Note : Les descriptions sont présentées dans la langue officielle dans laquelle elles ont été soumises.
1al~7577
ALCOHOLIC Bi::VLKAGE F~()MI ~ilAPLE SAP OR CONCENTRAT~S THEREOF
The present invention relates to an alcoholic beverage
prepared from lllaple sap or concentrates thereof. More specifi-
cally, this invention relates to an alcoholic beverage
prepared from Inaple sap or concentrates thereof having an
alcohol content of 9 - 25 per cent wt/vol, and containing
0 - 20 per cent sugar wt/vol or the equivalent thereof in
sweetening power of a sweetening agent, 0.3 - 0.75 per cent
wt/vol acid, 0.01 - 0.5 per cent wt/vol tannin, 0 - 0.2 per
cent wt/vol flavouring agents, and having a characteristic
aroma composed of a unique taste and a distinctive flavour,
and to a process for preparing same.
The fact that certain types of North American maples
yield a sap having a sweet taste when tapped in the early
Spring was noticed by the first explorers, and the art of
concentrating the sap to obtain maple syrup or maple sugar
was probably known by the Indians since prehistoric times
although that latter point seems to be still controversial.
As maple sap contains fermentable sugars it occurred to me
that fermentation products could have been obtained therefrom
in the past, either by accident or by design. The literature
has therefore been reviewed as far back as possible, i.e. to
1634, with the valuable bibliographies entitled "Maple Susar:
A Bibliography of Early Records" published by H.A. Schuette
and Sybil C. Schuette (Part I) in the Transactions of the
Wisconsin Acadellly of Sciences, Arts and Letters, Vol. 29,
209-236 (1935) and by H.A. Schuette and A.J. Ihde (Part II),
ibid, Vol. 38, 89 (1946) as my prime sources of reference.
i~
1~_ 75~7
.'fl~ tdti()~l of i~.lple 5~ as irl(~ rl
observ~d in l~le uast. Ihe literature contains many exhortat-ions
to keep the vessels and equipment used in the preparation of
maple syrup or liiaple sugàr scrupulously clean to avoid the sap
or the partially concentrated sap from "becoming sour". Such
"souring" must undoubtedly have been caused primarily by infection
with Acetobacter species, and there are ir,deed rnany references in
the literature stating that vinegar may be prepared from rnaple sap
or partially concelltrated maple sap, e.g. Schuette et al. cited
above, references 39 (1797), 57 (`1849), 94 (1751-1761), 98 (ca. 1765),
118 (1795). However, as the preparation of vinegar does not necessar-
ily involve prior alcoholic fermentation but rather fermentation by
means of Acetobacter species such referellces are not deemed to be
pertinent.
On the other hand, the old literature contains also a
few references to certain products which were undoubtedly obtained
from rmaple sap by alcoholic fermentation. For exarnple, reference
94 in Schuette et al. cited above states that "...a drink like cider..."
may be prepared from maple sap collected towards the end of the harvest-
ing period. The exceptionally thorough Duke de La Rochefoucault-
Liancourt whose travels through various parts of North America during
the years 1795-1797 were published in 1799 (See Schuette et al. ref.
118) reports that "...the third juice, which is no-t used for vinegar
yields cyder of an excellent flavour when mixed with an equal quantity
of water...". W. Winterbotham cited in Schuette et al. cited above,
ref. 120, stated that "...the sap of the maple i 5 moreover capable of
affording a spirit...'i without giving any details as to the preparation
- of such "spirit". Priscilla Wakefield (1836-or 1810), cited in Schuette
et al. cited aboYe, ref. 138 "~rites that the sugar maple in Canada is
a very useful tree "...as not only sugar may be made frorn it, but
vinegar, table beer, and an excellent spirit...",again without giving
any details of the procedure
7577 I J. -1
f ~ ) rl o f ~ , c ~ ud l~c t s . r rl ~ y
leta-iltd ref~nence to the production of a beer or a wirle -rro~ laple
sap or Inaple sap col~centrdtes which I have been able to find in rny
survey frolll 1634 to the present i5 listed in Schuette et al. cited
above, ref. 25, and refers to a paper published over the pseudonym
"AGRICOLA" in American Museum or Universal l~agazine, vol. 4, pp. 349-
350 (1788). The author state~ that rmaFle beer may be prepared from
a mixture of 4 gallons of water and one quart of maple n-lelasses by
adding thereto "...as much ycall (sic) as is necessary to foment it...",
with optional addition of malt or bran or essence of spruce. ~aple
wine may be prepared by concentrating maple sap 4 - 6 times depending
upon its strength, adding yeast, fermenting the mixture and ageing it
for two or three years, optionally also flavouring it by addltion of
"...a little sliced magnolio (sic) root, or any other aromatic sub-
stance...".
