MARK VANGLAD'S PARENTS have several thousand maple trees on their land and his brewery is set up in their sugar shack, so it would have been more surprising if he hadn’t made a beer using maple syrup. Maple syrup is so sweet and cloying that the idea of a beer featuring it seems almost revolting. The reality, however, is something very different. Done properly, by adding the maple syrup at the start, the yeast consumes most of the syrup sugars during fermentation. Having said that, it’s possible to make a really awful maple-based beer, and I’ve had a couple. I assume that this awfulness has been deliberate, the result of trying to make the beer taste just like the stuff you pour on pancakes — maybe by adding maple syrup (or worse, maple flavoring) after fermentation.

Mark’s brewing technique is a little different from our usual practice of starting the beer in a primary fermenter, where it generally sits for about a week, then switching it over to a secondary fermenter and only then, when fermentation is done, bottling it and kicking off fermentation again by adding some dextrose so that the bottled beer is a little fizzy. Still, whatever works — although the paths are many, the destination is the same.

GRAIN BILL

3.3 lbs Light malt extract syrup

1 lb Caramel 40 grain malt

16 oz Dark amber maple syrup

(Total 5 lbs 5 oz)

HOPS BILL

2.5 oz Cascade

1 teaspoon of Irish moss

YEAST

Lallemand Danstar Windsor Ale Dry Yeast

OG: 1.040

FG: 1.009

Method: Steep the caramel 40 grain malt for 30 minutes at 154–160 degrees Fahrenheit, then remove the steeping bag and bring it to a boil. Once it is boiling, add the malt extract syrup, hops and maple syrup. Boil for 45 minutes, adding the Irish moss to the final 10 minutes of boil. Once the wort is cooled to about 60 degrees Fahrenheit, pitch the yeast and let ferment for about 4 to 5 days. After fermentation, rack the beer off the yeast sediment into a bottling bucket. Boil the priming sugar with 1 cup of water as you’re racking the beer, then let the priming sugar cool down. Halfway through the racking, add the priming sugar mixture. Once it is done racking, gently stir the beer to thoroughly mix the solution. Be sure not to aerate the beer at that point. Bottle. After about 2 weeks, the beer should be ready to enjoy.