annual Punkin ale plans

[RobbyBeer]

I know it's a bit early for most people but I brew a pumpkin ale every fall and this year I'm planning on using maple sap for my mash and sparge water.
Anyone know where I can find some online? I'll need about 10 gallons

 

[runningweird]

that is an interesting idea - I doubt anywhere carries it(my google search turned up nothing). This might be something you have to get from the source - a tree - or a syrup maker. Probably won't be able to get this until next winter though.

 

[JeffoC6]

Out of curiosity, when is the best time to brew a pumpkin ale? Do they benefit from "aging" in the bottle?

Don't mean to hijack the OP's original question...Just curious.

 

[runningweird]

Out of curiosity, when is the best time to brew a pumpkin ale? Do they benefit from "aging" in the bottle?

Don't mean to hijack the OP's original question...Just curious.

before thanksgiving!

I brewed a pum king clone about 1.5 months ago, and will be brewing 10 more gallons sometime this month.

 

[spenghali]

I guess it depends on what you're going for. I just brewed my Imperial Chocolate Pumpkin Porter last week, wanted to give it plenty of time until fall.

 

[amandabab]

the problem with sap is it doesn't get flowing until you have a while of cold(frost) nights and warmer days. you might have to head north from PA a bit to buy sap from a sugar house early. any sugar house will sell the small amount you need.

you could do a 38to1 dilution with grade A #1 light amber maple syrup and have the same exact thing as sap.

At the very least I need 7 weeks lead time on a pumpkin, 8-9 would be better.

 

[ReverseApacheMaster]

I'm not doing a pumpkin beer this year but a lot of people start theirs now, especially if they are imperial versions that need to age for a while.

 

[BlainD]

I was longing for a pumpkin ale a few days ago actually.....

 

[RobbyBeer]

the problem with sap is it doesn't get flowing until you have a while of cold(frost) nights and warmer days. you might have to head north from PA a bit to buy sap from a sugar house early. any sugar house will sell the small amount you need.

you could do a 38to1 dilution with grade A #1 light amber maple syrup and have the same exact thing as sap.

At the very least I need 7 weeks lead time on a pumpkin, 8-9 would be better.

38 to 1... Got it, that's fantastic thank you.

 

[Fennis]

Yeah, by now you will need to dilute maple syrup because the sap season is completely over. Around here anyway, sap season is over in late March as after that it doesn't get cold enough at night to make the sap run right. 40 gallons of sap makes about 1 gallon of syrup, so if you took a quart of syrup and diluted it in about 10 gallons of water, I guess you would be about right.

 

[ao125]

the problem with sap is it doesn't get flowing until you have a while of cold(frost) nights and warmer days. you might have to head north from PA a bit to buy sap from a sugar house early. any sugar house will sell the small amount you need.

From what I understand, due to the unusually warm last winter, there is a shortage of maple syrup this year. I'd imagine the same might be true this coming winter as well.

 

[RobbyBeer]

While we're talking pumpkin how about some ingredient discussion.
I want to use a few pounds in the mash along with a pound or so of roasted seeds.
I am also planning on putting a package of ginger snaps into the mash.
Of course I'll also mash and strike with the maple sap..
But as for fermentation I was thinking of trying to ferment in a pumpkin, for primary... Has anyone done this? Anything I should know?
Also what ingredients should i toss in boil?
Cinnamon, clove, allspice..

 

[RobbyBeer]

5 gallons..

 

[brewski08]

i'm not a sap expert, but i do know that it's sticky (right?).

won't this clog your MT filter? won't this create dough balls with your grain?

enlighten me!

 

[ao125]

i'm not a sap expert, but i do know that it's sticky (right?).

won't this clog your MT filter? won't this create dough balls with your grain?

enlighten me!

http://www.shepherdmaplesyrupfest.org/?p=280
40-50 gallons of sap to 1 gallon of syrup.

At that ratio, I'd more worry about the grain acting as a sponge/filter for the maple flavor.

 

[RobbyBeer]

I was listening to an old basic brewing podcast a few weeks ago and they did an experiment where they used all maple sap for mash water. It seemed to work really well, just didn't contribute much, if any, to the sugar content...
It does give some nice aroma to the beer..
That's what I'm after.. I'm just going with the 32 to 1 ratio.. I think it will work out great.