Maple sap is known to contain an average of about 2 per
cent sugar, and under exceptionally favourable circumstances this may
occasional1y be found as high as 3 per cent. The principal sugar of
maple sap is sucrose, see R.S. Aries, The Chemurgic Digest, vol. 4,
153-165 (1945). Using the scanty data given for the preparation of
maple wine in the AGRICOLA reference cited above, it could be calcu-
lated that the fermentation mixture might have contained as rnuch as
18 per cent sugar if a maple sap containing the exceptionally high
amount of 3 per cent sugar had been used as the starting material.
The maxilllal amount of ethyl alcohol obtainable by alcoholic fermenta-
tion of dextrose is theoretically 51.1 per cent by weight. However,
as a certain amount of the starting material is always converted
- into products other than ethyl alcohol the maximum efficiency of
alcoholic ferl,ielltation under closely controlled laboratory conditions
is only about 43 per cent, and only about 43 per cent under industrial
conditions (see L.A. Underkofler and R.J. Hic~ey, "Industrial Fermenta-
tions"5 Chen~icdl Publishing Co. Inc.,
757 7 i~
i~ew Yor~ 19~4, ~)p. 206-207). As AGRICOLA in 1788 was undoubtedly
not in a position to conduct his fermelltations under the care-
fully controlled laboratory conditions merltioned in the Underkofler
et al. refel-ellce cited above it may reasonably be assumed that the
efficiency of his fermentation did not exceed that of present-day
industrial achievelllent, viz. about 43 per cent of theory, so
that the maxilllal amount of ethyl alcohol which he could have obtain-
ed from the ferlllentation of a nlaple sap concentrate containing
18 per cent sugar by wei,ght would have been 7.7 per cent. Furiher-
more, AGRICOLA has stated that maple sap is concentrated 4 - 6
ti,mes "...depending on strength...", and this may reasonably be
interpreted as meaning that a maple sap of high sugar content was
nlost probably concentrated no more than 4 times, and a maple sap
with a low sugar content may ha~e been concentrated as much as
6 ti,mes. AGRICOLA had no means to measure sugar contents accurately,
but assuming that he concentrated a rnaple sap with 3 per cent sugar
content four times and a maple sap having only 2 per cent sugar
content six times, one arrives at the conclusion that the most
probable sugar content of his maple sap concentrate used for maklng
nlaple wine must have been in the range of about 12 per cent by weight
wnich would have yielded a maple wine having about 5.2 per cent
alcohol weight/vol.
In this connection it should be remelllbered that the
beers and wines produced in AGRlCOLA's tinles and still in
tne first half of the l9th century had much lower alcohol
contents than are custon-lary today, with beers usually
having 3 - 4 per cent and wines having no more than 5 -
per cent alcohol. The main reason for these low alcohol
contents was the low toleral~ce for ethyl alcohol possessed
by the yeasts available in those early days to the average
-4-
~ 7577
Lr~ er or wi~ a~r so tl~at t~le o~yoing fer~ t~lti()rl stop-Jed ~,Jhen
the lin;its of alcuhol tolerallce were reached. It was of course kno~n
in those early days that certain regions such as for eYanlple the
Tokay regioll of Hungary or the Sherry-producing regions of Spain
and Portugal were capable of producing wines with considerably hiyher
contents of ethyl alcohol than those mentioned above. Ho~lever there
were no means available at that tinle to prepare pure cultures of such
yeasts having comparatively high tolerances for ethyl alcohol nor
were there any means for transporting live cultures of such yeasts
from Europe to North America. The only yeasts available to the
North American brewer or wine-maker were brewer's yeast for the
former and baker's yeast for the latter both of them species of
_ ccharolnyces cerevisiae.
