maple wine problem?

[ostensibly]

Hi, I'm new to the forums and relatively new to winemaking - I have a few successful batches of mead under my belt but that's it. Nice to meet you all!

I made an acerglyn this summer which is still in secondary, but it got me thinking about maple wine. Fast forward a bit, and now I have a 5-gallon batch of maple wine going that I started a few weeks ago. I used a basic sweet mead recipe, replacing the honey with 15lbs grade B maple syrup. Water to 5 gallons, pitched D-47, tossed in a handful of raisins and 2 vanilla beans. SG was 1.102. I aerated 2-3 times a day until fermentation started. On day 3 I tossed in 1 tsp fermaid, aerated and fermentation took off. Two weeks later and it's still bubbling away.

Now the problem - I just pulled a sample with the wine thief and it's a gooey mess at the top, it looks like it's turning into jam. I found this article which indicates that sap has pectin. I tossed in 2.5 tsp of pectinase per directions on the label, to see if that is the problem. Several days later it's still thick and jammy.

Did I do something wrong or leave something out? Does it need more pectinase since fermentation has already started?

thanks!

 

[ostensibly]

I decided to add another gallon of water, rack it to a bigger carboy and hit it with another 2.5 tsp of pectic enzyme. It seems happier now, just waiting for things to settle so I can check it with the wine thief and see what's happening.

 

[ostensibly]

This is still chugging along in a carboy. About 1 bpm in the airlock, still a gloopy gloppy mass at the top, no sign of infection or anything, just has the consistency of runny snot. Maybe I'll mix a bottle of mead with some sometime and see how that tastes.

 

[sweetcell]

interesting, thanks for sharing. i have access to a lot of maple syrup and was considering doing something like this. sounds like i should use pectinase if i do. pectinase typically works better without alcohol, so it should be added before pitching. i wonder if the high amount of alcohol in your maple wine is impeding the pectinase?

 

[ostensibly]

yeah, I may drop in some more pectic enzyme again. I think I remember reading that using more than necessary won't affect the flavor.
Sweetcell, that KBS clone in your sig sounds pretty tasty!

 

[sweetcell]

Sweetcell, that KBS clone in your sig sounds pretty tasty!

it's based off of https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f68/founders-breakfast-stout-clone-139078/ so start with that. 7 oz of bourbon was too much, 4 or 5 is what i will go with next time.