"Maple" Nut Brown recipe?

[GHBWNY]

My consumer constituency (aka 'family') loves my beers but they lean toward the spicy/sweet/fall/winter-type ales. I have an Eng. Nut Brown recipe from here, and I'm considering maple-flavoring a portion of it for Sept-Oct consumption. Is this a 'yay' or a 'nay'?
Thanks.

 

[Chanoc]

Do it...
It won't go to waste...

 

[GHBWNY]

Do it...
It won't go to waste...

I certainly plan to! My purpose in starting the thread was to also get some ideas as to how to best go about adding a maple essence to a nut brown. I've read a lot on here about different ways to do it: maple syrup/sap in the boil, at flame out, in the primary, in the secondary, at bottling, etc.. All of which seem to be not totally successful in rendering a true maple flavor without having the sugar ferment out and adding some dryness to the beer, thus leaving it short on maple taste.

I want a mildly sweet, malty kind of maple essence so I've decided to add #2 maple syrup at flame-out, see how it ferments out, taste it just prior to bottling. If it needs a little push, which I expect it will esp. if it's short on maple aroma, I'm going to cautiously use a bit of maple extract to introduce the palate to the presence of the real maple in the beer. I had success doing this with another beer that included real fruit in the secondary, but needed that "little extra" to alert the drinker via aroma that it was in there.

Any thoughts/comments would be appreciated.

 

[GHBWNY]

Added 12 oz. Grade B dark maple syrup at flame out. After a week in ferm (FG 1.012), racked to secondary on top of 20 oz. more. At the end of week 2, FG was 1.019. Gave it a couple more days, still no visible activity. So, I gave it a gentle stir and raised amb. temp a couple degrees (68-70F). Ferm took off again.

 

[Bauzer]

I'm curious how this pans out for you.

 

[GHBWNY]

I'm curious how this pans out for you.

It's an experiment for sure. I gleaned what useful info I could on a maple addition and this is the formula I came up with. Yesterday's FG was 1.014. There may not be enough viable yeast left to get it any lower, but I'm going to let it ride a few more days which will be 3 weeks. I did give it a gentle swirl last night and this morning it is bubbling some, so maybe there are a couple more points to be gained. The sample tasted really good, not quite as dry as I hoped and a little 'fruity' (estery?) and definitely a subtle maple flavor. Next week, it could be a whole different beer. I'll keep you posted.

 

[jgourd]

Do it! I have done several, and I settled on a recipe that gives a definite maple flavor.

 

[GHBWNY]

I checked FG today (3 weeks) and it's 1.012 and it's DONE! The test sample was delicious! Subtle maple, nice balance of malt and hops, slightly sweet. Pretty sure this one has the potential to be everything I hoped it would be. Bottling next week.

 

[GHBWNY]

Update: bottled this nut brown last Sun.. Tasted great! Subtle maple taste; maybe cut back on amount of syrup in boil and up the amount in secondary next time. Let you know in a few weeks how it's aging out.

 

[Bauzer]

Haha, could barely wait? Well perhaps you keg? I don't keg so I'm always on bottle conditioning mindset. Nice to hear that it turned out really well!

 

[invictusbrew]

Ooh, interesting, what was your recipe for this? I'd like to try this as well

 

[SGTSparty]

I want a mildly sweet, malty kind of maple essence so I've decided to add #2 maple syrup at flame-out, see how it ferments out, taste it just prior to bottling.

Added 12 oz. Grade B dark maple syrup at flame out. After a week in ferm (FG 1.012), racked to secondary on top of 20 oz. more.

Ooh, interesting, what was your recipe for this? I'd like to try this as well

I second the request for your full recipe, also can you ballpark what this recipe cost ingredients wise? I've been looking at maple and peanut butter recipes for the fall but its seems like the cost of those brews goes up significantly once you start throwing in a lot of syrup/PB2 kinds of stuff.

Thanks!

 

[GHBWNY]

I got the original English Nut Brown Recipe here on HBT and modified it with the maple addition. Here goes:


All-Grain – English Nut Brown Ale (from HBT Recipes)
________________________________________
Batch Size (Gallons): 5.5
OG: 1.054
FG: 1.012
IBU: 22.7
Boiling Time: 60 min.
Color: 16.3 SRM
Primary Fermentation: 7 days
Secondary Fermentation: 14 days

Grains:

9 lb Pale Malt (2-Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 76.6 %
1 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 8.5 %
1 lb Flaked Oats (1.0 SRM) Grain 8.5 %
0.5 lb Victory Malt (25.0 SRM) Grain 4.3 %
0.25 lb Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 2.1 %

Hops:

1 oz Fuggles [AA 4.5%] (60 min) 14.7 IBU
1 oz East Kent Goldings [AA 5%] (15 min) 8.1 IBU

Yeast:

1 Pkg Nottingham (Danstar #-) Yeast-Ale

Maple syrup:

1 qt. Grade B Dark

Mash Profile:

Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge
Mash Grain Weight: 11.75 lb
Sparge Temperature: 168F
Sparge Water: 4.2 gal

Mash In: 14.7 qt of water at 166F, mash @ 154F 60 min

** Based on 70% brewhouse efficiency

I mashed @ 152F. At flame out, added 12 oz. Grade B (dark) maple syrup, ferm 1 week.
Rack to secondary on 20 oz., Grade B (dark) maple syrup, ferm 10 days, package

Wonderful taste, subtle sweet/maple, very pleased with outcome. Only change I might make is less at F/O, more in secondary.

