Brewing maple syrup

NeedForMead · #1 10-19-2011, 08:27 PM

Hi, I have a crazy idea... I'm aware there's meads out there that have maple syrup mixed in, but has anybody ever tried brewing wine out of just straight maple syrup, water and yeast? I know this wouldn't technically be a mead anymore, but perhaps you kind folks would humor me anyway.
Would the same rules apply as for mead? Does it taste as good as I would imagine it would be? Just curious, thanks!

Guinlilly · #2 10-19-2011, 08:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NeedForMead

Hi, I have a crazy idea... I'm aware there's meads out there that have maple syrup mixed in, but has anybody ever tried brewing wine out of just straight maple syrup, water and yeast? I know this wouldn't technically be a mead anymore, but perhaps you kind folks would humor me anyway.
Would the same rules apply as for mead? Does it taste as good as I would imagine it would be? Just curious, thanks!

Yeah, there is maple wine out there. It usually ferments out dry, is very strong and tastes like Bourbon. And yeah same rules apply as for mead.

ZwolfUpir · #3 10-19-2011, 08:51 PM

*cleans the drool off his key board and checks his calendar for the next trip to visit family in Vermont*

I've been wanting to do this, but at the cost of real maple it'd almost be cheaper to buy a gallon of 50 year old Bourbon... And just out of curiosity, whats the general age out time on something like this? Comparable to mead or...?

Guinlilly · #4 10-19-2011, 08:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZwolfUpir

*cleans the drool off his key board and checks his calendar for the next trip to visit family in Vermont*

I've been wanting to do this, but at the cost of real maple it'd almost be cheaper to buy a gallon of 50 year old Bourbon... And just out of curiosity, whats the general age out time on something like this? Comparable to mead or...?

Aging time is comparable to mead - about a year.

NeedForMead · #5 10-19-2011, 11:04 PM

Sweet, that's simper then I thought. And the price of maple syrup isn't that bad is it? You can buy 1 kg bottles of 100% pure maple syrup from Superstore for about $20. That's not much more then a really good grade uncommon honey, right?

AToE · #6 10-19-2011, 11:19 PM

Ok, I've done a fair bit of this and let me give you a word of warning - if it goes dry it's not going to taste the way you expect, so you may find yourself wanting to backsweeten. Frankly it tastes a bit like paint thinner smells.

I've got a fair bit of maple wine I've been aging for a couple of years, I'll have to crack another bottle soon but I'm not expecting big things - if it ever recovers it's maple flavour (the way honey character eventually comes back in dry mead) I'm expecting it to be between 3-5 years.

AToE · #7 10-19-2011, 11:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NeedForMead

Sweet, that's simper then I thought. And the price of maple syrup isn't that bad is it? You can buy 1 kg bottles of 100% pure maple syrup from Superstore for about $20. That's not much more then a really good grade uncommon honey, right?

Actually maple syrups is way more expensive - that's about double what really expensive (note I say expensive, not good necessarily) honey costs, and quadruple what really good honey that isn't overpriced costs (ie: from a beekeeper).

$20 per kilo means you're looking at one hell of a lot of money to make a decent sized batch - if you find some you can buy direct from a maple syrup farmer you'll get a WAY better price (and often better quality). The best stuff I've had in my life I got from a farm in Ontario for $60 per 4L jug, insanely good price, but still far more expensive than honey.

EDIT: Note that for us up in Canada you're right when it comes to buying extremely small quantities of varietal honey from other countries though, I've seen a kilo of orange blossom going for $14 or $15 before, but that's not what that stuff really costs, that's the price for people who don't go look into buying bigger quantities and having it shipped to them from the states (still expensive, but nowhere near that expensive).

TheAlchemist · #8 10-20-2011, 09:52 AM

Only acerglyn I've tried is Buckwheat Pancakes (in the MeadLog). So much advice on here suggests that this batch will take a l o n g time to get ready, that I'm just ageing in bulk, benignly neglecting her. Definitely my most expensive batch to date, and I can't tell you if she's worth the investment yet.

