I tried a maple sap brew last year but messed it up by putting too much chocolate malt in it. This year I’m trying again, doing a lite lager with the following recipe:
5 lbs 4 oz 2-row
3 lbs flaked maize
8 oz cara pils/dex
1/2 oz hallertauer 60 min
1/2 oz hallertauer 5 min
Wyeast #2178
My question is would I be better off trying two different yeasts ( 1 lager, 1 ale), or trying two different base malts, maybe # 2 with golden promise? I’m trying to come up with a good comparison but don’t know which will make the most difference, yeast or malt. I do want the hops to be laid back, hence the light noble hopping.
If it’s possible to get any maple flavor from a sap brew, this recipe might be the ticket. I’m pretty skeptical that you can get maple flavor just from sap- I’ve tried it. I’ve heard from fellow brewers that you may get there if you evaporate you sap down 50% by volume before using it. Haven’t tried that.
I have boiled it down, started with about 20 gals and am down to about 9. The gravity reads 1.019, which is probably the number to go by since I imagine the boil down percentage would vary.
If I ever do a maple beer I’ll use some pure maple syrup as part of the priming solution. I’m pretty sure some maple flavor would carry over doing that.
