Molasses (Treacle), Honey, and Vanilla

The sugar would still ferment out and change gravity. If you really want the sweetness to come through and not ferment you would need to finish fermentation and then pasteurize to kill the yeast. If you're looking for the flavor contributions without the sweetness I would just reduce your grain bill and add everything to the boil except the vanilla bean, which would add quite a bit more in secondary. I don't think reducing will do much except add flavor from caramelization, but that may be what you're looking for too.

 

I know it may seem counterintuitive but simpler sugars like honey and molasses will actually ferment out more completely and will make for a drier beer(braggot?).

 

If you do this to honey, you won't have much honey flavor/aroma left.

 

Yes, you could. That's what I'd recommend. Or at flameout at the earliest.

What's your goal? I don't think honey and maple syrup taste very similar.

 

Smooth velvet makes me think of either oats or lactose, not crystal malts.

Just because you use honey or molasses doesn't mean you get a dry beer. It depends on how much you use relative to the malts, 3% honey won't make a dry beer, 30% honey will.

 

boiling would just remove water (and lots of flavor of honey), all the sugar will still be there, which will still ferment out.

 

I'm certainly not a cook to be able to say this for certain, but it seems to me that reducing your concoction to 'sludge' would be borderline scotching it, but that's what you want to avoid. At least it would be tricky to do.

I've always considered sorghum to taste something like molasses when I drink some gluten-free beers that use it, so have you considered adding some of that to your beer? Just a thought.

 

Paging @Treb0R/aficionado.

 

I guess you gotta be an asshole for folks to remember that you're a foodservice professional...

Anyhow, if you keep turning down the heat as it gets thicker, it won't scorch. You just have to be very, very patient, as this will take quite a while. Once you can get to about 240F on a candy thermometer, you're at 85% sugar. If you go up to 320F, it'll be 100% sugar. Cooking past this point will be caramelizing, but definitely go slow here, as you move from caramel to burnt sugar really quick. Caramelized honey does have a different flavor from caramelized sucrose, so it may be worth experimenting with. However, I personally don't think they taste different enough that once added in a small amount to a stout that you would be able to taste it.