Maple Beer, Acer Ale. Sweet Times!

With gallons of maple sap dripping into our buckets every day, there is a lot to do! Maple Syrup is easy -- just boil, boil, add more sap, boil, add more, boil, add more, boil, and pour into sterilized jars. It takes me about 2 gallons of sap to make 1 pint of syrup from my trees. Yum!

I like syrup, but I also like beer and wine, and they require a LOT less boiling to make!

Here are the recipes I used this year. I haven't made these before, though I have made similar ones.

Acer Ale -- A Quick Old New England Recipe

* 3 gallons of Maple Sap, boiled down to 1.5 gallons.
* Champagne Yeast

Cool boiled sap to 70 degrees, pour into sanitized fermenter, pitch in yeast. Ferment until it is finished, prime bottles (preferably with maple sugar or syrup) and cap. Ready to drink in two weeks.


Maple Beer -- Adapted from an old Zymurgy article
* 7 gallons fresh Sap
* 4 pounds light malt extract
* 2 oz. hops
* beer yeast

Choose ingredients that are lighter in flavor to let the maple come through better.
Boil Sap for 40 minutes to kill any beasties in it and set aside. Boil one gallon 45 minutes with hops and malt extract in it. Strain and add to fermenter. Fill fermenter to 5 gallons with remaining sap. Cover and let cool to 70F, pitch in yeast, cover again, ferment until completion. Prime sanitized bottles w/ maple syrup or maple sugar and cap. Ready to drink in two-three weeks!