If there are two foods that epitomize Vermont for me, they are maple syrup and apples. In late winter, conversation frequently turns to “how’s the sugaring going?” (at least in my circles of friends and acquaintances!) and come spring, every rural roadside is white with the blossoms of apple trees. That’s why I think this small-batch maple cider recipe is the perfect artisanal beverage to capture the taste of our new home.
Her book goes beyond traditional brewing to include unique and whimsical recipes such as Blueberry Muffin Mead, Elderberry and Rose Hip Wine, Flower Garden Cider, and Mugwort Beer. These recipes embody the bounty of gardens, orchards, forests, and meadows, capturing seasonal flavors in fermented form.
One thing I appreciate about this book is that it is specifically designed for one gallon batches. Small batches invite the use of small amounts of foraged goodness, and allow you to play with creative flavor combinations without the fear of “ruining” an entire 5 gallon batch.
If you’ve always wanted to try your hand at brewing, but have been afraid to invest in equipment and time, this is the perfect beginner’s book. If you’re already skilled at brewing, I think you’ll be as excited about these beautiful seasonal recipes as I am.
If you’d like to try to make your own maple syrup to use in the recipe below, here are a a few how-to’s to get you started:
Making Syrup in Your Backyard Get Ready for Sugaring Before the Snow Flies How to Tap Black Walnut Trees for Syrup
Maple Syrup Cider
Reprinted with permission from Artisanal Small-Batch Brewingby Amber Shehan, Page Street Publishing Co. 2019. Photo credit: Jen CK Jacobs.
Maple syrup and apples are just perfect together. The tart, sharp apples and the silky, sweet maple blend in this brew to make a very classy dry cider. Pair this cider with crumbly white cheddar, maple-bacon flavored treats or smoked nuts.
Gather your ingredients and sanitize your supplies. For this recipe, you’ll need a 1- or 2-gallon (3.8- or 7.5-L) stockpot, a long spoon, a funnel, a strainer, a gallon (3.8-L) carboy, a raking cane and a bung and airlock.
Warm 1/2 gallon (1.9 L) of the apple juice in the stockpot, but only to about 90°F (32°C). Don’t let it boil or you run the risk of creating a pectin haze from the apple juice. Add the maple syrup, brown sugar and tea and stir until it is all mixed well.
Using the funnel and strainer, pour the warmed apple juice mixture into the carboy and top it off with as much of the remaining 1/2 gallon (1.9 L) of apple juice needed for the must to reach the neck of the jug. Pitch the yeast, cover the mouth of the jug and give it a few good shakes to aerate the must and wake up the yeast.
Seal it with the bung and airlock. Label the jug with the brew name and date. After 2 weeks, rack it over to a new sanitized carboy to get it off of the lees and help it start to clear.
Bottle (page 84) your cider after it has cleared and fermentation has stopped. Since this cider is brewed with wine yeast and has a higher potential alcohol, you shouldn’t try to carbonate it unless you plan on bottling in champagne bottles with wire clamps! Save the priming sugar for the ciders made with ale yeast.
Recipe Note: This still cider is neither mellow nor maple-flavored at bottling, but it changes quickly! At two weeks, the dry cider will mellow out and reveal the maple aroma and flavor that you hoped for. Wonderful when dry, Maple Syrup Cider is just as delicious with a bit of Basic Simple Syrup (page 143) or maple syrup added to the glass at serving.
More Homebrewing Inspiration
Hooked on small-scale brewing? Try your hand at making hard cider at home! With only one ingredient – fresh pressed apple cider – it’s sure to be a favorite!
How to Make Hard Cider in 5 Easy Steps
Yield: 1 gallon
The tart, sharp apples and the silky, sweet maple blend in this brew to make a very classy dry cider. Pair this cider with crumbly white cheddar, maple-bacon flavored treats or smoked nuts. Recipe reprinted with permission from Artisanal Small-Batch Brewing by Amber Shehan, Page Street Publishing Co. 2019. Photo credit: Jen CK Jacobs.
Ingredients
1 gal (3.8 L) apple juice, divided
2 cups (480 ml) maple syrup
½ cup (100 g) packed brown sugar
1 cup (240 ml) strongly brewed black tea
½ packet (2.5 g) Lalvin 71B yeast
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More homesteading inspiration!
