Extract kit brewing using maple syrup... ?

[theguy01205]

So i have read a whole bunch of the threads regarding using maple syrup and the results seem to be scattered in all directions. How much maple to use, vs when to add it, flameout, secondary, bottling... I want to brew a maple porter or a maple cream ale, given my lack of brewing experience im not yet ready to dive into the world of all grain brewing and the lot of the recipes i have seen are all grain. I want to to use an extract kit and add maple syrup to it. My thought here is brew said kit, primary for a week, secondary for 10 days then add a quart or so of maple to secondary a few days before bottling. Anyone with experience using maple please give me some advice! My dad makes around 170 gallons of syrup a year so I have a pretty steady supply of free syrup to experiment with.

 

[wfowlks]

What size batch are you making? I have in the past put maple syrup in right when I rack it to secondary. I put it in the bottom of the fermentor so that it will be well mixed in the beer. Last time I made a 5 gallon batch, I put 1.3 lbs of maple in and I had some beer with a good maple aroma and taste.

If you also have some extra you might consider making a meade out of the syrup, instead of using honey as a base use the syrup... I have also had maple syrup moonshine... and it was good...

 

[theguy01205]

I am doing five gallon batches. I've got a buddy who wants to start brewing so I'm taking my equipment to his house this Friday. He purchased a BB Robust Porter kit so I think ill make him be the guinnie pig lol. Maple porter sounds good. Racking to secondary with the maple is beginning to sound like the best method. However, does anything need to be done with the syrup considering risk of infection? I would assume if its ok to eat there shouldn't be any concern and I have never gotten "bad" syrup.

 

[wfowlks]

I think that when you make the maple syrup you boil down the sap. Which would in turn sanitize the syrup. Also, it will have such high sugar content that it will be hard for the bacteria to live in, similar to honey.

The risk from infection of putting stuff in the secondary I haven't ever had, even when putting in fruit but the fruit is the only thing I sanitize by dipping in StarSan, but as I said you should be fine to go with the maple syrup because the high sugar content makes it an inhospitable enviornment