Because of how thick it is, everything I've see says to boil it in some water to dilute. If I only wanted to add this solution to a couple of bottles and not the whole batch, how would I measure out the correct amount to add to a bottle?

Brewers friend says to use .1oz of molasses. Seems like there's some calculation errors there though. As I adjust anywhere from 2.0 - 2.6 volumes of CO2, the amount of molasses isn't changing...

 

[Diomed12]

For your first post, I have not used molasses to bottle prime but have used brown sugar to prime several styles of beer. I don't think that there is an appreciable flavor contribution in my experience, but it's certainly worth giving it a shot, especially if you have excess brown sugar.

In regards to your second post, I regularly use Northern Brewer's priming sugar calculator and I notice that it has an entry for molasses that changes with desired C02 volumes. While I don't use molasses, I do bottle prime with honey from a squeeze bottle now. Before filling with beer, I place an empty beer bottle on a scale, zero out, and then measure in grams the honey until I hit my target mass. As a suggestion, you could try a similar process by dripping some molasses in from a teaspoon or perhaps using a kid's medicine syringe until you get your desired amount and, if looking to dilute, you could then add a very small amount of hot, sterile water to the bottle and swirl it around. For reference, I have not had to dilute honey ever but that certainly may not apply to molasses.

Best of luck.

 

[Rob2010SS]

For your first post, I have not used molasses to bottle prime but have used brown sugar to prime several styles of beer. I don't think that there is an appreciable flavor contribution in my experience, but it's certainly worth giving it a shot, especially if you have excess brown sugar.

In regards to your second post, I regularly use Northern Brewer's priming sugar calculator and I notice that it has an entry for molasses that changes with desired C02 volumes. While I don't use molasses, I do bottle prime with honey from a squeeze bottle now. Before filling with beer, I place an empty beer bottle on a scale, zero out, and then measure in grams the honey until I hit my target mass. As a suggestion, you could try a similar process by dripping some molasses in from a teaspoon or perhaps using a kid's medicine syringe until you get your desired amount and, if looking to dilute, you could then add a very small amount of hot, sterile water to the bottle and swirl it around. For reference, I have not had to dilute honey ever but that certainly may not apply to molasses.

Best of luck.

Thanks for the info! I appreciate it. I did actually find NB's calculator after I posted and it does change in small amounts and it gives the gram measurement as opposed to only the oz measurement given by Brewer's Friend. So that calculator will be my go to for this test.

I have some extra volume with this vanilla bean stout that I'm doing so I want to test some things like this. I'm going to do...

(2) bottles primed with maple syrup
(2) bottles primed with brown sugar
(2) bottles primed with molasses

And just see how they come out. You read all these posts and they vary to some degree. Some people say that these things lend no appreciable flavor to the beer while others say they do. So for my palate, I think I just need to test it and see how I perceive it.

Thanks again.

 

[Zanatrik]

Thanks for the info! I appreciate it. I did actually find NB's calculator after I posted and it does change in small amounts and it gives the gram measurement as opposed to only the oz measurement given by Brewer's Friend. So that calculator will be my go to for this test.

I have some extra volume with this vanilla bean stout that I'm doing so I want to test some things like this. I'm going to do...

(2) bottles primed with maple syrup
(2) bottles primed with brown sugar
(2) bottles primed with molasses

And just see how they come out. You read all these posts and they vary to some degree. Some people say that these things lend no appreciable flavor to the beer while others say they do. So for my palate, I think I just need to test it and see how I perceive it.

Thanks again.

It’s October, so resurrecting this thread might be appropriate given the timing?

Did you experiment with these different priming sugars and did you have any noticeable results? I’m considering using molasses for a gingerbread stout to prime and curious of whether it would add to the flavor.