It could be argued that an alcoholic beverage might
have been obtained from maple sap concentrates by fermentation with
a yeast which might have been present in the maple sap as gathered
from the tree or with which the sap could have become infected during
harvesting and/or storage of partially concentrated maple sap.
F.W. Fabian and H.H. Hall Zentralbl. Bakteriol. Parasitenkd.,
Infektionskr. Hyg. Abt. II, 89 31-47 (1933) in their paper en-
titled "Yeasts Found in Fernlented ~lapie Syrup" have described a large
number of such yeasts both morphologically and by their respective
physiological characteristics including their abilities to produce
ethyl alcohol from dilute (10%) maple syrup but only two of the
yeasts investigated gave ethyl alcohol concentrations of 3.82 and
3.83 per cent by weight respectively with all the other yeasis
yielding considerably lower concelltrations of ethyl alcohol.
HØ Frallk and CØ Willits Food Techllology 15 1-3 (1961) have
also described a number of yeasts found in maple sap or :maple syrup
but they have not investigated their abilities to produce ethyl alcohol.
. -5-
. .
~^, `f' ~
l(;!~g7577
In su~ arizing the above review of the literature it
may be stated ~itll confidence that the early producers of maple
beer or maple wine had only brewer's yeast or baker's yeast at
their disposition, both of them with low liMits of tolerance
for ethyl alcoho1 so that the products obtained could have
contained at the very best no more than about 3 - 5 per cent ethyl
alcohol weight/vol. The wild yeasts found occasionally in nriaple
sap or in maple syrup are equally incapable of producing more
than about 3.8 per cent ethyl alcohol weight/vol, so that the
accidental or fortuitous obtention of alcoholic beverages with
alcohol contents above 5 per cent weight/vol may also be excluded.
In contradistinction to the products and processes of
the Prior Art the alcoholic beverage of this invention is pre-
pared from maple sap or concentrates thereof using a typical wine
yeast, viz., Saccharomyces cerevisiae var. ellipsoideus, and is
further distinguished from the products of the Prior Art by having
a much higher content of ethyl alcohol.
The alcoholic beverage of this invention is prepared
from a must having a sugar content of about 19 - 30 per cent
wt/vol. Said must is prepared either by adding sugar to maple
sap to tne desired concentration, or by diluting commercial
maple syrup with sufficient water, or by concentrating maple
sap to the degree required, so that the final concentration
of sugar in tne must is substantially 19 - 30 per cent wt/vol.
As the principal constituent of maple sap or maple sugar is
sucrose (R.S. Aries, cited above) substantially all of the
sugar in the must may be regarded as fermentable sugar for
practical purposes. To the above must there are added
0.05 - 0.3 per cent wt/vol of a cornmercial yeast nutrient,
an anlount of conllllercial acid blend sufficient to make the
-6-
1~7577
final collcentrdtion of acid 0.3 - 0.75 per cent by weight sulfur
dioxide or sulfurous acid or a salt thereof in quantities sufficient
to make the final concelltration of sulfur dioxide 50 - 200 ppm and
0.~1 - 0.5 ~er cent by weight of tannin. To the above mixture there
is added a culture of Saccha^onyces cerevisiae var. ellipsoideus
and the resulting mixture is fermellted aerobically at 13 - 33C.
