Oak Acerglyn

I’ve had an inkling of an idea to do a maple mead for quite a while now. I bit the bullet when one of my co-workers had family back east that harvested their own maple syrup offered to get a gallon for me at a discount. I got around to brewing on May 11th, 2014. The recipe is below.

Primary

9# Wildflower Honey

9# Vermont Maple Syrup(Staggered)

6g DAP(Yeast Nutrient)

Tap Water

D47 Yeast

I begun brew day by re-liquifying my honey using a hot water bath as it had crystallized and I didn’t think it would ferment as fast in it’s crystallized state. I took multiple gravity readings after adding all the ingredients together and it didn’t make much sense.

Measured O.G. = 1.036,1.112(Taken during yeast pitch and 2 hours after)

Estimated O.G. = 1.086-1.094(http://mcarterbrown.com/mead/mead2.html)

My hydrometer setup isn’t the most kosher however which can lead to inaccurate readings. I have a thin piece of string attacked to the top end so I can drop it in my carboy.

During the whole brewing process I would pick up my carboy and agitate it daily for the first week and then I moved to a weekly basis before racking to secondary. I also staggered my nutrients but unfortunately I did not keep track of when or how much.

May 18th

S.G. = 1.022

Added second half of Maple Syrup.

S.G. = 1.042

Note: In retrospect, I would have waited till the honey and the first half of the maple syrup finished fermenting before adding the second half.

June 1st |

S.G. = 1.00

Potential Problem: Temperatures were in the 70s for the 1st week of fermentation. I had the fermentation vessel in a closet but I am pretty sure the temperature range traveled outside of the D47 yeast’s preferred temperatures.

June 30th

Racked to Secondary. Tastes like gasoline. Added 1lb of maple syrup.

July 3rd

Added 2oz American Oak(Medium Toast)

September 28th

Bottled

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