Maple Sap Instead of Water?

[GHBWNY]

Ran into a friend this week who helped another friend with his maple syrup biz a couple weeks ago. He said 2 guys came in at different times to buy raw sap to use for their home brew instead of using water. Don't know if was an all-sap substitution or partial or what...? I'm in maple syrup-producing area where I live and I'm intrigued by the concept. Anyone done this?

 

[Valtyr]

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f14/maple-sap-water-beer-224755/

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/using-maple-sap-instead-water-5835/

Here's the link to a couple others who had the same questions. It sounds like the general thought is that you won't really get any of the maple flavor unless you boil down a lot of sap first (about 40 gallons of sap to get 1 gallon of syrup). They are saying that you can get kind of a "woodsy" flavor out of it, though. Could be interesting to try.

 

[GHBWNY]

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f14/maple-sap-water-beer-224755/

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/using-maple-sap-instead-water-5835/

Here's the link to a couple others who had the same questions. It sounds like the general thought is that you won't really get any of the maple flavor unless you boil down a lot of sap first (about 40 gallons of sap to get 1 gallon of syrup). They are saying that you can get kind of a "woodsy" flavor out of it, though. Could be interesting to try.

Thanks, I checked out those links. Agree, sounds like a novel idea, like if you have access to sap, why not give it a shot? Besides the final taste factor, I was wondering what the SG, pH, mineral content, etc., of the sap was compared to plain water. I'm not a big fan of maple flavor, esp. in my beer, but I am intrigued with the claims of "woodsy/earthy" quality. Thanks for the links. Yes, interesting.

 

[Valtyr]

Someone mentioned the final gravity being something around 1.009, or so. I forget which link I read that in. I'm kinda curious about the taste of it, too. It could be quite interesting.

 

[bluemoose]

I made 20 gallons with concentrated maple sap this year.


Sent from the kingdom of beer.

 

[GHBWNY]

I made 20 gallons with concentrated maple sap this year.


Sent from the kingdom of beer.

What did you come up with? Was there a maple taste or the woodsy/earthy taste others have described?

 

[bluemoose]

In the past there has been a woody flavor. I have typically boiled it in half before brewing. That gives it a higher starting volume and a bit more flavor. The maple has never been really Detectable, like it would be by adding syrup.
This year it is sitting in the fermenters. I got some sap that had run through an RO machine. It started at 15% sugar. High gravity water. I expect to have a bit more maple in these, or at least a woodier finish.

I think 15 % sugar may be too high if you are thinking about doing this. I guess I will know in a couple of months. All my OGs have been really high.

 

[bluemoose]

To your original question, when I have done it in the past I have used sap to mash and sparge. That sap was between 4-5% sugar. This time with 15% I elected to mash with it, and just increase my mash water, and decrease the amount to sparge with to get my volume.

 

[GHBWNY]

In the past there has been a woody flavor. I have typically boiled it in half before brewing. That gives it a higher starting volume and a bit more flavor. The maple has never been really Detectable, like it would be by adding syrup.
This year it is sitting in the fermenters. I got some sap that had run through an RO machine. It started at 15% sugar. High gravity water. I expect to have a bit more maple in these, or at least a woodier finish.

I think 15 % sugar may be too high if you are thinking about doing this. I guess I will know in a couple of months. All my OGs have been really high.

Sounds appealing and I'll give it serious consideration next winter. Thanks!