Maple Wine/Liquor

[woodey24]

Sorry for so many questions, I am new to the wine/liquor making hobby. I also have bees, so am interested in maybe making Mead. I was surprised that the pressure broke the glass, nature is amazing. With the yeast question I can't think of what else could have caused the expansion, next to freezing that would cause the glass to break. Thank you for responding, I have a coworker that makes the cider and has apples so could be a use of syrup.

[Evets]

Fermentation produces CO2, which builds up and creates pressure, like what causes a champagne cork to fly off. If there's enough in-fermented sugar left when you bottle, it just keeps building pressure til it blows up or runs out.

[woodey24]

I have a hydrometer that shows the ABV, if I check after fermentation period is supposed to be done and it sinks to the .99, is that mean the in-fermented pressure should be done?

[Bricklayer]

I've had a lot of success every year with making hard cider. We make about 250 gallons of apple cider every year and 15 gallons gets dedicated to hard cider.
Last year I experimented with syrup and honey.
Instead of adding cane sugar to the cider I added 1 gallon of syrup.
Not much change at all in flavour.
Same with the honey.
Then I did one batch my normal way with cane sugar let it sit in the carboy for 6 months to make sure it was done and no yeast left. Then I back sweetened it with maple syrup.
Huge difference. Had a maple taste. Was basically maple flavoured wine.
Not much apple taste.
This year I am going to take the sweet I have left over in the pans at the end of the year and experiment with that. Ferment it like I would the cider. Then back sweeten it with syrup or maple sugar.
I usually use champagne yeast for the ciders. So I will do the same with the sweet.
My friends dad always tells me that wine can be made from anything. As long as it's got sugar in it. And if you screw it up. Your left with a years supply of vinegar.

[CharlieVT]

Anybody every tried making any Maple Mead? Maple Liquor? Seems that it could be a good sugar source.

Browse around this site. These folks are in my neighborhood and I've sampled some of their stuff, maple liqueur, maple bourbon, etc.
You won't find any recipes but you may get some ideas.

http://www.saxtonsriverdistillery.com/

[The Sweet Spot]

It is hard to control the fermentation. Maple syrup has so much sugar that the yeast gets out of control. if you flash freeze it when it is done you have a chance to kill the fermentation process. Or you can do like I do and take your chances. It has lots of flavor and the alcohol content can get quite high. We have filed for our winery liscence and have been making maple wine and maple lacqure for about 6-7 years. Have fun and take your time, use champagne yeast and start small. Go 50/50 cut with h20 and always use a bubbler. Good luck

[nasion]

I started a batch of maple wine last year. I used about 1.75 gallons of syrup for a 5 gallon batch of wine. It had quite a lot of residual sugar left once the yeast was done which is fine by me - I like sweet drinks. Still aging, but I plan to crack open a bottle on the first boil of 2018. Might be another month here in the U.P. of Michigan though... being patient is hard, maybe I'll call it when I tap the trees! It had a great flavor when I bottled it and showed promise, just needed to simmer down a bit (going on 8 months aging now). No bottle bombs, stored in a cool basement.

This was my first wine and I've gotten quite a lot of experience since. I'm planning another straight maple wine this year, as well as maple-honey mead using honey from my dead beehives, and maybe a maple wine with hints of blueberry. Something like alcoholic pancakes!

[woodsy]

I've been home brewing beer and mead for a few years now and decided to try Maple Wine with some of this years syrup.
In order to be considered mead I think it should be at least 50 % honey.
I didn't have to buy anything for the now 4 gal batch, started with 3.5 gals, added some more syrup and water to up the ABV
enough to hopefully end up with some residual sweetness/maple flavor. Had wine yeast on hand.
Had some honey leftover from last years harvest so added that and a qt of blueberries from the freezer that we picked here last summer.
The blueberries should add some acidity .

4 gal. batch Maple Wine:
1 gal. maple syrup
1 pint of basswood honey
1 qt blueberries
1 package 71b yeast
Water to make 4 gallons + a little extra for loss when going into secondary fermentation .
I got a 1.105 reading on the hydrometer initially but added more syrup so maybe went higher.

Stir or shake all well to aerate , pitch yeast, be patient. I put a cover on the 5 gal pail with airlock
and about 30 hrs later it started burping a little. It started out a liitle on the cold side for the yeast but maintaining mid to high 60s now, going real good, whole house
smells like a brewery.
Took the cover off and replaced with a clean towel for ease of access
as it should be stirred lightly couple times a day if you can to help the gas escape. This is only done
during the fist week or two when fermentation is robust. Also been adding yeast energizer and nutrients daily, also only done
for the first 4-5 days.
Thats it except for transferring to secondary in a month or more, should be ready enough for next years sugarin operation.

[BRL]

Sounds great woodsy! Please let us know how it comes out!

[Obidiah]

I add 1/2 gallon of maple syrup along with 4 pounds of dark brown sugar to 5 gallon batches of homemade apple cider. I achieve 9-11% alcohol content on a delicious dry wine.