First time brewer here. I have got a batch of Caribou Slobber and am going to be going to bottles before long and I have been looking at adjuncts. One I came across said that I could use maple syrup as a primer and grade b was the best because of its high maple flavor. I figured this would go well with the chocolate notes the beer has and I could call is chocolate chip pancakes. I was wondering if anyone could tell me how much to use.
In Palmer’s book, he suggests 5.5 oz for a 5-gallon batch.
J
NB’s priming calculator (http://www.northernbrewer.com/priming-sugar-calculator/) suggests a range of 4.75oz at 65F to 5.18oz at 75F. This is for Maple Syrup in an American Brown Ale.
Michael
Using maple syrup for priming is a waste of good syrup - at most, you’ll only detect a whiff of maple in the finished beer because you just aren’t using enough just for carbonation. If you want maple flavor, use some quality extract and prime with cane or corn sugar instead.
Dogfish head brewery primes their 75 min IPA with maple syrup. Had one this weekend and the maple flavor was quite scant. As mentioned,use a quality extract for flavor and aroma.
I have to agree with the previous two posts for the reasons mentioned, plus if you really are a first time brewer you really should stick to the recipe. It’s not that recipe modifications and adjuncts are difficult, it’s that (in general) the recipes are good enough as-is, and as a new brewer you haven’t mastered the intricacies of the process needed to make a consistent batch. Heck, I’ve been brewing for years and I haven’t mastered the intricacies! However I do understand the desire to “tweak” things, I was guilty of that too as a new brewer.
Priming with maple syrup really doesn’t make much difference. You have to remember that syrup is mostly just sugar, and when all that sugar ferments out, what you’re left with is just a subtle woody flavor. Depending on the beer and your palate sensitivity it will be anywhere from barely there to completely undetectable.
Not telling you not to experiment (that’s part of the fun of home brewing) just want to make sure your expectations are in line with reality.
Also, if you’ve never brewed the recipe as is, you should do that first. Otherwise you’ll never know what you changed.
I’m mostly just spit balling here. I had not intended on actually trying this until the next go around. I think what I’m going to do is brew two batches and add an extract to one and the syrup at priming to the other. I transferred my Caribou Slobber to the secondary earlier today and it smells great. I can’t wait to try it.
One more thing when should I add the extract next time around. I figured it would most likely be while it is in the secondary and how much would I want to add per a 5 gallon batch for it to not be so overpowering. I really just want it to taste kind of like I’m eating pancakes and maple syrup but not to strong.
Add the extract at bottling time. To determine the dosage, pull two 2-oz glasses of the finished beer and use a dropper to add one drop of the extract to one glass (the other glass is your control and re-fill), taste, if not enough, add another drop and continue until you get the right flavor. Between each tasting, take a small sip of the control beer to reset your palate and top up the tasting glass to keep it at 2oz.
Once you find the right dosage, use the fact that 35 drops equal one milliliter, five mils equals one teaspoon, and six teaspoons equals one ounce to scale the dosage to your fermenter volume.
Thanks a lot guys this has been very helpful.
