Stout w/ Smoked Maple Syrup - Smoke Flavor Too Strong

[Twang]

I brewed a stout w/ smoked maple syrup last weekend. Tasted it last night and the smoke flavor is way too strong right now. I used 2 quarts of smoked maple syrup in a 3.5 gallon batch.

I know smoked maple syrup is an uncommon ingredient. But does anyone have experience with beers w/ smoked malt. Does the smoke flavor fade in a couple months?

• I can do nothing and wait a couple months if the consensus is the smoke flavor will fade.
• I can brew a similar mini batch this weekend w/o the smoked maple syrup and blend it in the fermenter.
• Or I can wait a month, taste and do nothing or brew a mini batch then and blend it...

 

[JimRausch]

I've used the Cherrywood Smoked malt(Briess, I think) multiple times. Usually in the 4-6oz. range for a 5G batch. The smokey phenols do fade, and fairly quickly too- within 4-6 weeks after bottling.
If indeed you are tasting after just a couple days in the fermenter, then RDWHAHB.

 

[jwalk4]

So ~15% of your beer is maple syrup? That seems high to me.

After searching around it seems that 12oz is a popular number. This may not directly answer your question, but its where I would start if I wanted to add maple syrup in my beer.

 

[Twang]

The smoke flavor is starting to mellow out, but I can tell it will still be way to prominent. I'm going to brew a couple gallon batch w/ non-smoked maple syrup and blend the two batches together. I'd rather have 5 gallons of a great beer, than 3 gallons of an ok beer.

So ~15% of your beer is maple syrup? That seems high to me.

After searching around it seems that 12oz is a popular number. This may not directly answer your question, but its where I would start if I wanted to add maple syrup in my beer.

From my research and experience it is the right amount. There is a great basic brewing radio show on brewing w/ maple from a couple months ago that actually recommends 1 gallon maple per 5 gallon batch. It is all about recipe formulation. I mash higher and use oats and wheat to help counteract the body-thinning maple tends to do.

 

[Peruvian802]

My buddy makes smoked maple syrup - http://www.sugarbobsfinestkind.com/

I will say that it can be difficult to brew with given that the batches can have differing levels of smoke. That being said, I agree that 15% is way too much. I would have thought for a 5 gallon batch you would want to have 1 - 1 1/2 pints.

I think your best bet is to blend another batch in at this point.

 

[Twang]

My buddy makes smoked maple syrup - http://www.sugarbobsfinestkind.com/

I will say that it can be difficult to brew with given that the batches can have differing levels of smoke. That being said, I agree that 15% is way too much. I would have thought for a 5 gallon batch you would want to have 1 - 1 1/2 pints.

I think your best bet is to blend another batch in at this point.

That is where I bought my smoked maple syrup. It was way more smokey than I expected. Potent stuff. I agree, 15% of smoked maple syrup is way too much. Lesson learned. If it was non-smoked, it would be about right.

No problem though, I'll brew and blend.

 

[Peruvian802]

Awesome, Twang. Did you order it online or buy it locally?

 

[Twang]

Awesome, Twang. Did you order it online or buy it locally?

I ordered it online.

 

[jwalk4]

Yeah, I have heard 12-15 oz of maple syrup in 5 gallons. However, I have heard just as many complaints that there isn't enough maple flavor. Maybe try to find a maple extract?

Kuddos on experimenting though.

 

[Roboutwest]

I have brewed with Weyermann and Bestmalz smoked malt and can add my 2 cents that it definitely mellows with age. It also integrates better with malt flavours over time. But, hey, if you don't want to wait 4 months your blending idea is right on I'd say. 15% may seem like a lot, but a great deal of 20th century british beers were using that quantity of invert syrup, so I'm sure it could work.

 

[Twang]

My buddy makes smoked maple syrup - http://www.sugarbobsfinestkind.com/

I will say that it can be difficult to brew with given that the batches can have differing levels of smoke. That being said, I agree that 15% is way too much. I would have thought for a 5 gallon batch you would want to have 1 - 1 1/2 pints.

I think your best bet is to blend another batch in at this point.

You can tell your buddy the beer took gold in the smoked beer category at a large homebrew competition.

I did end up rebrewing w/ plain maple syrup and blended the two batches. Scored a 43. :rockin:

 

[Twang]

I posted the recipe here if anyone from this thread is interested:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=555119