10 Mar 2016 Brewing with maple sap
Yesterday we brewed a special beer using maple sap. What does this mean exactly? Instead of using water, one of the four essential ingredients in beer (water, grains, hops, yeast), we used freshly collected maple sap from Hilltop Boilers in Newfield, ME. The sap is what becomes maple syrup, but it runs out of the tree clear, with a soft, woody maple flavor and a hint of sweetness, like flavored water. To make one gallon of syrup, it takes 40 gallons of sap, so significant reduction is required! The Hilltop Boiler boys showed up late Tuesday night with 350 gallons on the back of a pickup truck. I linked together every hose we had in house and pumped the sap straight from the truck into our Hot Liquor Tank (basically a hot water tank). Overnight the sap heated up for the next day’s brew.
An important thing to know is maple syrups flavor is greatly achieved through the caramelization of sap. This chemical reaction between amino acids and reducing sugars, known as the Maillard reaction, creates a range of amazing flavors in many foods and beverages. Therefore, I don’t expect the beer to taste like maple syrup at all, but hopefully there will be elements of maple wood, with hints of sweet maple in the flavor and aroma.
The image below shows various stages of caramelized sugar, a process we do in house frequently for Belgian-style beers.
The recipe is mostly pilsner malt, with small amounts of specialty grains to bring out some complexity for the maple to play off of. Small amounts of Northern Brewer hops, known for earthy, woody tones seemed like a good choice. Fruity, slightly spicy belgian yeast will hopefully balance the finished beer and provide it’s own array of flavor. Maybe maple syrup will be added to the fermenter to add more flavor, but we will see how it tastes after fermentation and go from there. I’ve never brewed with maple sap, so this was a super exciting brew day. Now let’s hope the beer tastes as exciting as it was to make…
-Greg