You could alternately use a higher grade of maple syrup to prime your bottles for bottling, thus keeping a bit more of that flavour in. I have 2 litres of amber syrup that I'm looking to do a maple dubbel with (like Double De Bonsecours from Broue Pub Brouhaha)grub wrote:from what i've heard, maple is tricky as it tends to mostly ferment out and not leave you with much "maple" character left behind. adding more and more syrup ends up thinning out the brew and not adding much maple. your best bet is to use lower-grade syrups (which tend to be more intensely "maple" and not ferment quite as far) and consider things like fenugreek that can lend some maple character.lister wrote:Looked like a porter, smelled like a porter and tasted like a porter, just didn't taste like a maple porter. The maple was very, very subtle. I was hoping for something noticeable, more so than say Nickelbrook's Maple Porter and Granville Islands Maple Cream.
Looking for the original Bar Towel blog? You can find it at www.thebartowel.com.
We have a trivia question in order to register to prevent bots. If you have any issues with answering, contact us at cass@bartowel.com for help.
Introducing Light Mode! If you would like a Bar Towel social experience that isn't the traditional blue, you can now select Light Mode. Go to the User Control Panel and then Board Preferences, and select "Day Drinking" (Light Mode) from the My Board Style drop-down menu. You can always switch back to "Night Drinking" (Dark Mode). Enjoy!
We have a trivia question in order to register to prevent bots. If you have any issues with answering, contact us at cass@bartowel.com for help.
Introducing Light Mode! If you would like a Bar Towel social experience that isn't the traditional blue, you can now select Light Mode. Go to the User Control Panel and then Board Preferences, and select "Day Drinking" (Light Mode) from the My Board Style drop-down menu. You can always switch back to "Night Drinking" (Dark Mode). Enjoy!
What HOMEBREW are you drinking right now?
- phirleh
- Seasoned Drinker
- Posts: 1212
- Joined: Thu Nov 20, 2008 3:20 pm
- Location: Waterdown, Ontario
- Contact:
Malam cerevisiam facieus in cathedram stercoris
"God don't want me yet, man, I got more feet to taste."
photos - http://www.flickr.com/photos/phirleh/se ... 039468171/
"God don't want me yet, man, I got more feet to taste."
photos - http://www.flickr.com/photos/phirleh/se ... 039468171/
- grub
- Seasoned Drinker
- Posts: 1403
- Joined: Fri Sep 15, 2006 3:16 pm
- Location: Biergötter Homebrew Club, Brantford
- Contact:
i'd actually recommend against using it for priming. first, you'd need to know exactly how much sugar it has and exactly how fermentable it is, and be able to make a pretty accurate weight in order to avoid bottle bombs. all that adds up to too much uncertainty and danger for my taste.phirleh wrote:You could alternately use a higher grade of maple syrup to prime your bottles for bottling, thus keeping a bit more of that flavour in. I have 2 litres of amber syrup that I'm looking to do a maple dubbel with (like Double De Bonsecours from Broue Pub Brouhaha)
also, from everything i've read on the subject, the small amount you need for priming is so small as to impart zero flavour (be it the sugar type, syrup, or extract) in the final product.
-
- Beer Superstar
- Posts: 2637
- Joined: Mon Mar 12, 2007 11:20 am
- Location: Aurora, ON
- Contact:
- phirleh
- Seasoned Drinker
- Posts: 1212
- Joined: Thu Nov 20, 2008 3:20 pm
- Location: Waterdown, Ontario
- Contact:
You would probably be safe with 2/3's of a cup to 1/2 cup for a 5 gallon batch. But you would kind of have to be tasting your beer through all stages to see if it needs some more maple flavour at the end.grub wrote:i'd actually recommend against using it for priming. first, you'd need to know exactly how much sugar it has and exactly how fermentable it is, and be able to make a pretty accurate weight in order to avoid bottle bombs. all that adds up to too much uncertainty and danger for my taste.phirleh wrote:You could alternately use a higher grade of maple syrup to prime your bottles for bottling, thus keeping a bit more of that flavour in. I have 2 litres of amber syrup that I'm looking to do a maple dubbel with (like Double De Bonsecours from Broue Pub Brouhaha)
also, from everything i've read on the subject, the small amount you need for priming is so small as to impart zero flavour (be it the sugar type, syrup, or extract) in the final product.
Malam cerevisiam facieus in cathedram stercoris
"God don't want me yet, man, I got more feet to taste."
photos - http://www.flickr.com/photos/phirleh/se ... 039468171/
"God don't want me yet, man, I got more feet to taste."
photos - http://www.flickr.com/photos/phirleh/se ... 039468171/
- markaberrant
- Seasoned Drinker
- Posts: 1664
- Joined: Fri Nov 16, 2007 4:28 pm
- Location: Regina, SK
grub wrote:maple is tricky as it tends to mostly ferment out and not leave you with much "maple" character left behind. adding more and more syrup ends up thinning out the brew and not adding much maple.
This is exactly my experience. Leave the maple syrup out of your beers. You'd have better results trying to mimic "maple" with a combo of crystal malts, low IBUs, and maybe a touch of maple extract.grub wrote:
i'd actually recommend against using it for priming. first, you'd need to know exactly how much sugar it has and exactly how fermentable it is, and be able to make a pretty accurate weight in order to avoid bottle bombs. all that adds up to too much uncertainty and danger for my taste.
also, from everything i've read on the subject, the small amount you need for priming is so small as to impart zero flavour (be it the sugar type, syrup, or extract) in the final product.
