a porter with maple syrup

[Zeppman]

Hey guys,

I am brewing a standard porter tonight, and want to add some maple syrup that I just got from a local farmer who has his own maple syrup trees. How should I add this stuff? I was thinking at the very end of the boil, but wasn't sure...

Any thoughts?

 

[iijakii]

I'd just throw it in the boil. Since it's a porter I wouldn't worry about scorching. Might be wise to do it at the end just incase.

/unhelpful

 

[dedhedjed]

we make a maple brown ale at the brewery I work for...we add it at flameout.

 

[TopherM]

I made a starter on my last batch with about 4 oz of maple syrup in 2 cups of water, and the yeast TORE IT UP. Get the blowoff tube ready!

 

[Zeppman]

Thanks guys! dedhedjed, can you give me an idea on proportions?

 

[cprincipe]

I think Charlie Papazian mentions in Complete Guide to Home Brewing using maple sap in the place of water in a batch - you might want to talk to your farmer friend next February/March about putting aside a couple gallons for you.

 

[Zeppman]

Well I brewed this one on 8/28:

10.75 lbs 2row
1 lbs C40
0.75 lbs crisp chocolate
0.25 lbs flaked barley
0.25 lbs crisp black malt
0.0625 lbs roasted barley

1 oz northern brewer @ 60
1/2 oz cascade @ 30
8 oz malto dextrin @ 20
1 cup maple syrup @ flame out

I hydrated and pitched S04 (safale) into force 02 (60 sec) wort @ 75F and lowered it to upper 60s for a week and then it has been sitting at room temp (70-71) since then.

OG = 1.062
Today 1.02

Should I be concerned it isn't lower? The airlock is still moving, which is surprising. Most of my beers finish out in a week (I don't brew anything too fancy and use S-04 or S-05 90% of the time) and them just sit on the yeast for another week to a week in a half. I'm concerned that this is still at 1.02, although, I've never used maple syrup yet I'm sure if that would have any effect on this.

Any thoughts? It tasted good but, obviously sweet. You could taste the maple, yet it wasn't overpowering at all.

 

[The_Professor]

Interesting. I have just been seeing some Porter recipes from the 1800s that use Black Treacle (also liquorice root).

 

[nanop]

I made a "maple" red ale last year (basically a Northern Brewer Irish Draught kit w/ some additions). 3 things I found to bring out a subtle "mapley" flavor and sweetness were 1 teaspoon of fenugreek seeds, 4oz of steeped gambrinous honey malt and 3oz of lactose in a 5gallon batch.

Fenugreek is what's used to flavor artificial maple syrup. I crushed the seeds, soaked them in a tablespoon of rum for a few days (partly to sanitize and partly to extract flavor), and then added a little bit of water, boiled them and added them to the secondary.

Here's recipe that I basically followed: http://hopville.com/recipe/371966/irish-red-ale-recipes/irish-honey-draught.

I've been thinking of making a stout w/ fenugreek, but haven't yet...

 

[fastricky]

I am going to look into the fenugreek idea, that's a great one.

Why not just add them to FO or with 2 mins left in the boil?

 

[nanop]

I didn't know if the last minutes of the boil would would extract enough of the flavor and I figured they'd then be filtered out when i racked to primary. It might work though, I just haven't tried it.

 

[phished880]

I would suggest adding it in your secondary, mid-primary, or when priming.

When adding on the hot side I never got any maple flavor.

Also, use grade B or C.

 

[fastricky]

OK, thanks! So they really give that maple syrup flavor then eh?

 

[nanop]

@fastricky - funegreek's not an in-your-face maple flavor, but it is there. Like I said before though, I used fenugreek, lactose (non-fermentable sugar) and honey malt. I don't know whether fenugreek by itself would work or whether it would end up tasting too raw/earthy...