Greenish tinge to sap when season starts

[Maplesedge]

I've noticed a slight greenish hue to sap from some trees right at the beginning of the season.

My system's pretty closed, with tubing dropping to a water jug spout, so I don't think it's rain water washing down the tree.

Could it be a pent up amount of dissolved solids in the sap that gets kind of flushed out of the sapwood when things start to flow?

I do very small batches, so I'm loathe to throw any sap out.

[Jeff E]

I have never seen green tint to the sap.
Could it possibly be the way light is going through the container?
Maybe put some in a glass water pitcher and take a better look at it.

Does it taste normal?
I would try and cook it down without adding other sap you know is OK and see what you get....

[Maplesedge]

Thanks Jeff, all good ideas.

I'll give 'em all a try and see what happens.

[Russell Lampron]

Very strange, I've seen yellow sap and even rust colored from rusty buckets but never green. Does this happen every year or is this the first time that you noticed it?

[SSFLLC]

What do you clean your buckets with. Maybe the residue thats left is what is doing it.

[Flat47]

I've seen that green tint many times and consider it normal. Cloudy is when I worry.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

You may have some green slime inside the tubing and when it washes out it will go to the bottom of the container and you may see the green hue throughout the sap just from the reflection on the bottom.

[OneLegJohn]

I've seen it. Bradon is right, it's leftover sap turned microbe food. Almost seems like algae to me. One year old tubing that was flushed last year still has blind spots.... It gives syrup a nutty flavor in my opinion.

[maple flats]

I agree with WVM and 1 leg, I believe it must be slime from old tubing not cleaned properly. I do not think it will taint the syrup but it may make darker syrup. Any organisims in it will be killed and will filter out. Some producers never clean their tubing and they still make good syrup.
As for tasting it, unboiled, it might give you some intestinal distress. In this case I would just boil it, or boil hard for 30 minutes, cool some and then taste it.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Thanks, algae was the word I couldn't think of. Had just a touch in one of my tanks this year, not sure I have seen it before.

[3rdgen.maple]

Are your buckets green or any storage tanks green?

[Maplesedge]

Very strange, I've seen yellow sap and even rust colored from rusty buckets but never green. Does this happen every year or is this the first time that you noticed it?

Only ever seen it this year and last. Last year from one of Grandma's trees it was so bad i threw that day's bag away, but then that tree ran clear the very next day.

Yesterday it was one tree out of six, ( I only tap six) and it was very slight and smelled OK.

[Maplesedge]

What do you clean your buckets with. Maybe the residue thats left is what is doing it.

I use 5 gal collapsable water jugs and the bag in question was new, but still washed.

I wash each bag with boiling water and a little bleach, then rinse with boiling water.

All 14 bags look clear.

[Maplesedge]

I've seen that green tint many times and consider it normal. Cloudy is when I worry.

Really? Thanks, that's some relief. You're the only one so far who's seen this.

I saw it once last year it it was heavier and cloudy and smelled wierd, I'd say buddy but it was right at the begining, and then that tree ran clear. That's why I think it could be just the tree kinda "cleaning the tubes" so to speak.

Kinda like a bee after being in cluster for awhile.

[Maplesedge]

You may have some green slime inside the tubing and when it washes out it will go to the bottom of the container and you may see the green hue throughout the sap just from the reflection on the bottom.

Tubing was all brand new this year, so don't think so. But thanks.

[Maplesedge]

I've seen it. Bradon is right, it's leftover sap turned microbe food. Almost seems like algae to me. One year old tubing that was flushed last year still has blind spots.... It gives syrup a nutty flavor in my opinion.

Interesting. Except the tubing and the bag on the tree in question were new this year. Maybe the sap in the tree had microbes, or maybe some just snuck in there somehow. Darn microbes!

[Maplesedge]

I agree with WVM and 1 leg, I believe it must be slime from old tubing not cleaned properly. I do not think it will taint the syrup but it may make darker syrup. Any organisims in it will be killed and will filter out. Some producers never clean their tubing and they still make good syrup.
As for tasting it, unboiled, it might give you some intestinal distress. In this case I would just boil it, or boil hard for 30 minutes, cool some and then taste it.

Good advice, thanks. Like darker syrup anyway.

[Maplesedge]

Are your buckets green or any storage tanks green?

No, that bag was new, and clean. I really think it's coming out of the tree like this. It'd have to be pretty tough algae to grow at freezing temps.

[Sugarmaker]

When you have viewed sap in buckets for 50 years you get a lot of quality time with sap. I have seen light variations of sap from crystal clear to a light blue tinge to a slight green to a cloudy to a yuk lets dump that.
Buckets teach you a lot about sap and each tree can be different too.
With tubing it all gets blended and you don't get the same chance to judge the sap and the tree.
Typically when we start to see the green tinge we know that we are going to make some darker syrup. We had some of that day one this year and the syrup was dark "A".
Also sap can smell different and a yeasty smell is usually an indication that darker syrup will be made from that sap too.
If the sugar content is OK boil it and see what you get!
Regards,
Chris

[3rdgen.maple]

You want to hear a good one? It took me quite a long time Im talking a couple years here to convince my dad to tap the red maples. This was before I bought the place. Anyways after hounding him he finally said 1 year, I tell you what son we will tap one red maple tree and see what happens. I was excited cause if he was willing to do this and I could prove him right it would open up alot more trees for us to tap. The day we drilled it was a good sap run happening. I hung 2 buckets on that tree and we watched the sap drip out for a few minutes. Went back to the sugarhouse and boiled all day. When done we stopped by those trees with a 5 gallon white bucket and dumped what we got in it. We both looked at each other with the darnest look when we seen the sap had a magenta color to it. My dad looked at me and said thats it never again. So a red maple never got tapped until I bought the place and never seen that color sap again.

[Maplesedge]

When you have viewed sap in buckets for 50 years you get a lot of quality time with sap. I have seen light variations of sap from crystal clear to a light blue tinge to a slight green to a cloudy to a yuk lets dump that.
Buckets teach you a lot about sap and each tree can be different too.
With tubing it all gets blended and you don't get the same chance to judge the sap and the tree.
Typically when we start to see the green tinge we know that we are going to make some darker syrup. We had some of that day one this year and the syrup was dark "A".
Also sap can smell different and a yeasty smell is usually an indication that darker syrup will be made from that sap too.
If the sugar content is OK boil it and see what you get!
Regards,
Chris

Thanks, this is really interesting. It's fascinating to see the variation, tree to tree and year to year. This is only my 4th year, so it's great to hear from someone with your depth of experience.

I would expect this "buddy" effect at the end of the season, but didn't know it can happen in the beginning.

I wonder if the green could be some residual chlorophyl, being transported down the trunk in the fall, as the leaves turned, and just happened to overwinter near the spot I tapped when the sapwood froze up last year, only to be released into my bag when it thawed out?

Maybe some tree scientist knows. Guess I should ask the great and almighty google.

Anyway, gave it another look, and it's clear, smells ok, just slightly colored, and tastes sweet, so I'm going to boil it.

[argohauler]

I was going to say if it's greenish, the sap's not ripe enough yet to harvest. :lol:

Seems to me that I tapped a soft maple one year and got a greenish tint to the sap. I know I've had purple and pink sap from soft maples and it eventually went away.