for 3 - 100 days until the amount of susar present therein has been
reduced to about one half of the initial value. Fermentation is
then allowed to continue anaerobically for 3 days to one year at
13 - 33C. until the amount of sugar present in the above fermenta-
tion mixture has been reduced to 0 - 11 per cent by weight. ~hen
it is desired to obtain a dry alcoholic beverage substantially
all of the sugar present in the fermentation rnixture is allowed
to be consumed during the fermentation process and a crude dry
alcoholic beverage haviny an alcohol content of 9 - 13 per cent
weight/vol is obtained. When it is desired to obtain an alcoholic
beverage with a sweet taste fermentation may be terminated before all
of the sugar in the fermentation mixture has been consumed so that
the amount of sugar remaining in the ferlllented mixture will be
sufficient to impart the desired degree of sweetness to the resulting
crude alcoholic beverage; alternatively fermentation may be allowed
to proceed as above until substantially all the sugar has been con-
sumed and the crude dry alcoholic beverage havins an alcohol con-
tent of 9 - 13 per cent weight/vol thus obtained is mixed with
sufficient amounts of sugar or amounts of a sweetening agent equiva-
lent thereto in sweetening power. In this step of the process
sugar may be added to a final concentration of 1 - 20 per cent
weight/vol or a sweetening agent of equivalent sweetening power may
be added and in this manner there is obtained a crude alcoholic
bevelage which when finished as described below gives an alcoholic
beverage belongillg to the class of dessert wines.
7577
As ~nother alternative, when it is desired to obtain an
alcoholic bever~ e havin~J n~ore than about 13 per cent weight/vol of
ethyl alcoilol, the ferlllentation described above is allowed to proceed
until substantially all the sugar has been consumed and a crude dry
alcoholic beverage with an alcohol content of 9 - 13 per cent
weight/vol is obtained. The latter crude product is then mixed with
sufficient ethyl alcohol to bring the final concentration of the
latter to the desired value between 10 and 25 per cent weight/vol
and the resulting mixture is clarified, aged, and blended as described
below. In this manner there is obtained a dry fortified alcoholic
beverage. However, sugar in amounts sufficient to make the final
concentration thereof 1 - 20 per cent weight/vol, or an amount of a
sweetening agent equivalent thereto in sweetening power, may be added
together with the ethyl alcohol, and in this manner there is obtained
a fortified alcoholic beverage having a sweet taste.
As still another alternative, natural flavouring agents
such as extracts of herbs, spices, or fruit, or palatable synthetic
flavouring agents may be added to any of the crude prGducts obtained
as described above to impart the desired flavour to the final pro-
ducts. In this manner there are obtained, a-fter clarification, ageing,
and blending as described below, alcoholic beverages belonging to the
class of aperitif wines.
The crude products obtained above contain suspended
solids such as yeast cells, debris from -the fermentation,
and impurities which may have been present in the maple sap
concentrate or which may have been introduced during the
fermentation process. Such suspended solids are removed
-8-
.
~ v ~
7~i77
by ally of the various c`larification prc)cedunes which are ~ell known
to the skilled wine~ aker, or by a sùitable combination of such
procedures. Clarifica~ion n)ay be effected by decantation, also
called racking in the wine industry; by treatlllent with certain
absorbents such as e.g. bentonite, or with certain selective precipi-
tants such as e.g. gelatin, isinglass, or casein; by treatment with
certain enzyllles such as proteases or carbohydrases; or by filtration
with or WitilOut the use of fil-ter aids; filtration using certain
types of filter pads may also be used for the purpose of sterilization.
The clarified products may be furthermore heated to about 60 C. for
24 - 72 hours, or they may be pasteurized by heating to about 82 C.
for one minute or subjected to somewhat lower temperatures for slightly
longer periods of time, to obtain a product which is more stable upon
storage at elevated temperatures. The clarified products, with or
without intervening heat treatment, may also be chilled in order to
remove certain impurities and/or to prevent clouding of the final
products when stored at low temperatures. The clarified and
optionally heat-treated and/or chilled products are furthermore sub-
jected to tests for bacterial spoilage or for possible infection with
undesirable microorgallisms, and if such spoilage or infection should
be present the appropriate relnedial action, e.g. treatment with sulfur
dioxide, is taken at this time. The clarified products obtained from
a certain number of different fermentation runs and havillg undergone
any or all of the various secondary treatment procedures listed above
are then balanced with respect to their contents in acids, in tannins,
and in ethyl alcohol, and are blended together according to tests.
