What style of mead would you call this?

[Packman715]

I take 5-6 gals of maple sap and boil down to 2 1/2 gal. Then I add 8 pounds of honey and bring to a boil. I then add enough maple sap to bring to 5-6 gal to a boil. I then chill and pitch yeast and ferment. I let it go until no more movement in vapor lock and bottle with priming sugar.

 

[BBBF]

Acerglyn

 

[macachoin]

Has any one used maple sap where it was pasteurized but not boiled instead of water? If we get a cold enough winter to collect maple sap I was thinking of trying this, any ideas?

 

[Golddiggie]

I'd call it FoF...

1. you usually boil down sap a lot more than that to get to the concentration desired for syrup.
2. Boiling honey is just plain wrong and completely unnecessary.
3. Bottling only after the airlock stops moving is not wise. It needs time to also clear and for the yeast to fully flocculate out. Depending on the OG that could be 6-24 months before a batch is actually ready to be bottled. I normally go closer to a full year from pitching to bottling. I have some 14% batches that were started in December of last year that I might bottle next month. Probably not until sometime in December though. One of the batches was made with grade B maple syrup.

IF you're really looking to make a sparkling mead, then read up on how people treat theirs before you think about starting a batch. I've only made still meads since I really don't want bottle bombs from it.

 

[Brann_mac_Finnchad]

macachoin: I'm planning something similar with birch sap this spring--with only reducing by about 1/5th.

+1 on the not boiling the honey--just mix it thoroughly into the hot sap.

 

[macachoin]

Never planned on boiling my honey, and like I said, I only planned on bringing the the sap up to pasteurization temperature. I'll let the thread know how it goes.

 

[Golddiggie]

I take 5-6 gals of maple sap and boil down to 2 1/2 gal. Then I add 8 pounds of honey and bring to a boil. I then add enough maple sap to bring to 5-6 gal to a boil. I then chill and pitch yeast and ferment. I let it go until no more movement in vapor lock and bottle with priming sugar.

You mentioned bringing it to a boil twice after adding the honey. IMO/IME that's a bad idea. I wouldn't let the honey, or must, get above 100-110F after its been added. Pasteurization is unnecessary for honey. Getting it to those temps will have you lose the more subtle/delicate flavors/aromas in the honey. If you don't care about those, then save your money and just use cheap sugar.

 

[Leadgolem]

Acerglyn I would say is the closest.

 

[Packman715]

Thanks when I say boil I mean get up to a place where the sap gets pasturized there is no long boil times (light boil 1 min). I do not have the ablility to keep the sap sanatary. 1-2% sugar that has been exposed to open air can be a breeding ground and I have lost sap in the past. (it fremented in the sterilized container I was holding it in with no yeast added) The only hard boil is reduction time. Next time I will skip the after reduction boil and see if there is a difference.

 

[chilihed]

You can pasteurize at temps far below a boil. If you get it to 165* for 7 minutes would effectively pasteurize your sap. Like others have said, don't let the honey go above about 110* or it will darken and you will lose flavor and aroma.