Brewing With Maple
Maple is such an intriguing flavor, both sweet and smoky at the same time. It’s a natural adjunct in brewing and can add a terrific boost of flavor to almost any style.
Several varieties of maple trees, especially the Sugar Maple (Acer saccharum), Silver Maple (Acer saccharinum), Red Maple (Acer rubrum) and the Ash-leaf Maple (Acer negundo), produce a slightly sweet sap in the spring which, when boiled down to condense it, can be turned into syrup. The Striped Maple (Acer pensylvanicum), also known as Moosewood, has a higher density of sugar in its sap, but is rarely big enough to tap. It requires about 40 gallons of straight sap to make 1.0 gallon of syrup (or 40 L of sap to make 1 L of syrup). This figure varies from tree to tree, from season to season, and can also change from sugar maker to sugar maker. Maple sugar production is primarily limited to the northern New England states — Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont, as well as upstate New York, Ontario and Quebec. However, there is some maple syrup production in nearly every northern state from the Great Lakes eastward.
Maple sap is boiled down until it contains approximately 67% sucrose, at a temperature of 219 °F (104 °C). In the United States, syrup is graded, from lightest to darkest, as Grade A Light Amber, Grade A Medium Amber, Grade A Dark Amber, and Grade B. In Canada, there are #1, #2 and #3 grades, with Extra Light, Light and Medium as colors within Grade #1. Here in Vermont we also have our own “Vermont Fancy” grade, similar in color to Grade A Light Amber, but boiled down to be a little thicker. There exists also a US Grade C, very dark and strong-flavored, used mainly as a flavoring and sweetening adjunct for baked goods and other sweetened foods. Generally speaking, the earlier in the season the syrup is produced, the lighter it is.
When brewing, it is essential to use only real, pure maple syrup. Do not use the maple-flavored corn syrups found in the grocery store. Check the label to see if the product is maple syrup or maple-flavored, pancake, or waffle syrup. I’d like to suggest that Vermont syrup is preferable, but that may be my own prejudice showing.
At 67% sucrose, one pound of maple syrup dissolved in water to make one gallon will yield a sugar solution with a specific gravity of 1.031 or, in homebrewer’s parlance, maple syrup yields 31 points per pound per gallon. (A kilogram of syrup in 10 L would yield a solution of SG 1.039.) Maple syrup can used as a kettle adjunct or to prime kegs or bottles.
In addition to syrup, you may also find crystallized maple sugar, sometimes in hard cakes, sometimes granulated. Again, be careful to use only maple sugar, not maple candy (which may contain oils, butter, and other ingredients). If you live near a sugar maker, or have your own maple trees, you may also be able to use fresh maple sap in the mash tun or in the boil kettle.
A friend of mine used to run a small microbrewery here in my hometown of Tunbridge, Vermont. She made an annual seasonal Maple Sap Beer. She used fresh sap as her mash and sparge water, and added syrup into the boil. The maple flavor was subtle, but there, and the beer was a real refreshing treat in the early summer when it was bottled and put on the shelf. This recipe (to the right) is my adaptation of that beer.
Vermont Maple Golden Ale
(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain with maple syrup)
OG = 1.046 FG = 1.010
IBU = 17 SRM = 7+ ABV = 4.6%
Ingredients
6.5 lbs. (3.0 kg) Maris Otter 2-row pale ale malt
1 lb. (0.45 kg) toasted pale malt
0.5 lb. (0.23 kg) crystal malt (20 °L)
16 fl. oz. (473 mL) maple syrup
3 AAU Cluster hops (60 min.) (0.43 oz./12 g of 7% alpha acids)
3 AAU Willamette hops (15 min.) (0.60 oz./17 g of 5% alpha acids)
1 tsp. Irish moss (15 min.)
15 g Coopers dry ale yeast
1⁄2 cup corn sugar (for priming)
1⁄4 cup maple syrup (for priming)
Step by step
Heat 12 quarts water (or fresh maple sap) to 165 °F (74 °C). Mash in crushed pale malt, toasted malt and crystal, hold 90 minutes at 150–152 °F (66–67 °C). Runoff, sparge with 14 quarts water or sap at 170 °F (77 °C).
Add 1 pint pure maple syrup to wort, bring to a boil. Add the Cluster hops, boil 45 minutes. Add the Willamette hops, boil another 15 minutes, add the Irish moss (if desired) and remove from heat. Chill quickly, pour into your sanitized fermenter and pitch the yeast. Ferment at 70 °F (21 °C) for 7–10 days, rack to secondary and age cool for 14–20 days. Bottle, priming with the corn sugar and the maple syrup. Condition 2–3 weeks.
Extract option:
Replace the 2-row malt with 3 lb. 10 oz. (1.6 kg) Coopers Extra-light dried malt extract. Steep remaining grains for 30 minutes at 152 °F (67 °C) in 2.5 qts. (~2.5 L) of water. Boil 60 minutes, reserving roughly of half the malt extract for final 15 minutes of boil.
