Maple Syrup and Your Beer

Lawson’s ‘Maple Nipple’ Amber Ale meets a potential maple nipple.

As a rambunctious kid who just ate a stack of pancakes might clue you in, maple syrup is a fantastic source of sugar,  Historically, in areas where the widespread cultivation of barley wasn’t practical, like Vermont, sugar packed adjuncts like maple syrup and molasses served as a crucial foundation for beer; yeast needs to eat after all.  Sap beers were produced at home and drank during summer months to cool off while harvesting (much like the classic Belgian saison). The prevalence of cheap, easy drinking lagers in the mid 20th Century essentially wiped out this regional specialty.  And then craft brewers got their hands on it.

The biggest issue when brewing with maple syrup is that yeast quickly munches its simple sugars and converts it to alcohol.  So, you get maple flavor but not its iconic sweetness. To counteract this, many breweries will compose a malt bill that both complements maple flavors as well as adds a fair touch of sweetness (think crystal, caramel or honey malt).

Lawson’s ‘Maple Nipple’ is a prime example of a sap beer inspired brew.  The addition of local maple syrup to this amber ale creates a dominant maple flavor.  Malty sweetness recreates the maple syrup experience, albeit with a lighter body. There wasn’t enough contrast to the maple syrup character for my tastes, so it became rather cloying as I finished it.

Fun Fact: In order to meet the incredible demand for their Sip of Sunshine and Super Session IPA series, Lawson’s has a contract with Two Roads Brewing in Connecticut to help brew those crowd favorites.