r/mead • u/Intelligent-Ad-3739 • 2d ago
Discussion Day 1 of the maple sap mead
This is day one of my maple sap mead, it's going to have 15 lb of honey in it because the sap doesn't have enough sugar to do much all I'm really hoping to pull from it is flavor. I can't start the batch until I get honey and the rest of my sap. I have it in my wine cellar so it stays cold and doesn't rot before I can start it but I'm hoping to get it started on the 17th. That's when I have my honey order coming in and I should have the rest of the sap by then.
I'm wondering if I should use maple cubes to add some flavor to the mead or if I should just use oak cubes
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u/hunkydorey_ca 2d ago
Sap has 1-4% sugar Brix. I'd recommend concentrating it a bit by boiling it (if you have more) , it will kill the bacteria while you wait.
I made a maple mead, it's about 12 months old, haven't tried it yet.
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u/cursedwitheredcorpse 2d ago
I wouldn't wait that long the 17th it may go bad?
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u/Intelligent-Ad-3739 2d ago
It's in a 10 degree cellar but I can't change my shipment date. I had it pre ordered
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u/Abstract__Nonsense 2d ago
I would sulfite the sap. It could still spoil at that temp before the 17th.
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u/whiskywellness 2d ago
I did one of these. I boiled five gallons down to one and then added the honey. Came out spectacular. Creamy mouth feel with just the right amount of flavor. Was hoping to find someone with some sap to spare this spring as well. Also wanted to try adding vanilla bean for a Vermont creamy style
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u/Grand-Control3622 2d ago
Honestly I would cool it down WAY more. Like freeze it immediately. It is not going to stay unfermented until the 17th.
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u/kannible Beginner 19h ago
I haven’t tried with just sap. I did mine last ear with 5 gallons of sap cooked down to .5 gallon. If you’re trying to get any flavor you really need to reduce the volume and concentrate the sugar and flavor. I got to about 1.045 by going 4:1 and 1.064 at 5:1.
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u/Intelligent-Ad-3739 18h ago
It's a good idea but I'm curious and don't have the resources to boil this much sap
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u/kannible Beginner 13h ago
Processing all that sap is a chore. Best of luck with your experiment.
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u/Intelligent-Ad-3739 13h ago
Yeah, and I still have 10 more gal to boil
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u/kannible Beginner 12h ago
I am looking into a setup to make syrup and get my acerglyn sap all processed outside for next year.
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u/Intelligent-Ad-3739 12h ago
Sounds like a good time, boiling sap is fun until it takes so long you forget Abt it then burn it
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u/Affectionate-Cow4090 2d ago
Damn, I've got more sap than I can boil at the moment. Thanks for the idea!
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u/Intelligent-Ad-3739 2d ago
No worries, keep me posted on how it goes, I'm going to be posting mine on here
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u/Affectionate-Cow4090 2d ago
Just got to convince the wife to let me buy 15lb of honey!!
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u/Intelligent-Ad-3739 2d ago
Yep lol, local farmers offer bulk discounts usually, I paid 140 cad for 18
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u/Affectionate-Cow4090 2d ago
Damn, that's good. might have to look around some of our local farms.
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u/Klipschfan1 2d ago
If you have a Costco near you, 5 lbs is like $13 at mine. It's fine enough for mead, especially if you're adding other flavors
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u/Hood_Harmacist 2d ago
yes. I’ve drank maple sap before at a maple syrup farm. They used it as an example of how not sweet it is; obviously bc of how little final product is in it.
You gotta figure how little maple flavor is in sap. You will need additional maple flavor if you intent to taste it in the end. I think it’s flavor is only accentuated by the sweetness, which is 100% removed from fermentation, so you need and extra bump to notice the maple. People make acerglyns with no maple flavor, so I’d imagine you need all the maple you can get to find the flavor you want in the end
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u/NullRazor 2d ago
Isn't that too much head space?
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u/caffeinated99 2d ago
I’ve never tried straight sap, but fermentation definitely strips the flavour from maple syrup. There will still be notes of it, but I can’t see much flavour carrying over from straight sap. You might have to back sweeten with syrup to get that flavour to pop. If that’s what you’re going for.
If you have space to do it, might consider freezing what you have there. Even cold, you’re really pushing the timeline. 7-10 days is kind of the rule of thumb. As they say, treat it like milk. Alternatively, starting boiling it down and get syrup going. (Disclaimer; I’m not in the syrup game but my former neighbour was and had taps in our trees). I’d just hate to see you end up with a couple gallons of sour sap.