8 replies to this topic

[northbound]

Anyone brew using pure maple sap instead of water?What style of beer would be best, a brown ale?

[Winkydowbrewing]

ive heard of doing it, but never heard any real results. please report back if you try

[3rd party JKor]

?

[ChefLamont]

?

Signs you need a vacation.Sad thing is, I thought the same thing.

[ThroatwobblerMangrove]

Anyone brew using pure maple sap instead of water?What style of beer would be best, a brown ale?

are you going to try to mash with sap?

[Stout_fan]

JK,Who are these SAP guys? I'm a bit curious since they were a sponsor of my favorite team last year:Sorry for the threadjack.I had a friend of a friend (in VT) brew with this.IIRC (second hand info here) he said the maple flavor wasn't there at all since it is the mallard reactions that create what we perceive as maple. The actual sap is rather clear and adds little flavor or sugar content.We were considering trying it for a brew, but we've been told it is a waste of time.Suggestions included adding purchased maple syrup (grade C, if you can get it) to the secondary.

Edited by Stout_fan, 22 February 2010 - 06:28 AM.

[jayb151]

Yea, I've got no experiance with sap, but I've got to believe that it's best as a secondary addition. You might even want to check the specific gravity on it and count it as an addition that you're "topping up" your batch with. Meaning, make a 4 gallon batch and add a gallon of sap.You can also prime with it (if you bottle) but that would take alot of playing around and I don't think it would impart enough flavor.

[DigitalTaper]

To use SAP as a brewing ingredient I suggest making a SAP/BW (barely wine) or add your SAP as an adjunct to any good German style of beer. After 8 long hours of SAP today, I came here to get away .... but JKoravos couldn't let me escape ....I know two guys that made some maple infused beers last year. One of them added grade "B" syrup to secondary. The other used the un-reduced sap liquid in place of water. The water replacement beer was extremely thin and I didn't care for it at all. The 1st was solid, maple beers are not a favorite of mine but I did appreciate the effort and results.

[TAPPER]

I tap a few trees in my yard each year and brew all sap beer. Don't expect maple notes...we're only talking about 1- 3% sugar in sap depending on the year/tree. Gravity readings of my sap are usually a bout 1.008 - 1.010, so work this extra sugar into your recipe or just live with the fact you'll be making a bit bigger beer than your recipe usually makes.Since this is a simple sugar I like brewing styles that use adjuncts anyway. I made a cream ale with it last year that ended up with interesting belgian notes. I'm not sure if that was from the sap or possibly stressed yeast (though I did ferment at about 62). I'm curious what happens this year.If the citrusy/fruity/belgian notes continue then I'd recommend sap for belgian styles or fruity blonde/cream ales. Based on what I tasted last year I thought sap would work great in a Belgian Wit. Might give it a shot this year, but I definitely want to try the cream ale again to see if history repeats.I'll try to report back on this year's experience/tasting notes. NOTE: Other trees in the maple family can also be tapped. I have a boxelder in my yard that I also tap. This sap has much woodier/earthy notes than maple sap. Craft a beer that works with the flavor.