What do you think of this recipe? - Maple Brown Ale

[CraigH78]

Trying to come up with a nice Maple Brown Ale recipe and would like to know what you guys/gals think. I love Maple so would like something that has a good Maple taste but also don't want something that tastes more like candy/soda than beer. So here is where I'm at..

6.5 lb Pale Ale 2 Row
.5 lb Crystal 60
.5 lb Munich 20L

1oz Cascade @ 60 for 18 IBU
1oz Cascade @ 5 for ~ 4 IBU

Wyeast 1056 American Ale

3 lb Maple Syrup in primary

I average about 80% efficiency with my fly sparge setup so am looking at about..
OG - 1.057
FG - 1.014

I'm thinking mashing at ~154 for 75 min. My real head scratcher is the Munich. I love the flavor but wonder if it would make it too sweet, but at a half pound, that's not much. I thought about replacing it with Victory but I've never used that so not sure of the taste. Grain bill feels a little light to me but again, not looking to make something crazy sweet or take away from the Maple. What about some Special B (again something I've never used so dunno)?

What do you think?

Craig

 

[Suthrncomfrt1884]

Maple syrup is HIGHLY fermentable. You'll be suprised by the final outcome. It'll up your alcohol a ton, but not leave you with much flavor. If you really want a maple flavor, find an extract flavoring...

 

[cyclonite]

If you like the maple flavor, try using maple extract instead of syrup. The syrup will ferment out just like raw sugar and leave you with a dry beer without much (if any) maple flavor. The extract will give a nice maple flavor and finish.

 

[CraigH78]

Ok, how much do you suggest per 5 gallons?

 

[Suthrncomfrt1884]

It depends on what flavoring you buy. I would suggest taking a commercial beer that's about the same as the base beer you're making, and add a few drops of extract until it's just right. Then just scale up to 5 gallons.