Maple Wine at Home
Mead often makes one think of mythical times, strange creatures and folklore.
The term honeymoon and its practice are still common in today’s weddings.
This term comes from the custom of drinking fermented honey based beverages for a moon or month after your wedding.
It was believed that this practice ensured the birth of a son.
Mead is traditionally made from honey and water that has been fermented with yeast.
This alcoholic beverage is considered to be the godfather of fermented beverages.
Its discovery dates back to 7000 BC and are believed to have originated in China.
Mead is sometimes called honey wine as its alcohol content can range from 4-12% by volume.
Melomel is mead made with the addition of fruit or fruit juice and may also contain spices.
A Pyment is mead produced with the addition of grapes or grape juice which can also be spiced up into a Hippocras.
Sack mead is stronger tasting mead which contains much more honey than regular mead.
Williams-Sonoma Homemade Mead Kit is available on-line
The warmer weather has got me thinking about the upcoming maple syrup season and everything you can make with maple syrup.
Maple sugaring has been an early spring tradition in eastern Canada ever since the native peoples of the Eastern Woodlands discovered that maple sap cooked over an open fire produces a sweet sugar.
Maple syrup
Maple wine can be made in the same manner as mead.
All that is different is that we use maple syrup instead of honey and it is usually ready to drink in half the time that it takes to make the traditionally honey laced mead.
Maple wine will become crystal clear with a delicate amber color within 60 days. Mead takes about 100 days to clarify.
If you choose to bottle the maple wine before it is clear, it will clarify in the bottles as the sediment settles.
Maple Wine at Home
Ingredients:
7 litres maple syrup
5 teaspoons yeast nutrient
15 grams white wine yeast
20 litres of cold water
Procedure:
Dissolve the yeast nutrient in some hot water. Gently hydrate the wine yeast in warm water. Mix the maple syrup with cold water in a large open container. Pour the dissolved yeast and yeast nutrients, into a glass carboy and pour in the watered down syrup. Use a blow off tube for the first four days to allow the rapidly produced gasses to escape. After which you should switch the blow off tube for a water trap. After about 60 days, when the maple wine is crystal clear and you can bottle your maple wine. I tend to use yeast nutrient and plenty of yeast for starter, when making maple wine, mead or ginger beer so that the fermentation happens rapidly. This quickly produces a high alcohol content and kills off any unwanted bacteria.
Maple Icewine available at banffgifts.ca
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