Finally, such
,~
~ .~.~.
`
1,,:;-1
7577
blelldt~d Illixtur(s are aged by storing at the nlost favourable tenlp-
el^atlire in appropriate contairlers for periods of tlnle varying from
one nlontil to scveral years. The alcoholic beverage of this invention
is obtained aFter conlpletion of one or more of the above finishing
steps.
The alcoholic beverage of this invention is prepared
as follows. All percentages are expressed as per cent weight by
volume (wt/vol) unless otherwise stated.
The must used as starting material is prepared either
by adding sufficient sugar to maple sap so as to obtain a final
concentration of 19 - 30 per cent or by adding sufficient water
to commercial maple syrup or by concentrating maple sap in both
cases to obtain a solution containing 19 - 30 per cent sugar. Such
a solution is also obtained by mixing maple sap or partially con-
centrated maple sap with the appropriate quantities of maple syrup
or maple sugar. To the solution obtained as above there are added
sufficient amounts of a commercial acid blend to make the final
concentration of acid ti-trated as tartaric acid 0.3 - 0.75 per cent;
the preferred acid blend is obtained from Wine Art Co. Vancouver
B.C. Canada. There are further added sufficient amounts of sulfur
dioxide gas or sulfurous acid or a salt thereof to make the final
concentration of sulfur dioxide 50 - 200 ppm; the preferred procedure
to obtain said concentration of S02 consists in adding tne appropriate
amounts of potassium metabisulfite. Furthernlore there are added
the appropriate amounts of tannin to ob-tain a final concentration of
0.01 - 0.5 per cent; nowever
.,,i _1~_
,!. i,' 1,,, _ 1
7577
as nlaple sap nlay contain small amourlts of tallnin the ~ddition of the
latter is not al~ays mandatory. Finally, there are added sufficient
qualltities of a comlllercial yeast nutrient to give a concentration
of the latter of 0.05 - 0.3 per cent; the preferred yeast nutrient
is obtained from Wine Art. Co., Vancouver, B.C., Canada. The must
obtained as described above is used in the subsequent fermentation.
A solution containing 28 - 40 per cent of a comrnercial
yeast starter in tap water or in freshly boiled maple sap is prepared
and cooled to 25 C, tne preferred yeast starter is obtained ,rom
'~ine Art Co., Vancouver, B.C., Canada. To the above solution there
is added a comnlercial dry or liquid culture of Saccharomyces
cerevisiae var. ellipsoideus; the preferred yeast is a Sherry yeast
obtained from Gray Owl Co., Bristol, England, but other yeasts having
a high tolerance for ethyl alcohol are equally useful. The mixture
is allowed to ferment aerobically at 23-25 C for 3 - 5 days, to
obtain an actively fermenting starter culture of the yeast to be
used.
The starter culture obtained as above is added to the
must described above. However, it should be noted that said must
may also be prepared by using mixtures of citric, tartaric, and
malic acid instead of a comnlercial acid blend, and by using mixtures
of nitrogen-producing salts, e.g. arnmonium nitrate or phosphate,
with salts of essential trace metals and with certain vitamins of
the vitamin B group, especially vitamin B6, instead of commercial
yeast nutrient. Similarly, the starter culture may also be pre-
pared by using mixtures of the above ammonium salts with salts of
essential trace metals, certain vitamins of the vitamin B group, and
sugar instead of using a conllllercial yeast starter.
