Over the holiday I picked up a container of Vermont maple syrup. I couldn't think of a better use for it than to brew a maple syrup beer. Usually too expensive for even micro-brews, maple syrup is an amazing addition to small batches of beer. It adds a complex maple character that is unlike anything you've tasted in a beer before. So here's how I made a 10 gallon batch of brew last weekend, half of which will get a dose of maple syrup.
For grains, I'm using about two pounds of crystal and another pound and a half of carapilis. Not a classic pale malt but I'm no purist. Check out this steaming bag of grains! (and here's a tip- use knee high panty hose for grain bags. They're cheap and durable).
I'm not one for measuring (or reading instructions) but I added a good amount of malt extract- about four big scoops full for the ten gallon batch. In my experience, each scoop raises the specific gravity .010 to .015, so four should get around 1.040 to 1.050. This will make a brew with 4.2% to 5.5% ABV.
For hops, I used six ounces of Northern Brewer boiling hops (added at the start of brewing) and six ounces of Willamette hops (added at the end of brewing). This is a healthy amount of hops, but we're brewing an IPA right?
After an hour of boiling, and after chilling with my immersion chiller, I separated the wort into two fermentation buckets.
Here's a picture of the "trub", which is the hop solids, proteins and other junk that settles to the bottom of the brew kettle during brewing. All the hop goodness has already infused into the beer, so dump this stuff into the compost bin.
Brewing 10 gallon batches is a great way to make lots of beer in less time, but it also means that you can end up with a lot of one kind of beer. Adding fruit, spices, flavors and sugars to the beers is a great way to make different beers after the brewing process is completed. Plus heat volatilizes many tastes and flavors- adding flavors after brewing, or even after fermentation, is a great way to add dynamic flavors. I like to add adjuncts after fermentation because the flavors tend to integrate better, but if you want the flavor to stand out (like with fruit), then add it after fermentation. Flavorful pontification aside, one bucket of this beer gets the maple syrup and the other will not.
The bucket that got the syrup ended up with a gravity of 1.055 and the one that didn't came in at 1.046, so a quart of syrup added a good amount of fermentable sugar to the beer.Regarding yeast, it's been so long since I brewed last all my liquid yeast died. I even went so far as to make a yeast starter and the yeast never awoke from their slumber. Fortunately I have a back up plan: dried ale yeast. I hate to use generic yeast, but it works in a pinch.
Stay tuned to see how this beer develops!
2 comments:
You brew the most interesting beer!
This isn't necessarily the place for this, but I am looking to get into brewing myself. It seems the process you use differs from what I have read on traditional brew-your-own-beer sites. I have a propane burner and empty keg to brew in and am looking to start with something dark (similar to your chocolate porter maybe?). Any advice you can throw my way would be much appreciated!
Hey Scott, I'm not much of a recipe follower myself, most of what I do I settled on after trial and error and figuring out what worked the best for me. I generally follow the basic procedures but try not to get bogged down in the pretense and structure. However for your first brew, buy a kit. It's more expensive and less creative than buying in bulk and just mixing ingredients, but it will walk you through the process and help you get down the basics. Then you can develop your own style and approach to brewing.
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