Maple Wine - suggestions appreciated

[ChuckD]

I finally have some time for wine work and I want to start a maple wine. (among others). I have a few gallons of grade B in the cellar and have been researching the process. Here is what I’m thinking for a 5-gallon batch.

1. Pure maple syrup diluted to an SG of 1.100
2. Tartaric acid to a ph of 3.4
3. Lalvin 71B and EC 1118 to finish
4. 12.5G GoFerm in the yeast starter
5. 4.5g Fermaid O at 24, 48, 72, and 1/3 sugar break.

I used a TONSA calculator for the nutrients. I was wondering if I should be using something else to adjust the acid? Any other suggestions would be appreciated.

Also too… what the heck is the difference between maple mead and maple wine?

 

[Ohio Bob]

Quick hits since I’m on my way to work...
For a couple of gallons it seems the GoFerm and Fermaid amounts seem high.
Mead is made with honey.

 

[Rice_Guy]

Any acid should work. Tartaric has a clean flavor. ,,, TONSA sounds good.
? how many gallons? The maple syrup wine at the club and state fair has a dominant smoky flavor. This makes me wonder about intentionally building more caramel flavors in a gallon and treating like a bouchet.

Good luck on the project, will we get to taste yours at state fair?

 

[ChuckD]

? how many gallons?

5 gallons. I’ll edit the original if I can

 

[ChuckD]

This makes me wonder about intentionally building more caramel flavors in a gallon and treating like a bouchet.

I had to look it up but I believe it could work. My mom used to make a maple candy and it does have a Carmel-like flavor.

Never been to the State Fair. I don’t have much interest in it but feedback from experts would be helpful.

 

[Rice_Guy]

I had to look it up but I believe it could work. My mom used to make a maple candy and it does have a Carmel-like flavor.

Never been to the State Fair. I don’t have much interest in it but feedback from experts would be helpful.

If you were in Wisconsin you could mail your wine down. ,,, (The wine supply in Oshkosh is a drop point, might be a drop point in Wausau.)
I wonder, I wonder. I wonder if my read on @SleddingHill version of maple syrup wine is dominated by reductive flavors and if that wine would be better with Vivance (no H2S yeast) Would be an interesting test. I should see if he wants to try it,,? ? humm Chuck ? ?

 

[ChuckD]

I wonder, I wonder. I wonder if my read on @SleddingHill version of maple syrup wine is dominated by reductive flavors and if that wine would be better with Vivance (no H2S yeast) Would be an interesting test. I should see if he wants to try it,,? ? humm Chuck ? ?

Excuse my ignorance but what are reductive flavors? I searched the site and didn’t find a post from @SleddingHill about maple wine. How would the Vivance help? The Allegro yeast looked interesting too.

So if a guy were to make two 3-gallon batches what traditional mead yeast would one recommend in addition to the Vivance?

When making a bouchet is there a target temperature where the sugars “caramelize”?

 

[Vinobeau]

I finally have some time for wine work and I want to start a maple wine. (among others). I have a few gallons of grade B in the cellar and have been researching the process. Here is what I’m thinking for a 5-gallon batch.

1. Pure maple syrup diluted to an SG of 1.100
2. Tartaric acid to a ph of 3.4
3. Lalvin 71B and EC 1118 to finish
4. 12.5G GoFerm in the yeast starter
5. 4.5g Fermaid O at 24, 48, 72, and 1/3 sugar break.

I used a TONSA calculator for the nutrients. I was wondering if I should be using something else to adjust the acid? Any other suggestions would be appreciated.

Also too… what the heck is the difference between maple mead and maple wine?

If you're into trying oddities, next spring try some Black Walnut Leaf wine! It turned out quite nice.

 

[Rice_Guy]

Excuse my ignorance but what are reductive flavors? ?
When making a bouchet is there a target temperature where the sugars “caramelize”?

honey seems to have that flavor when the moisture is driven out, ie about 210F, ,,, how dark the color is is an indicator of how far the sugars have carmmelized.

an interesting test; An easy way to start a bochet is with a slow cooker, no monitoring a boil, can leave it for a few hours, and easy to melt back into a must/ wine since it is hot.

