Maple Blonde Ale

[gm-]

Tapping some maple trees this week and hoping to get enough sap to brew with. The plan is to use the sap instead of water, and will probably use maple syrup to prime.

Any input on how to get more of the maple flavour is appreciated.

Amt Name Type # %/IBU
11 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 95.7 %
8.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM) Grain 2 4.3 %
1.00 oz Willamette [5.50 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 3 18.8 IBUs
1.00 oz Willamette [5.50 %] - Aroma Steep 0.0 mi Hop 4 0.0 IBUs

1.0 pkg Trappist Ale (White Labs #WLP500) [35.49 Yeast 5 -

Cheers,
Jon

[mr x]

some crushed fenugreek seeds help, maybe 1 tsp.

[akr71]

If you can get enough sap, boil it down to concentrate the maple flavor. Say ~15 gallons boiled down to about 10 gallons... All the sugars from the sap are going to ferment out - I don't know that priming with maple syrup will add anything to the finished product.

[jason.loxton]

I am a little dubious about using maple sap. I am tapping trees right now as well, and had planned on using sap. I still may do it, as it is cool to say, "this beer is made entirely with the sap of a tree!", but I think it might be a very poor means of generating flavour. Experiments using vacuum distillation and freeze concentration of maple sap show that all of the characteristic flavour and colour in maple syrup are produced during the boil (http://ecommons.library.cornell.edu/bit ... tin742.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;). They aren't just dilute in maple sap: they aren't there. Syrup concentrated up to 62% sugar using either of those two methods is greyish and essentially tasteless. However, when boiled it results in the same flavours and colour as standard syrup (which is why reverse osmosis can be used well in the industry). Obviously, you're boiling the wort, and so causing some chemical changes, but given the lower temperature (as you know syrup is done at 7 degrees f above sap boiling temp., whereas wort boils at essentially water temp.) and high dilution, I doubt whether you will be producing the same sorts of reactions. I haven't tried (this is based on inference), but it seems like you might be better off adding syrup to a standard wort, post-boil, if flavour is what you're after. (I think I might still make one, just for fun, though.)

As an aside: I wonder whether sap might be lacking in trace minerals nec. for the mash and yeast health. Don't know... But some water additions might be in order.

[gm-]

Will be an interesting experiment for sure, I've actually heard from several sources that using the sap is one of the better ways to get some flavour to the beer, as adding syrup to the secondary usually just ferments out and leaves little flavour.

I might boil it down a bit before I use it to concentrate the flavours, but that depends on how much sap I get.

I've been trying to find a bit about mineral content and whatnot of the sap, and I think it will be ok for the yeast, but I am a bit worried that the pH might be too high for the mash, as it can range from 6-7.

Anyways, the ingredients are pretty cheap so I am willing to experiment a bit

[jason.loxton]

Awesome! Let us know how it goes!

[Tony L]

Marrio does it with all maple sap http://www.casselbrewery.ca/en/our_beers_maple_rye.asp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I have had one and must say it is great. He sent me one before he went commercial.

[gm-]

Cool stuff, will be very interesting to see how this one goes

[gm-]

Just finished brewing this, added a pound of malted rye to make things a bit interesting.

Mashing with sap was a bit challenging, stuck sparge every time I sparged. That resulted in me being 1 gallon short

Hopefully this will be worth it....

And just for TonyL, carboy on bare concrete floor

[Tony L]

And just for TonyL, carboy on bare concrete floor

Ouch, will that make it to a keg or bottle Not fond of Russian Roulette

I had one from Cassell Brewing before he went commercial.. nice rye flavour, but I found the rye over shadowed any perceived maple flavour
from the sap. But it could only be my palate not knowing what I should look for. It was my first rye ale, and it was

[gm-]

Bottled this up last night, and used some homemade syrup to prime it with. ABV turned out to be around 7% so it is quite potent. Only had a little sip as I had almost nothing left over after bottling, but it was pretty nice, no distinct "maple" flavour but it had mild woody aftertaste along with some rye spiciness, will be interesting once it is carbonated.