1 1
.'. . ~
~J,.I-l
~ 7~i77
liore specifically, one part of d starter culture obtairled
as dbove is added to 10 - lOO parts of a must Gbtained as described
aLove and the resulting mixture is allowed to ferment aerobically
with occasional stirring at 13 - 33 C, preferably at 15 - 25 C,
for 3 - 100 days, preferably for 10 - 12 days, until the amount of
sugar present in the fermentation nlixture has been reduced to about
one half of tnat initially present in the must. Fermentation is then
continued anaerobically for 3 days to one year, preferably for about
6 - 8 mon-tils, at 13 - 33 C, preferably at 15 - 25 C, with frequent
sampliny for deterlnining the sugar and a7cohol contents of the
fermentation mixture, until the desired concentration levels of
alcohol and sugar have been attained.
Th~s, when it is desired to obtain a dry alcoholic beverage
substantially all of the sugar present in the fermentation mixture is
allowed to be consumed, and a crude dry alcoholic beverage with 9 - 13
per cent a1cohol is obtained.
Alternatively, when it is desired to obtain an alcoholic
beverage having a sweet taste, fermentation may be interrupted before
all of the sugar in the fermentation mixture has been consunled. On
-the other hand, fermentation may also be allowed to continue until
all of the sugar initially present has been consumed, and to the re-
sulting crude dry alcoholic beverage there are added 1 - 20 per cent
sugar or an anlount of a swectening agent equivalent thereto in sweet-
ening power. Said addition of sugar or of sweetening agent may also
be effected following any of the finishing steps described above. By
any of the manners described above there is obtained a crude alcoholic
beverage having an alcohol content of 9 - 13 per cent and a sweet
taste, and belonging to the class of dessert wines.
-12-
~'
h`','~
7577
I!lterruption of fernlelltatioll is carried out by any of a number of
means knowll in the art, such as addition of sulfur dioxide to a
final concentration of 200 - 400 pprn or of ethyl alcohol to a final
concelltratioll of 14 - 25 per cent. In the latter case a sweet
fortified alcollolic beverage is obtained.
When it is desired to obtain a fortified alcoholic
beverage, i.e. a beveraye containing more than the approximately 13
per cent of ethyl alcohol obtainable by the fermentation process of
this invention, the crude dry alcoholic beverage obtained as described
above is mixed with sufficient ethyl alcohol to obtain a final concen-
tration of the latter of 10 - 25 per cent, to give a crude dry forti-
fied alcoholic beverage. In the same manner, when using an alcoholic
beverage having a sweet taste obtained as described above instead of
the crude dry alcoholic beverage, there is obtained a crude fortified
alcoholic beverage having a sweet taste and containing 10 - 25 per cent
alcohol and 1 - 20 per cent sugar or an amount of a sweetening agent
equivalent thereto in sweetening power.
When it is desired to obtain an alcoholic beverage belong-
ing to the class of aperitif wines, any of the crude alcoholic beverages
described above is rnixed with natural flavouring agents such as extracts
of herbs~ spices, or fruit, or with palatable synthetic flavouring
agents. Such natural or synthetic flavouring agents are used in quanti-
ties of 0.01 - 0.2 per cent.
The crude alcoholic beverages obtained as described above
are finisned by using an appropriate combination of procedures, each
of which is well known to he skilled wine-maker. Examples of such
procedures are clarification by decantation, by treatment with certain
absorbents or selective precipitants, by treatlllent with enzymes such as
proteases or carbohydrases, or by filtration; heating to
13-
~l';!-l
~Ca7S77
about 60 C for 24 - 72 i~ours or p~steuri~ing at about 82 C for one
minute; chilling, with or without interveniny heat treatmerlt; treat-
ing ~ith additional quantities of sulfur dioxide to prevent or
inhibit bacterial spoilage; balancing witil respect ~o acids, tannins,
and ethyl alcohol; blending according to taste; and ageing by storing
at the most favourable tenlperatures and in the appropriate containers
(tanks, drums, wooden casks, or bottles) for periods of time of from
one mollth to several years. It will be readily appreciated that tne
selection of the 11105t suitable connbination of the above finishing
procedures is highly important. The preferred finishing procedures
are repeated careful decantatlon (racking) followed by ageing in
glass containers with substantial exclusion of air.
