Can you ferment maple syrup?

[Saint_Cad]

I’ve seen acerglyn which is honey mead with maple syrup but nothing about using maple sap as the only sugar. It seems like it is possible to ferment maple sap so … is it done? If not, why not? If so, share the deets.

[Whack-a-Mole]

Maple Wine is a thing so yes, you can (I am willing the bet the details of doing it well takes more than buying maple syrup from the store and letting it sit out for a while).

• Maple Wine – Door Peninsula Winery

ETA:

@Saint_Cad

It seems like it is possible to ferment maple sap so … is it done?

I may have read your post wrong. I cannot find it now (even though I read snippet on it a few minutes ago) that maple sap does not have enough sugar to ferment but maple syrup has too much. So, the sap needs to be processed in a way that gets you there but not quite maple syrup either.

[What_Exit]

I’m going to leave the details to someone that knows them, but yes I have seen fermented Maple Syrup.

As the illustrious @Qadgop_the_Mercotan collects maple syrup yearly, I’m paging him to see if he knows more on your question.

ETA: Older related thread: Maple syrup mead - has anyone tried making one with no honey whatsoever?

Glancing at the thread, expect a maple wine.

And from another thread:

Any Sugary Liquid That CAN'T Be Fermented?

In my (unintentional) experience, you can, but it ends up tasting very bitter and—I don’t know if this is the right word for it, but it’s the only one I can think of—gamey. Plus, it gets fizzy and plays all sorts of hell with your bowels. So I honestly can’t recommend it—sorry. Another thing I discovered can ferment is maple syrup. I had a small jug of it (capped!) fizz and spill all over the inside of my fridge once. I also had a larger jug ($40 worth in 1995 or '96) develop m…

[Qadgop_the_Mercotan]

Maple syrup can be fermented, and is often used to make maple flavored alcoholic beverages, and even maple syrup vinegar. But that generally means diluting it in the process

But to have maple syrup go and autoferment without human intervention is uncommon. And usually (but not always) a sign that the maple syrup wasn’t boiled long enough in the first place as its ideal sugar concentration is usually high enough to prevent that process from starting.

Even so, contaminate it with enough yeast and have it in a dark warm place long enough and it can go alcoholic on you. I’ve never had it happen, but my sources at mapletrader.com say it is not unknown.

[LSLGuy]

@JaneDoe42 is a veteran mead (and cheese) maker and may have some relevant expertise on these complicated living biochemistry processes that she might share with us.

I sure don’t.

[China_Guy]

Charlie Papazian, Joy of Homebrewing author, homebrewing pioneer, highlighted that yes one can ferment maple syrup. However, he didn’t want to “waste” expensive maple syrup on brewing beer.

Pretty much any sugar can be fermented with the right yeast and yeast nutrients. Witness seltzers, which are brewed from white sugar. Again, may need yeast nutrients to really make it ferment.

[pkbites]

@China_Guy

Pretty much any sugar can be fermented with the right yeast and yeast nutrients.

Yep. I’ve made wine out of Kool Aid.

You ferment the sugar water first as the preservatives in the K.A. hinder the process. If you don’t use the right yeast it ends up tasting like really bad Bisquick muffins. If you do it right it tastes like a BeatBox at a fraction of the cost.