At a glance
- Style
- Acerglyn
- Alcohol
- About 13.1% ABV
- Finish
- Semi-sweet
- Difficulty
- Beginner
- Honey
- Wildflower or clover
- Yeast
- Lalvin D47
- Ready in
- 5 to 6 months
- Batch
- 1 gallon, scalable
Ingredients
Quantities are for one US gallon (3.8 liters). Pick a batch size and every amount updates; one packet of yeast covers up to six gallons. Not sure how much honey your own twist needs? Use the mead calculator.
- 2 lb Honey, wildflower or clover
- 1.5 cups Pure maple syrup, Grade A Dark Robust (about 1 lb, in primary)
- 0.5 cups Pure maple syrup, for sweetening (held back until the end)
- 0.75 gallons Spring water (to make 1 gallon of must)
- 1 packet Lalvin D47 wine yeast (one packet covers up to 6 gallons)
- 6 g Go-Ferm (yeast rehydration nutrient) (optional but recommended)
- 5 g Fermaid O yeast nutrient (split into 4 doses, see steps)
- 0.5 tsp Potassium sorbate
- 1 Campden tablet
This recipe ferments dry and is sweetened at the end: how to backsweeten mead has the stabilizing doses and a honey chart for any batch size.
Equipment
- 2-gallon bucket and 1-gallon jug with airlock
- Hydrometer
- Auto-siphon
- Measuring cup and tablespoon for sweetening
New to this? Our mead making kit checklist covers what each piece does and what you can skip.
Step-by-step method
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Mix the must
Sanitize everything. Stir the honey and 1.5 cups of maple syrup into half a gallon of cool water until fully dissolved, then top up to 1 gallon. The gravity should read about 1.100. Use only pure maple syrup; table and pancake syrups are mostly corn syrup and may contain preservatives that stop yeast.
-
Pitch cool
Rehydrate the D47 with the Go-Ferm in 50 ml of 104°F (40°C) water for 15 minutes and pitch. Keep it at 60 to 65°F (16 to 18°C). D47 gives a lovely round mouthfeel when cool and hot, fusel flavors when it runs above about 68°F (20°C).
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Staggered nutrients
Maple syrup adds almost no nitrogen, so feed it like a traditional: a quarter of the Fermaid O at 24, 48 and 72 hours and at the 1/3 sugar break (about 1.067). Degas gently before each addition.
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Rack when dry
After 4 to 6 weeks, when the gravity has been steady near 0.998 to 1.000 for three days, rack into a clean jug and top up.
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Do not panic at the taste
At this point it tastes like a dry traditional mead with a faint woody, smoky edge; most of the maple character has fermented away. That is normal and it is why you held syrup back.
-
Age to clear
Leave it 2 to 3 months to clear. Maple meads benefit from the time: the edges soften and the woody note integrates.
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Stabilize and sweeten with maple
Add the crushed Campden tablet and sorbate and wait 48 hours. Stir in the reserved maple syrup 2 tablespoons at a time; each 2 tablespoons adds roughly 0.003. The full half cup lands near 1.010, where the maple reads clearly.
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Bottle and age
Bottle and give it at least 2 months. It keeps well for several years in a cool, dark place.
Timeline
- Day 0Mix honey, maple and water; pitch
- Days 1 to 7Four nutrient additions
- Weeks 4 to 6Rack off the yeast
- Months 2 to 4Age and clear
- Month 4Stabilize, sweeten with maple, bottle
- Month 6 and onDrink; keeps for years
Why this recipe works
Maple syrup is mostly sucrose, which yeast ferment completely, and its flavor compounds are delicate. What survives fermentation is a dry, slightly woody and smoky note rather than anything that says maple. Sweetening with maple at the end brings back the flavor people expect, which is why a quarter of the syrup is held back.
Grade matters. Under the current US and Canadian grading names, Golden Delicate and Amber Rich are the light, mild syrups; Dark Robust (the old Grade B) and Very Dark Strong have the most flavor. For fermenting, darker is better because more of it survives.
The gravity math assumes honey gives 35 points per pound per gallon and 66 Brix maple syrup about 30, since syrup has more water than honey. A cup of maple weighs about 0.7 lb, so 1.5 cups adds roughly 32 points and 2 lb of honey adds 70, for about 1.100. Syrups vary, so trust your hydrometer over the arithmetic.
D47 is chosen for body: it is known for a fuller, rounder mouthfeel, which suits a mead that ends up tasting of maple and caramel. The semi-sweet finish is not optional here; maple reads as maple only with some sweetness behind it.
Variations
- Bourbon barrel style: add 0.5 oz of medium-toast American oak cubes soaked in bourbon for 2 to 4 weeks in secondary.
- Maple cyser: replace the water with preservative-free apple juice and cut the honey to 1 lb, which keeps the gravity near 1.100.
- Breakfast acerglyn: add half a cinnamon stick and half a split vanilla bean in secondary for 1 to 2 weeks.
Troubleshooting
| Problem | What to do |
|---|---|
| There is no maple flavor | Expected before sweetening. Sweeten with the reserved maple; if it is still faint, use a darker grade next time and hold back more of it. |
| Fermentation never started | Check the syrup label: pancake or table syrup often contains preservatives. With pure syrup, the usual cause is a must that was too cold or yeast pitched into water that was too hot. |
| It tastes hot and solvent-like | D47 fermented too warm. Time helps a great deal; give it 6 months or more before judging it. |
More mead recipes to try
- Bochet (caramelized honey mead) recipe: Honey cooked to dark caramel before it ferments. Toffee, marshmallow and dark fruit.
- Cyser (apple mead) recipe: Apple juice replaces the water. Crisp, easy and ready sooner than most meads.
- Spiced mead (metheglin) recipe: Cinnamon, clove, orange and vanilla added by taste in secondary. The holiday mead.
More specialty mead recipes: Braggot (honey and malt mead).
Or browse all our mead recipes. If this is your first batch, start with the traditional mead recipe or the step-by-step guide to making honey wine.
Frequently asked questions
What is an acerglyn?
A mead made with honey and maple syrup. The name joins acer, Latin for maple, with the ending of metheglin; it appears to be a modern coinage.
How much maple syrup do I need for an acerglyn?
About 2 cups per gallon: 1.5 cups in primary alongside 2 lb of honey, and half a cup to sweeten at the end, which is where most of the flavor comes from.
Does maple flavor survive fermentation?
Mostly not. Yeast ferment maple sugar completely and leave only a faint woody note, so good acerglyns are sweetened with maple syrup after fermentation.
Can I use pancake syrup for mead?
No. Pancake and table syrups are mostly corn syrup with flavoring, and many contain preservatives that can stop fermentation. Use pure maple syrup.
How long does acerglyn take?
About 5 to 6 months to drink. It is ready to bottle around month 4 and improves for a year or two.
How strong is an acerglyn?
This one is about 12 to 13.5% ABV, depending on how dry it ferments before you sweeten it.