When I do this again I will stop ar the six hour point where the room smells like cooked honey (about 200F). The ten hour point has lost some aroma and flavor has notes of a dark ale.
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Reductive flavor is sulfury/ also called skunk or hair perm or fried chicken~meaty. The trait seems to go along with bitter notes. Sulfur compounds are detectable at parts per trillion and tend to mask fruity aromatics, Reductive flavor is more of an issue in white wines, in old wines H2S has further reacted into mercaptans.

 

[ChuckD]

Reductive flavor is sulfury/ also called skunk or hair perm or fried chicken~meaty.

Mmmmmm I think I’ll try to avoid those!

I have another job tomorrow. I just picked up about 150 lbs of apples for $40 from a grower trying to clean out the cooler. So I guess I’m starting an apple first. I have three carboys in the cellar that need bottling too!

 

[ChuckD]

Let’s get this show on the road!



According to Dad these are at least three years old. Two of them had surface mold and all the jars were filthy. I wiped them down good before opening then skimmed off the mold. All of them are very dark, thick and delicious. I’m going to boil them for a while and start the wine tomorrow afternoon.

 

[ChuckD]

There was a lot of sugar sand in the jars so I ended up with about 2.5 gallons of syrup. The gravity is literally off the chart. Does anyone have an idea how much this will make with an OG of 1.100. I want to fill at least a three gallon carboy.

the yeast I have on-hand is Premiere Rouge, 71B, D47, and EC1118. Any thoughts?

 

[Rice_Guy]

* gravity numbers are a linear function. You could cut the syrup 1:3 or 1:4 and get an estimate. Subtract one from diluted reading and then multiply that by dilution factor and finally add the one back in.
Based on the level of float I would guess a 1:4 gets you close to target for must. >>> ie eight to ten gallons
* You want a low nitrogen must at 1.100 which is hard on yeast. From your list I would pick 1118. If you had some no H2S yeast I would say Vivance. If you don’t have Vivance I would say run a high nutrient profile, 2 to 2.5 gm Fermaid at start > 2gm at 1/3 sugar. TONSA might have you divide this into three doses.

 

[ChuckD]

I would say run a high nutrient profile, 2 to 2.5 gm Fermaid at start > 2gm at 1/3 sugar. TONSA might have you divide this into three doses.

I put my batch details into a TONSA calculator (5gal, 1.100 OG, EC1118) and it gave me the following result using Fermaid O. Does this seem high?

 

[ChuckD]

deleted double post

 

[Rice_Guy]

? don’t have Go-Ferm to check

Standard dose (1.090) of Fermaid O > K is 1.5gm > 1.0gm/ gallon. FermFed uses the same direction.
Fermax normal is 1.5 tsp./gal
, , , it sounds reasonable.

 

[ChuckD]

? don’t have Go-Ferm to check

Standard dose (1.090) of Fermaid O > K is 1.5gm > 1.0gm/ gallon. FermFed uses the same direction.
Fermax normal is 1.5 tsp./gal
, , , it sounds reasonable.

It’s kind of confusing when they say 17.8 g of Total Nutrients… but Go-Ferm is nutrients too no? As I read it it’s 12.5 g of Go-Ferm AND 17.8 g of Fermaid-O.

I guess sugar water doesn’t have much for nutrients.

 

[Rice_Guy]

I read that as 17.8 gm total, this is above the Fermaid package which would add 12.5 gm of O and K.

 

[ChuckD]

I read that as 17.8 gm total, this is above the Fermaid package which would add 12.5 gm of O and K.

Not well written at all, and I didn’t see any instructions for clarification on the calculator page.

I went to the Meadmakr site and tried a mead calculator. It called for 12.5 g Go-Ferm and 34 g of Fermaid-O! Almost double the TONSA calculator. This was for honey but I would imagine maple syrup would have even fewer nutrients than raw honey. This calculator had very clear instructions it.

 

[ChuckD]

I boiled it down a little and ended up with 1.75 gallons of syrup. I added 5 gallons of water for an OG of 1.102. The pH was 5.43 so I added 38g of acid blend (didn’t have any tartaric left) to a pH of 4.34. I also added 1.5t of wine tannin and k-meta.

I’m still reading about nutrients but I’m leaning towards the 14g of Go-Ferm and 40g of Fermaid-O in four steps. I’m also leaning towards D47 followed by EC1118 to finish it.

Tomorrow I’ll recheck the pH and adjust as necessary prior to pitching the yeast. The primary bucket is about 4” from the top but I don’t expect too much foaming with no solids.