BlueberryHill
Active Member
- Joined
- May 6, 2015
- Messages
- 42
- Reaction score
- 3
I am attempting a Maple Wine. I have some limited experience brewing (2 beer batches, 2 hard cider batches, 1 pineapple wine batch) So far, so good.
But this Maple Wine I am starting to question myself and I am wondering if I should just proceed as I have been , or if anyone has any recommendations on how I can optimize this.
I am a small scale maple syrup producer. At the end of the season this year, I took my unfinished syrup that was still in my evaporator and I adjusted the last 5 gallons to 22 brix by adding a little bit of finished syrup from an earlier batch. Once it was at room temperature I added a champagne yeast packet. Yeast has been in my fridge for a year and this is where I think I might have had an issue??
It took about 24 hours before I saw any action. And once it started to ferment, it did not ferment as strongly as it had in anything else that I have made (see above). But I did not know what to expect. After 5 days of slow bubbling, I read up a little bit more and found that I should have been stirring daily (or so someone, somewhere posted). So for the next 3 days, I stirred once a day. But then I had to leave for vacation, so I transferred to secondary. It has been in secondary for almost 2 weeks now. The airlock is bubbling away at a decent rate. There is no foaming or anything.
Another thing is that there were nights where I might have gotten down aaround 60 degrees in here. Daytime max is probably 75 degrees so far. Don't know if that matters much, just trying to include all the info I can.
What, if any steps should I take next? My thoughts were to just want until it has been in the secondary for 60 days and then bottle it and let it age for a year in the bottles before I try it.
I know I am clueless here so I won't be offended by any criticisms, please fire away. I am here to learn. Thanks! This looks like a great forum.
But this Maple Wine I am starting to question myself and I am wondering if I should just proceed as I have been , or if anyone has any recommendations on how I can optimize this.
I am a small scale maple syrup producer. At the end of the season this year, I took my unfinished syrup that was still in my evaporator and I adjusted the last 5 gallons to 22 brix by adding a little bit of finished syrup from an earlier batch. Once it was at room temperature I added a champagne yeast packet. Yeast has been in my fridge for a year and this is where I think I might have had an issue??
It took about 24 hours before I saw any action. And once it started to ferment, it did not ferment as strongly as it had in anything else that I have made (see above). But I did not know what to expect. After 5 days of slow bubbling, I read up a little bit more and found that I should have been stirring daily (or so someone, somewhere posted). So for the next 3 days, I stirred once a day. But then I had to leave for vacation, so I transferred to secondary. It has been in secondary for almost 2 weeks now. The airlock is bubbling away at a decent rate. There is no foaming or anything.
Another thing is that there were nights where I might have gotten down aaround 60 degrees in here. Daytime max is probably 75 degrees so far. Don't know if that matters much, just trying to include all the info I can.
What, if any steps should I take next? My thoughts were to just want until it has been in the secondary for 60 days and then bottle it and let it age for a year in the bottles before I try it.
I know I am clueless here so I won't be offended by any criticisms, please fire away. I am here to learn. Thanks! This looks like a great forum.