RIS, adding maple syrup when kegging?

[odie]

Doing another RIS. Last time I added maple syrup when the krausen was dropping after a week or so. total time in fermenter was a month.

I'm thinking this time to wait and add it when kegging after cold crashing first. I know most of the yeast will drop out during the crash but it's going to sit in the keg for at least 6 months at 60'.

The question is will 2# of syrup still ferment in the keg during this long conditioning time or am I going to tap this keg in 6 months and get a blast of maple syrup beer in my glass?

 

[Dgallo]

Doing another RIS. Last time I added maple syrup when the krausen was dropping after a week or so. total time in fermenter was a month.

I'm thinking this time to wait and add it when kegging after cold crashing first. I know most of the yeast will drop out during the crash but it's going to sit in the keg for at least 6 months at 60'.

The question is will 2# of syrup still ferment in the keg during this long conditioning time or am I going to tap this keg in 6 months and get a blast of maple syrup beer in my glass?

It will certainly ferment so you’ll need to use a sounding valve on the co2 post when conditioning. Not that I have age a maple stout 6 months, I’m quite sure that the longer the maple flavor sits in a beer the less maple you get in the end

 

[Jag75]

I was talking to a brewer at a local brewery about maple . They have a blood red rye that's really good . He told me that they add 100% pure maple about day after fermentation. He said that the yeast doesnt eat all the maple because the yeast are lazy in that they've been shown what to eat , causing them to not eat some of the sugars from the maple.

 

[day_trippr]

"Maple syrup is comprised mostly of sucrose and water, with small amounts of the monosaccharides glucose and fructose from the invert
sugar created in the boiling process."

Unless it was added at the limit of the strain's alcohol tolerance I would be surprised if any strain of yeast was so lazy it wouldn't completely plow through all that...

Cheers!

 

[Jag75]

Yeah he never told me how much they add so its possible to add so much that the yeast can only eat some leaving some sweetness of the maple .

 

[odie]

My current one the maple essence is slight. Maybe I'm just "tasting" it cause I know I put some in??? It was done back in April and just now got tapped.

This one the krausen is about to drop. I'll do a reading and probably let it sit another week or so before kegging. Either way, i would expect pretty much all the sugar to be eaten just leaving to other compounds in the maple syrup that hopefully contribute some flavors that remind me of IHOP.

 

[day_trippr]

I've never brewed with maple syrup but have read numerous HBT posts regarding same over the years, and even using the recommended Grade B or even C* the character contributed is typically more nuance than in-your-face...

Cheers!

(* Old Syrup Grading System. The new one is a cluster-fark)

 

[odie]

Yeah, I've heard Grade B, not A, is what you really want for brewing. More flavor. Not sure why. Never heard of Grade C. But never seen Grade "B" sold either.

 

[odie]

well it's been in the fermenter since 20 Dec. OG 1.119 or was it 1.109...I didn't bring my nots to work today...lol Yesterday it's at 1.042ish, hard to read with it so damn dark. Think I'm gonna raise it from 68' to 72' and let it ride a few more days.

 

[blizz81]

If you want a more controlled way of getting more maple (or any sugary adjunct) flavor, and you're kegging, the good news is you can add at kegging and the cold temps should keep it from fermenting out.

 

[odie]

Well I kinda want the sugars to ferment out, mostly . But not the flavors.

 

[Jayjay1976]

Okay, I'll be that guy.

Why not try Brewer's Best natural maple flavoring? King Arthur sells one too, for baking.
Or for that matter, what about Mrs. Butterworth's or Log Cabin?

I know to some it may be heresy, but flavorings might get you closer to what you want than the real thing would.
You may come to find that the results are far more palatable than the idea.

 

[day_trippr]

Ok, you're that guy

Cheers! (And I just threw up in my mouth a little )

 

[yoop89]

If you want a more controlled way of getting more maple (or any sugary adjunct) flavor, and you're kegging, the good news is you can add at kegging and the cold temps should keep it from fermenting out.

I would not trust that assumption. Yeast a fairly resilient and will eat what they can if there still around. I helped a friend brew a honey blonde and he felt it lacked honey flavor at kegging time and thought the keezer temps would keep a 6 oz of honey from fermenting. He was wrong and the beer was barely drinakble. Just poured glasses of foam the entire time it was on tap. Vented numerous times to zero pressure, didnt even hook up CO2 after he figured out his mistake. YMMV but I would avoid any additional sugar unless pasteurizing.

 

[Dgallo]

I would not trust that assumption. Yeast a fairly resilient and will eat what they can if there still around.

Agreed. People need to remember that yeast still eat at colder temps, just slower. It’s the same reason why food and drinks go bad in the refrigerator after a certain amount of time.

 

[Jayjay1976]

A guy in my brew club has access to sugar maples and brewed a batch using the sap straight from the tree (before it was boiled down to syrup) instead of water for strike and sparge, and almost zero maple flavor came through. It has a lot of minerals and is a very pure alternative to water, but won't contribute much flavor. I would think you need to add a large percentage of syrup to a recipe to retain any of that flavor post-fermentation, and it might only lead to a very dry beer. Or use flavoring or artificial maple syrup i.e. log cabin or mrs butterworth's because the sugars will ferment out and leave behind the fake maple flavor. I'm thinking about trying Aunt Jemima in a high gravity recipe, if it turns out I'll call it 'Uncle Jemima's Pure Malt Liquor".

 

[odie]

Was still at 1.041-2ish yesterday. Pretty much fermented out. FG is higher than last time since I added a pound of lactose. Anyway poured half my maple syrup straight in. No mixing. This morning have an inch of krausen going again.
Once that finishes and I cold crash. Do you think I will have enough yeast left suspended to finish the remaining pound of syrup in the keg?

 

[odie]

this thing is still going...I added the rest of the maple syrup over a week ago and it's still fermenting...pitched yeast on Dec 20

I removed the top of the fermonster and stretched a latex glove over the opening and it's still slowly filling up with co2. I used the rubber glove since an air lock you would not see anything with such slow activity but the sealed carboy with a latex glove holds all the co2 and inflates as it ferments, thus confirming active fermentation is still going on.

 

[odie]

I'm debating cold crash and keg and then let it finish at 60' for a few months. Or should I not cold crash and just keg and let it finish at 60 for a few months? Or just leave it alone until the glove stops inflating anymore and then crash and keg? It's just sitting in the garage around 70' (south Texas winters)

It's been sitting for 49 days now so maybe enough stuff has compacted to the bottom that I don't need to cold crash. Plus, it's fermenting very slowly now and I'm concerned if I cold crash I will not have enough yeast make it into the keg for it to finish fermenting after kegging.