Filtering of Black Walnut Syrup

[Oxford]

I've tapped several black walnut trees and I need to find a way to filter the stuff. Has anybody found an efficient way to filter it? Does it help to pour the hot syrup through a coarse strainer before it hits the filters? If I let the syrup cool, does the filter-clogging walnut jelly float to the top where I can use a strainer to lift most of it away before reheating and filtering the remaining syrup? Does it help to filter the syrup earlier in the boiling process? If anybody has found a way efficiently filter their black walnut syrup, I'd love to hear about it.

[Openwater]

Last year was my first year tapping, 13 black walnut taps. I didn't know what I was doing and only filtered the hot finished walnut syrup thru 1 cone prefilter and 1 cone orlon filter; it was SLOW. I ended-up sqeezing the filters just to get as much syrup thru as possible. Had I known more, I would have already built a shop-vac vacuum filter which I now have for this year. Not sure how it will work, but it will be now filtering a combo of maple and walnut syrup with DE to help the process. I would definitely avoid trying to filter walnut syrup using gravity alone. This year I also plan on prefiltering the nearup before putting it into the finishing pot.

[Oxford]

Thanks. Good luck with the maple / walnut combination. Hopefully your new vacuum filter does the job for you. Please give an update when you've had a chance to try it out.

[Openwater]

Shop-Vac vaccum filter worked well. Only had a little less than a gallon of syrup to which I added 1 cup of DE/filter aid and poured it into the top pot of my vacuum setup. It pulled the syrup thru very well and the DE cake seemed to have pulled out alot of the black walnut pectin before the syrup even hit the pre-filter and orlon filter. Here's a pic of the cake of DE and pectin/sugar sand/whatever that was left on top of the filters.
21928

[Pdiamond]

What does your syrup look like?

[Openwater]

Color: Amber/Dark
Clarity: Clear - no sediment or suspended "stuff"
Flavor: Rich; we really like the little bit of "nuttiness" the walnut syrup adds to the maple.

[220 maple]

Of the Walnut syrup that I have seen finished and filtered this week it is dark! They are running it thru sock filters when hot, they had filter once before they finished! They felt that helped a lot on the final filtering
Mark 220 Maple

[Openwater]

Yeah, I did an initial filter after pulling the nearup from evaporator to finishing pot which did seem to remove alot of the gelatinous walnut pectin making the final filter thru the vacuum filter easier.

[Jeeves]

Hi, I have been doing Black Walnut for several years. I have resolved my pectin issues by adding "Pectic Enzyme Solution" to my collected sap about 12 hours before I boil it.
This product is commonly used in beer and wine making and often sold in home brewing specialty supply shops. I vastly prefer the liquid solution to the powdered form as it is much easier to control. I use it at 10 drops per gallon. It is tasteless. The product I use is distributed by "BSG HandCraft" of Shakopee, MN and I buy it in .5 oz. squeeze-dropper bottles.
I usually make only 3 to 4 gallons of Black Walnut syrup annually and 2 of the .5 oz. bottles is always plenty (keep it in the fridge). Home Brew Ohio sells it for about $3.00/bottle.
Best of all, Johnny

[Openwater]

Johnny, thanks for the tip. I'll have to see if my local brew-shop has any in stock. I'm boiling this weekend and would like to try it.
When you use it, do you still filter your syrup?

[Jeeves]

Yes. Proceed with filtering as you would for Maple.

[Openwater]

Johnny, my local brew shop only had powdered pectic enzyme. Do you have any idea what the dose equivalent is to the liquid? How much powder per gallon? There's directions on the packaging, but it's for grape juice for winemaking.
I did order the BSG liquid enzyme, but I won't have it for a week or 2.

[Jeeves]

I've always used the liquid form. I called a chemist friend this morning and she said the ratio would be 1 tsp. powder to 10 drops liquid. Every powdered formula she is aware of is the same concentration. Perhaps a test batch of 1 gal. sap may give some insight, otherwise she doesn't think 1 tsp/gal is going to do anything more than stop the "jelly".
You could call your brew shop and ask what their conversion ratio would be.
Hope this helps. Please let me know how it works out.
All the best,
Johnny

[Openwater]

Thanks. I'll try adding to the walnut sap tonight at 1tsp/gal; going to boil tomorrow. If it "stops the jelly", I'll be happy. I get most of the "jelly" removed in the pre-filtering before the final boiling in the pot, but it really does block-up those thin pre-filters pretty quick.
This might be getting a little too picky, but do you think that breaking down the pectin with the enzyme causes a falsely elevated SG/Brix/SC syrup reading on the hydrometer due to the "pieces" of broken down pectin making it thru the filter and into the final syrup?

[Jeeves]

I would consider the pectin "dissolved" rather than "broken down". I have not experienced any hydrometer readings out of normal range from using the enzyme. Outside of pre-treating with the enzyme, the entire process is identical to maple for me.

[Openwater]

I tried the pectic enzyme powder this weekend. I was a little nervous about putting 5 tsp in my 5 gallon carboys of walnut sap, so I put 3 tsp per 5 gallon jug. It seemed like it took forever for the powder to dissolve while shaking the jugs. And it didn't really reduce the jelly during my prefilter. I was still squeezing the woven prefilters trying to get the liquid out of the jelly before going into the finishing pot. Next time I'll try the liquid enzyme at 10 drops per gallon like you suggested.

