Maple mead . The maple wine I made was not mead.
Pumpkin Wine: Any tricks 231Well, mine has been in a secondary for a few days now. Here is what I learned. 1. Use course nylon bag, i used a fine one and it took forever to...
For some reason it appears making wine is terribly complicated, or so it seems .
pinot gris fining 233Dan, I used bentonite soley this year on Okanagan Pinot Gris without any trouble. A couple of things I know of that affect negatively charged fining agents, like bentonite, are temperature and...
Keeping it simple , I bought Grade A maple syrup . I just couldn't find any grade B , which apparently has a stronger flavour. I have a 6 quart carboy, I suppose a glbutt gallon jug would work.
For every oz of syrup I added an oz of water to the pot . Was easy , I just measured the water in the empty maple syrup tins. I then brought it up to where it was just steaming , not boiling , for about 5 minutes. I let it cool a bit , added some nutrient and put it in my jug . In a separate container (about a pint ) I started the yeast when it had cooled to 90-100 degrees F. Maple syrup is high in malic so I used Laven 71B . Once the yeast was going , after about 20 minutes , I dumped it in the jug and then cast more yeast on top. Then air locked it . I did not use any campden , just heat. There was an internal heat that kept the yeast warm for hours as the whole thing cooled off .
A mixture was a dark brown colour , but a straw coloured layer started at the top and for days it slowly moved downward . A very distinct line separated the two colours. I kept it at 70 F , racked it at 30 days and after another 80-90 days all yeast activity stopped . I racked and waited another month before bottling it.
Anyone who tries it , this is a sipping wine and I don't say what it is until they ask , think it's a liqueur . It is sweet, a light straw colour and it has a maple flavour. The total cost was under $30 for 5 quarts of finished wine.
Try it but save some for at least a year. It changes a lot.
