Maple Syrup additions

[leigh1919]

guys -

am currently working on a US-Style Brown Ale. I've noted that a few have Maple Syrup in them, in varying amounts and at varying additions. I've read that adding Maple Syrup as a priming sugar for bottling gives a nice flavour.

am thinking of adding 100g to the boil, and 100g in the priming solution - to get 'the best of both worlds'

can anyone think of any pitfalls of doing this? don't want any exploding bottles or anything?

[delboy]

I don't think 100g used as a priming solution will result in bottle bombs, might be a bit overcarbonated, depends on how you like your beer.
I adding syrups during the boil make sure you dilute them before adding as it can stick to the elements and cause burning/shorting.

Have you tried any of these brown ales with maple syrup, if you haven't my advice would be to add the equivalent amount to a brown beer (ie 2.5g of syrup to a pint) and see if its to your tastes, no point spoiling a full 5G batch on an experiment.

[mysterio]

I would keep it out of the boil, any delicate aromatics will experience the double whammy of being scrubbed out by the boil and the fermentation. I think I would just add it to the primary fermenter as fermentation is dying down, or prime bottles with it like you suggest.

Which commercial brown ales are you referring to ? Haven't tried any with maple syrup in them, sounds interesting.

[leigh1919]

Guys - I'm going for a US style, and in 'Homebrew Beers' by Sam Calagione (Dogfish Head), he brews a 'basic Brown ale' and adds both molasses and maple to the boil.

I'm aiming toward Brooklyn Brown and Sierra Nevada Brown. I love Maple and the taste of it, and I would like to have some of that in my US Brown, you see. I just think it would go well!!

So it looks like maybe using it for priming then - in that case, how much do you think for a 25L brewlength - and diluted in boiling water as normal?

My Grain Bill will be:

3.7kg MO (72.55%)
0.70kg Crystal (13.73%)
0.5 Caramunich (9.
0.10 Choc (1.96%)

looking ok in Brewsmith although the crystal does look high, am thinking of lowering that to about 10% and up[ing the Caramunich to compensate.

Not yet thought of Hops yet but as US will be using Cascades in there somewhere. Won't be brewing this until October as have an Amber Beer planned week after next.

thoughts?

[trucker5774]

I would go with mysterio. In the same way I have used honey. If you want the flavour add it late in the primary and/or prime with the syrup, anything between 60g and 120g depending on how much fizz you like. About 80g is good for me.

I have used about 500g of honey to ensure some taste late in the primary. Remember to allow for the increase in ABV if you have a desired final strength.

[mysterio]

22 - 23% crystal is waaay OTT. Remember Caramunich is basically German crystal malt. Munich malt in place of the Caramunich would be more appropriate to add to the maltiness. My personal taste is for a slightly milder US hop in a brown ale so it's not just a pale ale with a brown colour... Cascade is good, maybe Williamette or Glacier as well, something milder would allow the maple syrup to come through too.

[leigh1919]

Cheers guys, useful as usual. AM going to go All american and go for a combo of Williamette and Cascades. Brooklyn Brown uses those two so i'm staying true to form.

I'm leaning towards adding some Maple during primary as a 'best of both worlds' approach. Can you tell me:

1. How much I should add and when (you say when fermentation dies down, I find is usually about 7 days into a 10 day primary)
2. Do i need to prepare the syrup in any way?
3. I'm aiming for my original wort to be about 1050 - and final to be about 1010. How would the syrup affect things -as in, do I take OG as normal, then take another reading prior to bottling to see what effect the syrup has had? I'm thinking of adding about 100g purely for flavor.
4. finally - do I prime as normal, with normal sugars and amounts?

Sorry for all the questions guys - stuck to Pales until now and wanting to spread my malty wings a little in the next few brews!!

Here's my new Grain bill/Hop Schedule taking on board your sage advice re: CaraMunich. Was originally going to mix Brambling X and Cascades...But then found a good price for Williamette on Ebay.

3.70 kg Pale Malt, Maris Otter (5.0 EBC) Grain 74.00 %
0.60 kg Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (118.2 EBC) Grain 12.00 %
0.45 kg Munich Malt (17.7 EBC) Grain 9.00 %
0.15 kg Chocolate Malt (886.5 EBC) Grain 3.00 %

30.00 gm Cascade [8.00 %] (90 min) Hops 25.9 IBU
15.00 gm Williamette [5.50 %] (60 min) Hops 8.3 IBU
15.00 gm Williamette [5.50 %] (30 min) Hops 6.4 IBU
10.00 gm Williamette [5.50 %] (5 min) Hops 1.1 IBU
10.00 gm Cascade [8.00 %] (0 min) (Aroma Hop-Steep) Hops

Target OG 1050
Target FG 1010

[trucker5774]

I would add the syrup near the end of primary. If your target is 1010 I would put it in around 1014. For me that is normally around 4 days into the fermentation. My method for honey (don't see why it would be any different) is to take about a litre of wort from the FV and warm it up then dissolve the syrup in it. Add the cooled solution to the FV and stir gently. Usual rule for avoiding aeration and sanitising apply!

How much you add will depend on how much you want to taste it............I add 500g of honey. The first brew is a taste experiment!

For the ABV calcs see my link
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=25927

Once fermented I prime with 80g of white sugar in a wort solution . I tend to bottle so this would be added to a bottling bucket and then the brew racked onto it

It's just what I do with a similar method to that which you are looking at....................hope it has served as some sort of guide

[leigh1919]

John - yes it has, thank you mate. I'm not making this badboy until oct/november but will post it up and let you and Mysterio know how it turns out.