[Jeeves]

I made some inquiries regarding the use of powdered pectic enzyme. The two folks I talked to said that the powdered formulation may need to be liquified in warm water (105 degrees) before adding it to a cold product like sap. Both suggested adding the powder to about a pint of warm water and dividing it according to the volume of sap to be treated. I've never used powdered so I can't say one way or the other, but the liquid form has always worked for me even adding it to fairly cold sap.

[Openwater]

Thanks for that suggestion Johnny.
After I mixed it up last weekend, I thought about liquefying the powder next time before adding to the cold sap, and I figured it would have to be mixed with warm/hot water, but I know the water can't be too hot or it will denature the enzyme.
If the liquid pectic enzyme from BSG doesn't arrive by this weekend, I'll try pre-liquefying the powder in 105 deg water.

[Openwater]

The powdered pectic enzyme worked after pre-mixing in warm water before adding to walnut sap. About 90% less walnut jelly during pre-filtering. My liquid enzyme from BSG should be arriving tomorrow, so I'll be using that in my next batch of walnut sap before next weekend's boil. I'm assuming it will work at least as well.
Thanks for giving me the heads-up about the enzyme; I was getting ready to give up on the walnuts and just stick to the maples for next year.

[Jeeves]

The powdered pectic enzyme worked after pre-mixing in warm water before adding to walnut sap. About 90% less walnut jelly during pre-filtering. My liquid enzyme from BSG should be arriving tomorrow, so I'll be using that in my next batch of walnut sap before next weekend's boil. I'm assuming it will work at least as well.
Thanks for giving me the heads-up about the enzyme; I was getting ready to give up on the walnuts and just stick to the maples for next year. Oh yeah! That's good news. I am boiling some BW sap right now and am experimenting with different "activation" times. This batch I let the enzyme activate for four hours. I'm quite sure this will still reduce the "jelly" substantially if not eliminate it completely. It would be nice if I could pinpoint a consistently shorter activation time rather than the 12 hour minimum I have been allocating so far. Unfortunately there are not that many of us sugaring Black Walnut so there is not much of a data base. The process I have been using is based on information I've acquired and compiled by asking hundreds of questions to several academics I know at the University of Minnesota and a number of wine makers and cider makers. I will post on the results of this batch when completed.

[Jeeves]

I just finished and bottled the Black Walnut sap I pectic enzyme activated for 4 hours. Not a trace of "jelly". The next batches I do will also be activated for four hours and I will report the results after completion.

[Openwater]

That's pretty fast activity. What volume of sap are you adding the enzyme to?
Do you stir/agitate after adding enzyme?
I store my BW sap in 5 gallon water bottles and plan on adding 50 drops of enzyme/bottle.

[Jeeves]

That's pretty fast activity. What volume of sap are you adding the enzyme to?
Do you stir/agitate after adding enzyme?
I store my BW sap in 5 gallon water bottles and plan on adding 50 drops of enzyme/bottle. I am using 4 1/2 gal. food grade pails at the same rate of 10 drops per gallon. I stir for about 30 seconds after adding the enzyme. Any type of agitation would be the same result.

[Openwater]

Thanks.
You should publish your findings. It may be original research.

[Jeeves]

I did another BW boil yesterday with a 4 hour pre-treat with the pectic enzyme and still no "jelly'.
I will keep using this method unless problems develop, in which case I will post my results.

[Openwater]

I boiled 20 gallons of BW sap, added the liquid pectic enzyme last night and NO jelly at all!! Never had to change the pre-filter I used to pre-filter right off the evaporator. Usually I've had to change that filter 3-4x while pre-filtering, but not today.
I would try the 4-hr pre-treat, but I usually fire-up the evaporator at 7am which is early enough on a weekend after a full work-week.

[PHSINV]

Bump from last year, but it's that time again. Jeeves, do you RO your sap, and if so, before or after the enzyme? Logically it would seem to make sense to do it after treating.

[Openwater]

Johnny is the expert on the black walnut syrup, but I can tell you that I don't run my walnut sap thru the RO at all. If you're going to attempt it, I'd say to definitely do it after the pectic enzyme has broken down the pectin in the sap. Either way, I feel the risk of ruining my RO membrane isn't worth it. I think I remember reading somewhere about people who do RO their walnut sap, but flush/rinse their RO membrane more often to keep them functioning.
Here's my questions regarding use of pectinases:
1. What is the optimal temperature for pectic enzyme activation to occur in walnut sap?
2. Since the pectin (a starch) is being broken down, does it result in higher sugar content of the sap after the enzymatic effects?
3. Would adding pectic enzyme, or some other enzyme, to maple sap make filtering of maple syrup any easier?

[220 maple]

Helping a friend install a walnut tubing system, should have 1000 taps when done! Future Generations University is very involved with the install also! Planning on trying a small centrifuge to spin the pectin out of the sap then it can be ROed.
Mark220Maple

[DrTimPerkins]

3. Would adding pectic enzyme, or some other enzyme, to maple sap make filtering of maple syrup any easier?

No, it would not, but it would render the maple syrup no longer "pure" according to U.S. and Canadian definitions of "pure maple syrup."

[DrTimPerkins]

2. Since the pectin (a starch) is being broken down, does it result in higher sugar content of the sap after the enzymatic effects?

Somewhat, but not via the mechanism you suggest. Much of pectin is a fiber-type material, but there will be some (not a lot) breakdown of that material to monomer-type sugars. When pectinase is used for many juices to extract sugar, the way it works is to break down cellular wall material (pulp), releasing the juice from inside the cells. So you'll get more juice out of the sap/pulp (depending on the type of juice), but not much additional sugar from the breakdown itself.