# Maple Sap/syrup problems..



## Dirtydog420 (Apr 17, 2011)

I made some maple sap wine that I sweetened with some maple syrup and sugar to get an sg of about 1075.. I pitched yest on it about 2 or 3 days ago and since then the must has seemed to turned to gel.. Cant really even get a spoon full.. I added some petic enzyme but I am not sure its going to help.. 

My experiment isnt going well so far..

my recipe is pretty much just maple sap slightly boiled to sterilize, I added a quart of maple syrup and sugar..

Chris


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## Runningwolf (Apr 17, 2011)

Just stirred mine and seems to be fine. I did not use any sap. One gallon of syrup, water and 8 sliced oranges.


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## Dirtydog420 (Apr 17, 2011)

I made two batches and the one I started first is fine, which is just sap with lemons and cloves.. Its the second batch thats the problem.. Im still unsure of what I am going to do...


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## Dirtydog420 (Apr 17, 2011)

Anyone? Anyone at all....


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## bruno (Apr 18, 2011)

That's strange. My 60 gallon batch of maple sap wine has now fermented out all the way and remained "watery" all the way.


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## Dirtydog420 (Apr 21, 2011)

*Cutting my loses..*

Well after adding a double dose of pectic enzyme and no improvement, I decided to cut my loses and dump the batch.. First time in a year and a half of wine making I have dumped it down the drain.. I had to use the garbage disposal just to get it down the drain, thats how thick this was.. All I can think is that somehow by boiling it to pasteurize the sap then adding syrup to the mix somehow made it congeal.. My other batch of map sap which I am using jack kellers recipe is doing great.. Well, anyway, lesson learned, I think  

On a side note, I found my first popped cork.. I know that its not from re-fermentation cause I have opened other bottles and had no problem..


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## Runningwolf (Apr 21, 2011)

Dirtydog420 said:


> I had to use the garbage disposal just to get it down the drain, thats how thick this was.. All I can think is that somehow by boiling it to pasteurize the sap then adding syrup to the mix somehow made it congeal.. My other batch of map sap which I am using jack kellers recipe is doing great.. Well, anyway, lesson learned, I think  Lesson learned? I don't think so. Any idea what thats going to do to your pipes if its that thick? Hopefully they'll be ok.
> 
> On a side note, I found my first popped cork.. I know that its not from re-fermentation cause I have opened other bottles and had no problem..


 This is just bizarre!!! Every single forum members are complaining about this. I had one pop where the rest were ok about a month ago. Then this weekend I opened a bottle up that was given to me last summer and it had a fermentation going. I am dumping all of my sorbate and buying fresh. Sorbating everything in the future and running through .45 micron filter.


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## Sirs (Apr 21, 2011)

it is odd for sure I've never had any wine do this and I had them sealed for years in mason jars lol


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## Dirtydog420 (Apr 21, 2011)

I used lots of hot water and pipe cleaners after I dumped it.. There wasn't any other option.. Plus we are close tot he street and the waste runs right into sewer.. I worked at a hardware store for four years, I planned this out a bit.. 

The one pops cork was weird.. I figured there was a bit of air trapped in bottle and there is a coating of something on the corks, and maybe the bottle was not cleaned right or something..


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## Runningwolf (Apr 21, 2011)

Might have made good bear bait! LOL


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## Dirtydog420 (Apr 21, 2011)

Most likely it would have.. Too bad I don't hunt..


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## Wannabe (Apr 21, 2011)

I don't think the boiling your sap would have been the problem. I took 12 gallons of sap and boiled it down to 2 gallons so it was a very light maple syrup. My must didn't get thick like you describe. It worked out well and is now in the secondary.


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## Dirtydog420 (Apr 22, 2011)

Wannabe said:


> I don't think the boiling your sap would have been the problem. I took 12 gallons of sap and boiled it down to 2 gallons so it was a very light maple syrup. My must didn't get thick like you describe. It worked out well and is now in the secondary.



Well thats good to know.. I just dont get it cause the other batch i got going is fine and it came from same sap..


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## Angie (May 26, 2011)

Runningwolf said:


> This is just bizarre!!! Every single forum members are complaining about this. I had one pop where the rest were ok about a month ago. Then this weekend I opened a bottle up that was given to me last summer and it had a fermentation going. I am dumping all of my sorbate and buying fresh. Sorbating everything in the future and running through .45 micron filter.



Same thing here...I did 2 batches of kit wine - one had an f-pack the other did not. I back sweetened the one kit at the same time I added the f-pack to the other. They both sat in the carboy for a good year. I bottled both just before Christmas and everything seemed fine. The kit with the f-pack is not a problem but the kit that was sweetened started popping corks about 4 months after bottling. I can only think that with the additional sugars the k-meta was not enough at the end of fermentation. Lesson learned - I would have thought that a year of aging would have settled any lingering yeast in the wine. There was no activity in the airlock for the year!!


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## Runningwolf (May 26, 2011)

Angie sorry to hear that. You always should sorbate regardless on length of aging time if you're going to back sweeten.


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## Angie (May 27, 2011)

Runningwolf said:


> You always should sorbate regardless on length of aging time if you're going to back sweeten.



Yup, lesson learned!!!


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## Celestyal (Jun 25, 2011)

You know I'm just throwing a guess out there but this sounds alot like Katen powder(japanese agar). Once it's heated then cools it thickens into a gel that you can cut with a knife. It's very high in fiber, but not what your looking for. I wonder, not sure about this, but is there any starch in the sap? Or is just sugar water? It would make sense if there was a type of complexed carb in there that thickened after it was cool. Triggered by the heating. Just my two cents.


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## Dirtydog420 (Jun 25, 2011)

I don't know.. All I do know is that it so far has the weirdest and strangest things ive seen so far in my wine making...


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## GrantMillard (Sep 26, 2022)

Dirtydog420 said:


> *Cutting my loses..*
> 
> Well after adding a double dose of pectic enzyme and no improvement, I decided to cut my loses and dump the batch.. First time in a year and a half of wine making I have dumped it down the drain.. I had to use the garbage disposal just to get it down the drain, thats how thick this was.. All I can think is that somehow by boiling it to pasteurize the sap then adding syrup to the mix somehow made it congeal.. My other batch of map sap which I am using jack kellers recipe is doing great.. Well, anyway, lesson learned, I think
> 
> On a side note, I found my first popped cork.. I know that its not from re-fermentation cause I have opened other bottles and had no problem..


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## GrantMillard (Sep 26, 2022)

Hi Dirty Dog, I am having the exact same problem!!!

Dark maple, spring water, Yeast nutrient, EC-1118

Heated water in my SS kettle. 

Didn’t heat syrup/water mix.

I very knowledgeable friend said it could be a iron or sulphur bacteria.

I’m at s loss. 115 L toast!!

Did you ever get to the bottom of it?


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## sour_grapes (Sep 26, 2022)

Welcome to WMT!


GrantMillard said:


> Did you ever get to the bottom of it?



11 years is a long time on the internet. I don't expect you will get a response from Dirty Dog, but you could pose a question on your own.


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