Nearly all beer recipes start with four ingredients: malt, hops, water and yeast. From that base, there is a wide range of possibilities when considering adjuncts such as sugars that can be used to boost strength and add character and complexity to the finished beer. One of the more interesting options is maple syrup.

Maple syrup starts as sugary sap harvested from maple trees in the spring, and that sap is boiled down to a concentrated syrup. The exact proportions vary, but it takes roughly 40 gallons of sap to produce one gallon of syrup.

In beer, maple tends to play well with malty or darker styles with less hops, and is most often used in seasonal or specialty brews. Boneyard Beer Co. recently released one, Imperial Maple Brown Ale, available on draft now.

I reached out to Tony Rau, the brewer at Boneyard’s original Lake Place location, to learn a bit more about it. The “Inspiration behind it was aiming to make a balanced and complex malt-forward beer for the changing of the seasons as winter is building up,” said Rau via email.

“(I) wanted something that stood out a bit more than just a nut brown or a brown ale to help catch the attention but also opens the doors to the possibilities to pair the beer with various holiday dishes.”

Brewing with maple syrup can be tricky, and poses similar challenges to honey and other types of sugars, particularly those with delicate aromatics and flavors. Add it too early in the brewing process, and these characteristics can be lost, either from boiling or during primary fermentation, when the bubbling carbon dioxide generated by the yeast can scrub them from the brew.

Many brewers therefore add it during the secondary fermentation or conditioning, which still allows the yeast to ferment the sugar, but preserves more of the desired character.

Rau employed both approaches with this beer, “on both hotside (brewing) and coldside (cellar),” he said. “We used four gallons of maple syrup in the boil and then some top note to bring out a little bit more of the aroma side before packaging.” He used Grade A very dark maple syrup from GloryBee of Eugene.

Imperial Maple Brown is 8% alcohol by volume with 30 IBUs. I bought a crowler of the ale to review.

The color is dark brown, almost black when poured into a glass, with chestnut-colored glints of light at the edges. It has a tan and creamy mousse-like head of foam, and nutty aroma notes of toasted grains and brown sugar syrup that has a touch of caramel to it. There’s some granola character and a light hint of maple, enough to give the impression of waffles and syrup.

The maple comes through in the flavor more prominently, with an almost smoky-savory impression, light syrupy sweetness, and a bit of maple sap. It’s big and malty with nutty grain flavors, some bittersweet chocolate, hard-toasted croutons, toasted oats, and a hint of wood. There’s also some dark bread, and the maple has a balance without dominating or becoming cloying.

It’s rich with some creamy character in the mouthfeel, but the alcohol is well hidden. Overall, I found the beer enjoyable and well-brewed with a suitably subtle maple character. Rau agreed.

“More of the syrup flavor had fermented out than expected but I prefer it that way as opposed to being along the lines of a pastry beer,” he said. “Still allowed the nutty sweetness of the malts to pop without being overpowered by the maple character.”

Imperial Maple Brown Ale is one that will pair well with the wintry nights ahead. It’s a “beer that invokes sitting nice and warm by a fire and that warms you up as you drink it!” Rau said. And if you want to pair the beer with pancakes or ice cream, it would be good for that too.

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