- grub
- Seasoned Drinker
- Posts: 1403
- Joined: Fri Sep 15, 2006 3:16 pm
- Location: Biergötter Homebrew Club, Brantford
- Contact:
meh, i'd still disagree. "probably safe" could leave you with a beer that's flat (if the syrup wasn't as fermentable as you guessed) or the worse bottle bombs (if it was sweeter than expected). why spend the time to make a brew if you're just going to guess at packaging time and not even get any maple out of it? work on the flavour elsewhere where you know it'll work and prime normally. plain old sugar (calculated based on your desired co2 volumes and weighed carefully) is the only thing you should be using for bottle conditioning.phirleh wrote:You would probably be safe with 2/3's of a cup to 1/2 cup for a 5 gallon batch. But you would kind of have to be tasting your beer through all stages to see if it needs some more maple flavour at the end.
- markaberrant
- Seasoned Drinker
- Posts: 1664
- Joined: Fri Nov 16, 2007 4:28 pm
- Location: Regina, SK
The point of carbonating is to carbonate to the desired level, not add flavour or screw around with alternative sugars.
Had a similar discussion recently where someone was against using corn sugar to carbonate because it is "bad for you." I suppose it isn't great, but the amount is small, and it gets the job done reliably. force carbonating does it even better.
I know this from experience. don't use maple syrup to carbonate. you are just asking for problems.
Had a similar discussion recently where someone was against using corn sugar to carbonate because it is "bad for you." I suppose it isn't great, but the amount is small, and it gets the job done reliably. force carbonating does it even better.
I know this from experience. don't use maple syrup to carbonate. you are just asking for problems.
- phirleh
- Seasoned Drinker
- Posts: 1212
- Joined: Thu Nov 20, 2008 3:20 pm
- Location: Waterdown, Ontario
- Contact:
Quite true, I've only bottle conditioned with measured amounts of sugar in my brews, those amounts are only from what I've read of other people's experiences. I may save my maple syrup for pancakes.grub wrote:meh, i'd still disagree. "probably safe" could leave you with a beer that's flat (if the syrup wasn't as fermentable as you guessed) or the worse bottle bombs (if it was sweeter than expected). why spend the time to make a brew if you're just going to guess at packaging time and not even get any maple out of it? work on the flavour elsewhere where you know it'll work and prime normally. plain old sugar (calculated based on your desired co2 volumes and weighed carefully) is the only thing you should be using for bottle conditioning.phirleh wrote:You would probably be safe with 2/3's of a cup to 1/2 cup for a 5 gallon batch. But you would kind of have to be tasting your beer through all stages to see if it needs some more maple flavour at the end.
Malam cerevisiam facieus in cathedram stercoris
"God don't want me yet, man, I got more feet to taste."
photos - http://www.flickr.com/photos/phirleh/se ... 039468171/
"God don't want me yet, man, I got more feet to taste."
photos - http://www.flickr.com/photos/phirleh/se ... 039468171/
I use to play with different sugars for priming, and I tried to use the thicker Belgian bottles. But yeah, ~3/4 cup in 5 gallons really doesn't do much... especially since most of it is Fermentable. I started adding a significant amount of sugar to the secondary as well (in Belgian brews, as the primary ferment would scrub off some character). I think 'Radical Brewing' has some suggestions about the amounts for priming.
Other things I've tried Jaggery (very nice, with a good portion in the ferment as well), Demerara, molasses (can leave crud in the bottle), Lyle's Golden Syrup and Honey (carbonation is a REAL crap shoot).
I haven't used anything but plain sugar in over 5 years now. It's consistent.
Other things I've tried Jaggery (very nice, with a good portion in the ferment as well), Demerara, molasses (can leave crud in the bottle), Lyle's Golden Syrup and Honey (carbonation is a REAL crap shoot).
I haven't used anything but plain sugar in over 5 years now. It's consistent.
Dont know if it still qualifies as homebrew but I picked up a six pack of the Samuel Adams 2011 Longshot winners homebrew contest.
Kinda cool, never saw them before:
Dark Night In Munich
Derf's Secret Alt
Five Crown Imperial Stout
More info here:
http://www.samueladams.com/promotions/L ... fault.aspx
Kinda cool, never saw them before:
Dark Night In Munich
Derf's Secret Alt
Five Crown Imperial Stout
More info here:
http://www.samueladams.com/promotions/L ... fault.aspx
- markaberrant
- Seasoned Drinker
- Posts: 1664
- Joined: Fri Nov 16, 2007 4:28 pm
- Location: Regina, SK
Drank 19 different pilsners last night. 6 were pretty damn good. For whatever reason, there was another 6 that all had plastic/spicy phenols, and the other 7 were somewhere inbetween the 2 extremes.
Also did an interview with a newspaper journalist, and did a photoshoot for another publication while judging at the same time!
Also did an interview with a newspaper journalist, and did a photoshoot for another publication while judging at the same time!
- phirleh
- Seasoned Drinker
- Posts: 1212
- Joined: Thu Nov 20, 2008 3:20 pm
- Location: Waterdown, Ontario
- Contact:
http://www.leaderpost.com/life/Beer+bat ... story.htmlmarkaberrant wrote:Drank 19 different pilsners last night. 6 were pretty damn good. For whatever reason, there was another 6 that all had plastic/spicy phenols, and the other 7 were somewhere inbetween the 2 extremes.
Also did an interview with a newspaper journalist, and did a photoshoot for another publication while judging at the same time!
This one?
Malam cerevisiam facieus in cathedram stercoris
"God don't want me yet, man, I got more feet to taste."
photos - http://www.flickr.com/photos/phirleh/se ... 039468171/
"God don't want me yet, man, I got more feet to taste."
photos - http://www.flickr.com/photos/phirleh/se ... 039468171/