Maple Mead

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

rolf

Member
Joined
Jan 8, 2008
Messages
11
Reaction score
0
Location
Madison, WI
Recipe
1/2 US gal Grade A Medium Amber Maple syrup
1 pound of my own Honey
2 tsp yeast nutrient
60g Raisins
Safale US-05 yeast
Mixed up to 2.10 US gal final volume with tap water

OG was 1.098, roughly 75 degrees F, pitched yeast at 8:00pm 2/16/09. It's probably going to be fermenting around 64-66 degrees F.
End Recipe

When I started pouring the maple syrup into my carboy, I noticed a chunk pass through, and later saw what looked like to be a thin fungus like mat floating around in there. I hope that it won't affect the fermentation and aging that much.

Also, I think I had a little over a pound of honey, or my maple syrup had a higher sugar percent than 66 because my SG was higher than I calculated it should be. I used an ale yeast, hoping that it would give it maybe a spicy touch, and ferment out sweet at around 10-12% ABV, but since I have a higher than expected SG, it will definitely ferment out sweet.

Any thoughts? Anyone done a Maple Mead recently? Did I forget to do anything?

Cheers,
Rolf
 
A maple mead is also known as an acerglyn. I made up one with 50% fermentables coming from honey, and 50% coming from maple, with an OG of 1.120, fermented with EC-1118. The FG was 1.020 after it settled down, and at last tasting was really sweet, dark, and hot tasting, it's got awhile to go before it's ready.
 
That reminds me, a previous acerglyn that I made using only maple syrup as the fermentables had a really strong warmth, or hotness. Is this warmth from the high ABV? Or is it just something fun from the maple syrup?
 
Let's see, my recipe was approx...
Started week before Memorial day, 08.
RC 212 yeast,
3 lbs of low quality honey (never again :mad:)
1 pint of maple syrup.
Gallon of water


Tasted after about 3-4 months, decided that the flavor was too strongly influenced by the honey. Decided to add 1.5 cups of Biggelow's cinnamon tea to move the flavor in a better direction. Waited until middle of January to bottle.

Impressions: Sweeter than expected. I'm not sure if this is because I overloaded the yeast, or if there was a high level of unfermentables in the honey/maple syrup. It's almost cloying. Tastes strongly of maple syrup. Overall, not bad, but I'm going to age this with hopes for the future.

Your hotness is probably from some more complex alcohols. They should degrade with time. The scum is probably krausen. If so, there's nothing to worry about and it'll settle to the bottom when it's ready. You'll rack the drink from above it.
 
The scum was in the half gallon container of the maple syrup, so I'm pretty sure it's some kind of mold/fungus. I just hope the yeast out grow it, and the alcohol kills it off in the end.
 
The scum was in the half gallon container of the maple syrup, so I'm pretty sure it's some kind of mold/fungus. I just hope the yeast out grow it, and the alcohol kills it off in the end.

That might just be crystallized maple sugar or something. Honey gives a wierd scum-looking coating over the top in my meads sometimes but its fine. Post a photo if you can.
 
In my experience, maple syrup is notorious for two things: sugar crystallizing out and mold. Once a container is opened, mold becomes an issue. So much so, that most larger (1/2 gallon+) containers I've ever seen have instructions on how to heat the syrup and skim the mold off. When you do pour off mold, it tends to look like a green/gray clump of skin pouring out of the jug. I can't say what it will do to your fermentation but there is a good chance that it is mold.

steven
 
Back
Top