@ SGTSparty: basic ingred. cost was ~ $30-32.. Plus the additional 1 qt. of Grade B dark syrup from a friend @ $15. Gonna be just under a buck a bottle, but worth every penny, IMHO!

 

[Bosh]

Got a pound of maple sugar dirt cheap from a guy who was leaving the country and selling ALL his brewing stuff. Thinking of throwing it in instead of sugar into a red ale (the Raging Irish Red from this website).

 

[SGTSparty]

@ SGTSparty: basic ingred. cost was ~ $30-32.. Plus the additional 1 qt. of Grade B dark syrup from a friend @ $15. Gonna be just under a buck a bottle, but worth every penny, IMHO!

Thanks for the reply and the recipe. Good call on the buck a bottle perspective. I'm on a tight budget w/ regards to my personal hobby spending and I've been putting most of that into equipment lately so I've been getting pretty stingy w/ my recipes but when you really look at it in that perspective even a 50 dollar batch is pretty darn cheap compared to even the cheapest of craft beers.

 

[jgourd]

My Maple Nut Brown:

OG: 1.053
FG: 1.016
IBU: 26
SRM: 27
ABV: 5%

Golden Promise Malt; 12.5# (56%)
Belgian Special “B”; 1.5# (6.5%)
British carastan; 1.5# (6.5%)
Belgian aromatic malt; 1.25# (6%)
Chocolate Malt; 0.38# (1.5%)
Flaked oats; 2.00# (9%)
Maple syrup; 3.20# (14.5%)

Cascade 20 IBUs @60min
Cascade 6 IBUs @15min

Yeast: Danstar Windsor (dry)

Mash at 158F for 60min. Batch sparge.

Add maple syrup (the real stuff -- mine was from Quebec, Canada) with 10min left in the boil.

Ferment at 62F until done, cold crash at 32F for three days, and rack/keg.

 

[GHBWNY]

My Maple Nut Brown:

OG: 1.053
FG: 1.016
IBU: 26
SRM: 27
ABV: 5%

Golden Promise Malt; 12.5# (56%)
Belgian Special “B”; 1.5# (6.5%)
British carastan; 1.5# (6.5%)
Belgian aromatic malt; 1.25# (6%)
Chocolate Malt; 0.38# (1.5%)
Flaked oats; 2.00# (9%)
Maple syrup; 3.20# (14.5%)

Cascade 20 IBUs @60min
Cascade 6 IBUs @15min

Yeast: Danstar Windsor (dry)

Mash at 158F for 60min. Batch sparge.

Add maple syrup (the real stuff -- mine was from Quebec, Canada) with 10min left in the boil.

Ferment at 62F until done, cold crash at 32F for three days, and rack/keg.

How was the maple flavor? Anything you'd do differently?

 

[jgourd]

This was the latest version (I had done two before). I would go with this version again. It was delicious, and I could absolutely taste maple. Mashing high, including some darker malts, and the maple syrup all combined to form a detectable maple flavor (and aroma) in the resulting beer. I mean, it's not like drinking maple syrup, but it's a subtle maple flavor.

 

[GHBWNY]

So, I bottled this on 7-17. Sent a couple to R & D --- one a few days ago, and one last night. I definitely has something funky going on. This is where it's at right now:

1. the carbonation is a bit strong
2. it has ZERO head
3. slightly sour/alcohol-y/solvent-y

Now, I can pretty much taste-test and finish any of my young beers, but this one is the exception. One swig to taste how bad it is, a second swig to convince myself the first swig wasn't a fluke, the rest of the bottle down the drain.

The recipe is posted above and as far as I can tell, there is no obvious sign of infection. When I tasted it at bottling, it was good and my hopes were high. But after 3.5 weeks in the bottle @ 70F, it's a whole new animal. Thoughts?

 

[Bosh]

Age it a few weeks and try again?

 

[GHBWNY]

Yep. Not going to touch it for another 6 weeks. Let you know then. Thanks.

 

[GHBWNY]

I said I wasn't going to touch it for another 6 weeks, but I couldn't resist and opened one this past weekend to see if there had been any improvement in the past 2 weeks. Not much. Still alcohol-y although not quite as sour. Probably fusels, but can't understand why. My ferm temp was normal ~66-68F, I didn't over-pitch or leave it on the trub too long (@ 1 week racked to secondary on more maple syrup). I did nothing different than usual. Had good hot and cold breaks. Can't figure out why it went south on me. Right now it's taking up bottle space I could use for another batch. Wondering if there's a cure for it at this point, more time needed?, or do I toss it?

 

[jgourd]

I'd let it sit for a few months and forget about it.

 

[GHBWNY]

I'd let it sit for a few months and forget about it.

I can forgive it (for not tasting good), but I can't forget about it for a few months. That said, I tried one tonight and both the residual sourness and the booziness has decreased considerably. In fact, this is the first one I didn't pour down the drain after one sip. So, my hopes are high! And now that I know it's on its way back, maybe I can [theoretically ] forget about it for a few months.

 

[GHBWNY]

Revisiting this thread for one more consideration: inasmuch as I haven't been able to yet explain the initially overwhelming alcohol-y character of this brew, I wondered, could too high a secondary ferm temp have cause fusels to develop? It hovered around 72-73F after maple addition for a couple weeks.