basically can you just dump maple syrup into the fermenter and let it rip or is there a specific procedure for introduction to the wort?
a search of maple syrup yielded 6+ pages of good info but not what I seek...wanting to do a maple porter/stout perhaps imperial type...same with honey (I keep bees)
I'm more interested in the recommended methods of introducing maple syrup (and also honey) to your beer...mainly post kettle, meaning primary, secondary or bottle/keg
the general consensus seems to be that in the boil phase you loose all that is "maple/honey essence" (for lack of a better term) and are just really boosting the fermentable content. I was originally planning to dump maple syrup or honey into the boil but most the discussion is adding anywhere from post boil/flame out to bottling/kegging...
I got flame out/hot wort figured...you just dump it in and let it melt into the hot wort.
But what about when the wort is cooled? Is raw honey or maple syrup safe to add at this point or must it be "prepared" pasturized or heated somehow first? and will that not have a similar affect on the "essence" as just adding it to the boil in the first place. I know heating my honey kills much of the benefits of eating wild honey, basically turning it into store bought crap.
Basically would you just pour the syrup/honey into the primary/secondary fermenter before or after the cooled wort and let the yeast go to work? Obviously here the stuff will just sink to the bottom but won't the yeast find it?
Do you need to "mix/blend" the syrup into the wort or just let the yeast go find it?
If you didn't want much yeast action in order to preserve more sweetness/flavors how would you go about stopping/slowing the yeast? In secondary there is not much yeast left but I would think in the presence of fermentables the small amount of yeast would wake up and start multiplying again.
For kegging I assume you will need to shake or somehow stir it into the beer unless you are leaving it at room temps so the yeast will go back to work. If I chill the keg I'm assuming it would basically stop the yeast right there and I basically just have maple/honey sweetened beer?
With a maple extract...does it really even matter much at what point you add the stuff?
sorry for the long question but I'm sure there are multiple methods, each with it's own plus and minus...
a search of maple syrup yielded 6+ pages of good info but not what I seek...wanting to do a maple porter/stout perhaps imperial type...same with honey (I keep bees)
I'm more interested in the recommended methods of introducing maple syrup (and also honey) to your beer...mainly post kettle, meaning primary, secondary or bottle/keg
the general consensus seems to be that in the boil phase you loose all that is "maple/honey essence" (for lack of a better term) and are just really boosting the fermentable content. I was originally planning to dump maple syrup or honey into the boil but most the discussion is adding anywhere from post boil/flame out to bottling/kegging...
I got flame out/hot wort figured...you just dump it in and let it melt into the hot wort.
But what about when the wort is cooled? Is raw honey or maple syrup safe to add at this point or must it be "prepared" pasturized or heated somehow first? and will that not have a similar affect on the "essence" as just adding it to the boil in the first place. I know heating my honey kills much of the benefits of eating wild honey, basically turning it into store bought crap.
Basically would you just pour the syrup/honey into the primary/secondary fermenter before or after the cooled wort and let the yeast go to work? Obviously here the stuff will just sink to the bottom but won't the yeast find it?
Do you need to "mix/blend" the syrup into the wort or just let the yeast go find it?
If you didn't want much yeast action in order to preserve more sweetness/flavors how would you go about stopping/slowing the yeast? In secondary there is not much yeast left but I would think in the presence of fermentables the small amount of yeast would wake up and start multiplying again.
For kegging I assume you will need to shake or somehow stir it into the beer unless you are leaving it at room temps so the yeast will go back to work. If I chill the keg I'm assuming it would basically stop the yeast right there and I basically just have maple/honey sweetened beer?
With a maple extract...does it really even matter much at what point you add the stuff?
sorry for the long question but I'm sure there are multiple methods, each with it's own plus and minus...