In the manner described above there are ob-tained by
fermentation alone, i.e. without the use of additional agents follow-
ing completion of fermentation, dry or sweet alcoholic beverages
containing from 9 - 13 per cent of ethyl alcohol, 0 - 9 per cent of
sugar, 0.3 - 0.75 per cent acid and 0.01 - 0.2 per cent tannin. Such
alcoholic beverages may optionally be used, preferably in the crude
state in which they are obtained by fermentation alone, to prepare
beverages belonging to the class of dessert wines by addition of
1 - 20 per cent of sugar or of an amount of sweetening agent equiva-
lent thereto in sweetening power. Tney may optionally also be used
to prepare fortified dry or sweet alcoholic beverages by addition
of l - l5 per cent of ethyl alcohol so that the final concentration
of the latter will be lO - 25 per cent. They may optionally also be
used to prepare dry or sweet or fortified flavoured alcoholic beverages
belonging to the class of aperitif wines, by addition of O.Ol - 0.2
per cent of flavouring agents.
-14-
r, ~
7577
The alcoholic bcverayes prepared as described above are stil1
crude and are finished and aged as described above to obtain
the respective final products. The alcoholic beverages
obtained after finishing and ageing, in particular the dry
alcoholic beverages obtained by fern-lenting substantially
all of the sugar contained -in the must or the sweet alcoholic
beverayes obtained by interrupting the fermentation by
addition of sulfur dioxide when the alcohol content is 9.5 -
12.5 per cent and the sugar remaining in the fermentation
mixture is 1 - 8 per cent, are distinguished by having a
characteristic aron-la composed of a unique taste and a ~istinc-
tive flavour.
It will readily be appreciated by those skilled in
the art that the order of the various additions of sugar, sweeten-
ing agents, alcohol, or flavouring agents may be altered to suit
the conditions at hand, and that similar considerations apply also
to the sequence and the selection of the various finishing steps.
For example~ sugar or sweetening agents as well as alcohol or
flavouring agents may be added either to the crude product obtained
by fermentation alone, or they may be added at any stage of the
various finishing procedures or even to certain final products.
All such variations are deemed to be encompassed within the scope
of this invention.
The following examples, while not limiting in scope,
will illustrate this invention.
-15-
,iV~
7577
EXAi~lPLE 1
Two liters of maple sap are boiled for a fe~ minutes
and 56.7 9 of comlllercial yeast starter (~line Art Co., Vancouver,
B.C., ~anada) is added. The mixture is cooled to 23 C and
10 ml of a comlllercial Sh2rry yeast (Gray Ow1 Co., Bristol,
~ngland) are added. The mixture is incubated at 23 C and
allowed to ferment aerobically for 3 days, to give a starter
culture,
A must is prepared by mixing 13.7 1 commercial maple
syrup with 8.2 1 of maple sap and 36.4 1 tap water and adding
227 g commercial acid blend (l~ine Art Co., Vancouver, B.C.,
Canada~, 63 9 commercial yeast nutrient (Wine Art Co., Vancouver,
B.C., Canada), and 7.6 9 potassium metabisulfite. The sugar
content of the above must is 23 per cent and its acid content
is 0.55 per cent titrated as tartaric acid. The starter culture
prepared as described above is added to the above must and the
mixture is incubated at 21 - 23 C and allowed to ferment aerobi-
cally for 11 days when the sugar content is 11 per cent. An air
lock is fitted to the fermentation vessel and the mixture is
20 allowed to continue fermentation anaerobically at 21 - 23 C for
8 months when no more sugar is found to be present in the fermenta-
tion mixture. Ihe crude alcoholic beverage thus obtained is
clarified by repeated decantation (racking) and is aged in closed
bottles, to yield a dry alcoholic beverage having an acid content
of 0.55 per cent and an alcohol content of 9.9 per cent wt/vol.
--16--
7S77
EXAMPLE_2
Coml~lercial yeast starter (Wine Art Co., Vancouver, B.C.,
Canada), 77 9 is dissolved in 1.9 1 of tap water and 10 ml of
comlllercial Sherry yeast (Gray Owl Co., Bristol, England) is added.