YogiBearMead726 · #9 10-20-2011, 11:27 AM

This all just makes me want to brew a batch with birch syrup...now if only I had the money for something that costs ~$20/8oz, I'd be set.

Chevette Girl · #10 10-20-2011, 11:41 AM

I usually cut my maple syrup with honey for cost reasons, I like my simple acerglyn recipe, 1 kg honey to 1 can maple syrup, starting gravity 1.125, usually ends around 1.030 and is quite nice in a year (check the mead log, that batch is due for bottling soon). I once had a dry maple mead and as AToE said, it's not as nice as you'd think. I have also had a maple wine that they backsweetened or overfed, it was a really nice sipping liqueur and I'd estimate the sweetness at around 1.015. I'm pretty sure it had some age to it as well, not sure about the alcohol content.

Bugleman · #11 10-21-2011, 11:23 AM

Suggestion: You could work with a small producer and get them to evaporate to a selected brix and then bucket for you. That should be a lot cheaper.

AToE · #12 10-21-2011, 02:50 PM

Yeah if you could find an operation small enough that that wouldn't be such a hassle that it would make them want to charge you extra that'd be a great option, skip a couple of steps.

Bugleman · #13 10-24-2011, 12:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AToE

Yeah if you could find an operation small enough that that wouldn't be such a hassle that it would make them want to charge you extra that'd be a great option, skip a couple of steps.

Hop on CL in the selected maple syrup states and you will find many small artisan producers who pride themselves in things other than the dollar.

HumanBlockhead · #14 10-27-2011, 06:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Guinlilly

Yeah, there is maple wine out there. It usually ferments out dry, is very strong and tastes like Bourbon. And yeah same rules apply as for mead.

Bourbon? *drool* I know what I'm doing when I have a spare gallon jug.

AToE · #15 10-27-2011, 10:50 PM

I think that might be pretty batch-specific an outcome to be fair, maybe crazy amounts of oak would help the bourbon character? Also, is bourbon totally dry or does it have some sugar left?

Bugleman · #16 10-28-2011, 03:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HumanBlockhead

Bourbon? *drool* I know what I'm doing when I have a spare gallon jug.

Yeh me too. I have syrup and maple honey produced by my bees.

TheAlchemist · #17 10-28-2011, 06:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bugleman

Yeh me too. I have syrup and maple honey produced by my bees.

Maple honey!?!
Suuuuweeeet!

AToE · #18 10-28-2011, 06:12 PM

I've had honey from a farm with a large sugar bush (maple tree stand for those not in the know) and it was spectacular, but they were also surrounded by orchards, a vinyard, had alfalfa on their land (despite being generic sounding, alfalfa makes honey that's super useful for mead making in my opinion, mouthfeel like nothing else I've tried). The also claimed they saw the bees getting into the sap buckets... but who knows. (Also it was hands down the best and by far the cheapest maple syrup I've ever had, haven't been able to get my hands on it the last year or two, which makes me very sad!)

I think I could taste a tiny hint of maple in it, but might have just been my imagination.

I'd love to try honey that was almost entirely from maple blossoms though.

Bugleman · #19 10-29-2011, 07:49 PM

I have 5 gallons of honey from the blossoms of the Big Leaf Maple tree, not from the sap, we don't have whether for sap production. It is hard to get but I know how. The blossoms are yellow and are a MAJOR nectar flow in Western Oregon. It is hard to get honey in the supers because it is wet and rainy in April the bees usually just brood up or swarm on the Acer Macrophilum bloom.

I also have about 2.5 gallons of Maple/Dandilion honey mix. I really want to do a batch of mead from both.

Yes AToE. The honey tastes a bit like maple syrup but has a lot of body. B4 I was a bee keeper we had a 2.5 gallon bucket of maple clover honey and when I became a bee keeper I had my Girlfriend smell the blossoms which smell like maple syrup and said, "it smells like honey".