Maple wine?

Buddy of mine gave me a bunch of maple syrup and homebrewing equipment, on the condition I make maple wine and give him the lion's share. Not a deal I could pass up!

Anyways, I have 2 gallons of syrup he processed himself that needs to be kept pure, and another 7 quarts of good quality store bought stuff.

Having a devil of a time finding a recipe that doesn't involve maple sap. From what I've found so far, looks like 2 gallons of syrup for 6 gallons of wine seems reasonable.

Has anyone made this? Recipes for the stuff are few and far between it seems. I know I want to back sweeten with additional syrup after stabilizing, this will be aged for multiple years, don't care about alcohol content, but other than that I'm rather lost. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Yes, 2 gal of syrup in a 6-gal batch will be fine. Just mix the syrup up with some water and ferment. I know you say you don't care about alcohol content, but having a target will assist in yeast suggestions.

Hmmm, maybe somewhere in the vicinity of 13%? Not trying to make anything that is rocket fuel worthy. Though this will be aged many years in all likelihood. I have plenty of energizer, nutrient, tannins, etc as well to add the mix if needed. I understand maple syrup is pretty nutrient poor for these purposes.

Maybe Lalvin 71B-1122 for your yeast.

D47 would be another good choice. I'd make sure to use grade B syrup later. You'll get more/better flavor than the grade A crap.

I have a batch aging right now that I started in early December. The target was 14% which I'm pretty sure I hit. I won't be bottling it before the fall though. I might even age it with some toasted sugar maple.

I would mix up half of your target first and take an OG reading. That way you can adjust it if needed. You never really know what the sugar content will be with the syrup. Especially since its not an automated process.

Golddiggie said:

D47 would be another good choice. I'd make sure to use grade B syrup later. You'll get more/better flavor than the grade A crap.

I have a batch aging right now that I started in early December. The target was 14% which I'm pretty sure I hit. I won't be bottling it before the fall though. I might even age it with some toasted sugar maple.

I would mix up half of your target first and take an OG reading. That way you can adjust it if needed. You never really know what the sugar content will be with the syrup. Especially since its not an automated process.

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Good points, all. I am pretty much using what I have, having to buy nearly 4 gallons of syrup just wouldn't make sense when I have it already. I do like the idea of toasted sugar maple to age it on. And yeah, I will take your advice and mix half for the OG reading. I'll use the calculator on Got Mead unless anyone has a better suggestion.

Did you add any nutrient, tannins, etc....? I've seen recipes using a little citrus as well that sound tasty. Of course, sap recipes.

turtlescales said:

Good points, all. I am pretty much using what I have, having to buy nearly 4 gallons of syrup just wouldn't make sense when I have it already. I do like the idea of toasted sugar maple to age it on. And yeah, I will take your advice and mix half for the OG reading. I'll use the calculator on Got Mead unless anyone has a better suggestion.

Did you add any nutrient, tannins, etc....? I've seen recipes using a little citrus as well that sound tasty. Of course, sap recipes.

Click to expand...

The syrup I used didn't match the sugar percentage found on the Got Mead tool. But, I was able to use the OG to figure it out. I'd have to check, but the Grade B syrup I got was in the low 50's for sugar percentage. I had purchased enough to take care of a lower OG so it wasn't an issue.

BTW, using Grade B is the only way I'll go now. Compared with Grade A, it's night and day for flavor and aroma. Grade A is simply too light in both. Grade B is how you expect it to be.

I made a 4 gallon batch, initially, using 5 quarts of Grade B syrup. I then added another quart to get it to an OG of 1.104. I have several quarts of syrup in reserve to add to this batch if I need any. I've also been using a quart on waffles... Damned great stuff.

I'll think about adding more, to back-sweeten when it's getting closer to bottling time.

Thinking about using maple sugar to back sweeten with, in addition to syrup.

I would NOT use D47, unless you keep your brewing area very cold during the summer. I do not, so 71B is a much better choice for summer ferments.

As far as your SG, I would start with your 2 gallons of syrup, add 4.5 gallons or water, then measure the SG. If the SG is high enough to get you to 13% when it goes dry (about 1.100), then you're perfect. If it's too high, then add a quart of water at a time until you get to about 1.100.

Just an update on this, I went with the 71B. I let the SG be my guide for the syrup addition, aimed for and ended up with 13% ABV. They tasted amazing when I bottled last year, will be awhile before I open another bottle. Some things are just worth waiting for.