Tne mixture which contains 4 per cent sugar is incubated at 25 C
and allo~ed to ferment aerobically for 5 days at which time the
sugar content has dropped to 2.5 per cent, to give a starter
culture.
A must is prepared by mixing 9.1 1 commercial maple
syrup with 21.4 1 of tap water and adding 34 9 commercial yeast
nutrient ~Wine Art Co., Vancouver, B.C., Canada), 111 9 commercial
acid blend (Wine Art Co., Vancouver, B.C., Canada), 4.67 9 of tannin,
and 4.44 9 of potassium metabisulfite. The above must contains
about 24 per cent sugar and 0.60 per cent acid titrated as tartaric
acid. The above starter culture is added to give 32.4 1 fermenta-
tion mixture containing 23.5 per cent sugar. Said fermentation
mixture is incubated at 15.5 - 25.5 C and allowed to ferment
aerobically with occasional stirring for 11 days. The fermentation
vessel is fitted with an air lock and fermentation is continued
anaerobically at 19 - 25.5 C for 6 days when a determination of the
specific gravity of the mixture indicates that substantially all the
sugar has been consumed. Fermentation under the conditions specified
immediately above is continued for 27 days, the crude alcoholic
beverage thus obtained is clarified by repeated decantation and aged
in closed bottles for 5 months, to give a dry alcoholic beverage having
an acid content of 0.75 per cent and an alcohol content of 10.1 per
cent wt/vol.
-17-
hV -l
~7577
EXA~PLE 3
To one li~er of the crude alcoholic beverage obtained
as described in Example 2 there are added 170 g of sugar or 0.285 9
of saccharin to obtain a sweet alcoholic beverage containing 10.1
per cent alcohol and 17 per cent sugar or the equivalent thereof in
sweetening power of saccharin and belonging to the class of dessert
wines following clarification and ageing as in Example 2.
EX_lPLE_4
To one liter of the crude alcoholic beverage obtained
as described in Example 2 there are added 69 9 of ethyl alcohol to
obtain after clarification and ageing as described in Example 2 a
fortified dry alcoholic beverage containing 17 per cent alcohol
wt/vol.
In the same manner but using the product obtained in
Example 3 as starting material there is obtained a fortified sweet
alcoholic beverage containing 17 per cent alcohol wt/vol and 17 per
cent sugar.
EXAMPLE 5
l-o one-half liter of the product obtained as described
in the first half of Example 4 there are added 0.9 9 of commercial
Brandy flavour (G. Lapointe ~ Assoc. Importers Ltd. ~lontreal Canada)
to obtain a dry flavoured alcoholic beverage containing 17 per cent
alcohol wt/vol. In the same manner wnen using the product obtained
as described in the second half of Example 4 there is obtained a sweet
flavoured alcoholic beverage containing 17 per cent alcohol wt/vol.
In both cases the product obtained belongs to the class of aperitif
wines.
'~ -18-
~,.,
lQq~S77
FXA~PLE 6
In ~he process o-f preparing the product of Example 2
an aliquot part of one liter of the fermentation mixture is
removed 68 hours after the beginning of the anaerobic part of
the fermentation. Said aliquot part is found to contain 9.6
per cent alcohol wt~vol and 1.2 per cent sugar, and is divided
into two equal parts.
In one portion of the above aliquot fermentation is
interrupted by addition of sulfur diox;de to a final concentra-
tion of 280 ppm. After finishing and ageing as described in
Example 2 there is obtained a sweet alcoholic beverage containing
9.6 per cent wt/vol alcohol and 1.2 per cent sugar.
In the second portion of the above aliquot (500 ml)
fermentation is interrupted by addition of 27 9 of ethyl alcohol.
After finishing and ageing as described in Example 2 there is
obtained a sweet fortified alcoholic beverage containing 14.1
per cent alcohol wt/vol and 1.1 per cent sugar.
1 9-
, ~