How to Make Hard Cider in 5 Easy Steps
Fermented Cranberry Salsa Recipe
How to Bottle Hard Apple Cider
How to Make Kombucha in 3 Simple Steps!
Dandelion Soda Recipe :: Naturally Fermented with a Ginger Bug!
If you usually drizzle honey over pancakes or enjoy mixing natural yogurt with honey, then maple syrup is the perfect honey replacement. When used for baking, it can directly replace honey in the recipe. It's already liquid, and so it's possible to use a 1:1 ratio to substitute honey for maple syrup.
Dissolve 3 tablespoons honey with 1/2 cup water. Pour into a sanitized pot. You will be siphoning your cider into the same pot in the next steps. Carbonation comes from adding sugar when bottling, so if you filled your jug with less than the full gallon in the last step, use less honey when bottling.
Honey has an amber color similar to maple syrup, and while it might be a touch sweeter, it makes a wonderful swap. It'll be similar in texture as well, if only a smidge thicker. The only place you may notice a difference in flavor is if you're topping your breakfast with it. In baked goods, it will be negligible.
Both maple syrup and agave nectar are both great substitutes to use in a mead as they both lend well to adding spices, fruits, and are similar in cost.
For example, maple syrup is lower in calories than honey, and therefore may be the better choice for someone looking to lose weight. Pure maple syrup also has fewer carbohydrates and is lower on the glycaemic index than honey, which may make it healthier for certain diets.
To remedy this, make a honey syrup by adding equal parts honey and water to a saucepan and bringing it to a light boil. Once the honey has completely blended into the water, remove it from the heat and let it cool. It won't re-separate or anything and you can use the same amount that you would simple.
To the cider add 1lb. of sugar per gallon for a dry hard cider (not sweet) or 1 1/2 lbs. for a sweet drink. Honey can be substituted for sugar on a pound per pound basis.
Procedure: Simmer the honey with a bit of cider over a low flame until the honey warms and thins. Pour a gallon of sweet cider into a sanitized glass carboy to its shoulders with sweet cider. Pitch (add) the yeast, top off with the remaining sweet cider, and cover the top of the carboy with plastic wrap.
Before opening, all maple syrup can be stored in the pantry about a year. After opening, genuine maple syrup should be stored in the refrigerator and will last about a year. Opened jugs of imitation maple syrup can be stored in the pantry for about a year.
Honey does contain amino acids while Maple Syrup does not. In a head to head on sugar & calorie content, 1 teaspoon of honey contains 17.3 grams of sugar and 21 calories while 1 teaspoon of maple syrup contains 13.5 grams of sugar and 17 calories.
While it lacks vitamins, maple syrup is rich in certain minerals, such as manganese. It also has antioxidants that may offer health benefits, such as lowering cholesterol and supporting brain health. But, its high sugar content can lead to tooth decay and further health problems for people with diabetes.
Maple syrup is less concentrated than honey - so 1 gallon of maple syrup makes about 3 gallons of fermented maple (similar to 1 gallon honey making 4 gallons of mead at the same gravity).
Most maple syrup is destined to be poured over pancakes or drizzled onto French toast. However, at Sapthre Maple Products in Adams, Minnesota, it's distilled into a unique alcoholic spirit that owner Kevin Sathre has coined “miskey” (a portmanteau of maple and whiskey).
If you put in a bunch of honey and you get enough yeast (the right kind of yeast where it ferments all the way out) then you'll have a really dry, high alcohol champagne-like mead. You can use less honey to make a lower alcohol mead. Using less honey might make it a little bit more dry, though not necessarily.
Use honey in recipes that should have a soft, cake-like texture (like coffee cakes). Maple syrup has a beautifully thick consistency and an earthy sweetness. Like honey, maple doesn't "cream" into a recipe the way granulated sugar does.
So is there a definitive answer to which is healthier, honey or sugar? Both should be consumed in limited amounts. Honey may have a slight edge, but excess consumption of either is more dangerous to your health than the advantage of choosing one over the other.
Maple syrup is a better choice than honey for people who have diabetes or blood sugar problems, for example. This happens because maple syrup has a lower glycemic index than honey. If you have certain diseases like inflammatory bowel, maple syrup can be helpful.
Introduction: My name is Arielle Torp, I am a comfortable, kind, zealous, lovely, jolly, colorful, adventurous person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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