Syrup judging & competitions

[BryanEx]

Where and how do you enter maple syrup into competitions in Canada? Do I have to belong to the Producers Association to enter? What's typically used for packaging and quantities? Does the judging tend to vary a lot based on "local tastes"? Thanks for any information so I can give it a try this year.

- Bryan

[Bruce L]

Bryan,look to your local fairs to see if they have syrup competitions.If you are looking bigger you could do Royal Winter Fair in the fall.We have won world champion title there twice,it sure helps with sales.I personally attended a judging school years ago,and am a syrup judge,do several local fairs.It is not necessarily local taste,but rather line up several samples of your syrup,take a small taste of each washing your mouth and tastebuds out between each sample with gingerale or apple juice,you will soon notice one sample that may have a "kick" to it,or one that tastes bland,etc,you can do your own elimination to pick one for the fair.Also,the higher the sugar content you go as long as you don't hit 67% sugar,the more it will tickle the judge's tastebuds,about 66.8 is ideal.
Bruce

[ennismaple]

Bryan - The Perth Festival of the Maples is on April 30 this year and there's a competition for syrup, sugar and maple butter. You don't have to belong to OMSPA to enter. For syrup you enter 2x250mL bottles (unlabelled) in each colour class. I can't recall who you contact to get entry forms and more details - they mail us our entry forms every year.

[Quabbin Hill Farms]

Hi Bryan I often put syrup in the Delta, Lansdowne and Perth's fair just to see how I stack up against other producers.
greg

[BryanEx]

Thanks for all the tips and advice. As soon as Perth was mentioned I thought "duh, of course". Will likely try out some local / regional stuff before deciding on the Royal but you never know. With under 100 taps it sure would be cool to at least place there.

What about the North American Maple Syrup Council? I know they also have an annual competition at their AGM but I'm not sure if you have to attend to enter.

[ennismaple]

Thanks for all the tips and advice. As soon as Perth was mentioned I thought "duh, of course". Will likely try out some local / regional stuff before deciding on the Royal but you never know. With under 100 taps it sure would be cool to at least place there.

What about the North American Maple Syrup Council? I know they also have an annual competition at their AGM but I'm not sure if you have to attend to enter.

They did have a competition when it was hosted in Cambridge, Ontario last year. I don't know if you have to be an OMSPA member to join or not.

[BryanEx]

I personally attended a judging school years ago,and am a syrup judge,do several local fairs.

Next question is on the scoring for these syrup competitions. It seems they are scored on clarity, density, grade, and flavour. I'm assuming that density and grade would be full points or none because they are either correct or not, leaving flavour and clarity as variables. Is that about right or does it work differently?

- Bryan

[ennismaple]

Bryan,

Density - 30%, 66.0 Brix = 25 points, add 1 point for each 1/10 until 30 points for 66.5 to 67.5 Brix, Subtract 1 point from 67.6 to 68.0 Brix (= 25 points), 68.1+ Brix = 15 points

Colour - 25%, Full marks for best colour in class, subtract 1.0 for each gradation in colour

Flavour - 30%, Full marks for best flavour, subtract 1.0 for 2nd best and so on

Clarity - 15%, Full marks for best crystal clear, subtract 1.0 for 2nd best and so on

[Thad Blaisdell]

I dont understand the points for color. If it is Medium its Medium. Are they looking for the lightest possible medium. or dead center of the scale?

[BryanEx]

I dont understand the points for color. If it is Medium its Medium. Are they looking for the lightest possible medium. or dead center of the scale?

I'll second that question. I'm sure I'll have a better understanding of exactly what I'm trying to achieve after being through a few judgings.

[ennismaple]

The ratings I provided are what they use at the Perth Festival of the Maples, which I believe is the contest Bryan is entering later this week. I think it is a standard OMAFRA scoresheet for competitions.

For colour - you are trying to be on the "high" side of the colour class, meaning for medium syrup you want the closest thing to light without crossing the line into that next category. It's a fine line you're trying to walk without getting DQ'd for being out of colour class with your entry (it's happened to us and other producers we know). We normally take syrup that's on the borderline (say could be light or medium) and re-heat it for our entry into the "lower class", knowing it will darken a little and will definitely be medium.

[BryanEx]

Rats... I had some of that "just under grade" syrup and decided to enter a middle example to be representative of the grade instead. As I learn more about the judging I think I'll have a lot of fun with it next year. Of course my wife calls my fun an obsession but that's a different issue. :D

I have two entries in Perth and providing my density, grade, and clarity all check out I have two more ready to go for the Royal Winter Fair next fall. I have to admit... I thought this would be easy to do but I'm finding it to be far more challenge to achieve the perfect samples than I had thought. Accu-cup and a long stem hydrometer for next year! Thanks for the info Marty.

[BryanEx]

I'll be at the Perth maple festival this Saturday with my wife Merna. If any other Traders are there just give me a call on the cell phone and we could meet up for lunch... or whatever.

- Bryan

[ennismaple]

Our booth will be right in front of Bank of Montreal. O'Reilly's pub is just down the street... they might have food but they definitely have brass taps!

[BryanEx]

... they might have food but they definitely have brass taps!
I'm always interested in checking out someone else's taps! I'll see you Saturday Marty.

- Bryan

[ennismaple]

Congrats on winning Best New Exhibitor at the Maple Festival!!!! It was nice seeing you and Merna again. I hope you enjoyed your trip to Perth - it was a gorgeous day for the festival.

[BryanEx]

Thanks very much Marty. We both had a great time and were introduced to a bunch of local Lanark producers. Perfect weather, lots of food, live music, and a great event made for a lot of smiling faces that day. For our first attempt at judging and having no clue what we were doing I'm very pleased with our results and thrilled to score a perfect 30/30 for flavour in the Maple Capital of Ontario. :D

Our density was a little over at 67.3 which lost 3 points and it's taken a day of thinking about it to figure out how we ended up over density given how much time we put into getting it right. We hot packed a very small batch specifically for the contest in a 5 gallon filter/canner which left too much surface area for condensation and that would have made a 0.3 Brix difference for such a small amount of syrup. Lesson #1 learned for next time.

Not knowing what to expect we selected a sample mid-grade for each class thinking they would be good representatives of the grade. We learned in this discussion after shipping but before the contest that we want to be as light as possible within each grade for best scores. Won't make that mistake twice - lesson #2.

Clarity was both surprising and disappointing because we thought our syrup showed really well. I was told that it will always be difficult to compete against producers using a filter press versus our decanting & gravity filter process but I will need to see a side by side comparison to really understand the difference I think... lesson #3 still in progress. I would also like to know if clarity is judged in the cheap glass bottles or do the judges pour off into better quality glass for judging?

One question I do have after the weekend is the fill levels for competition entries. I noticed everyone's entry was filled to the bottom or even into the plastic cap where as mine was at a typical retail level part way up the neck. Is there a reason for such high fill levels or is that just the way it's done locally?

[ennismaple]

One question I do have after the weekend is the fill levels for competition entries. I noticed everyone's entry was filled to the bottom or even into the plastic cap where as mine was at a typical retail level part way up the neck. Is there a reason for such high fill levels or is that just the way it's done locally?

Bryan - The winning samples on display were the unopened bottles not used for sampling in the judging so they'd have more syrup in them than the 2nd bottle that was not on display. Perhaps they cold filled their containers to get them so full?

Our entries were from some extra thick syrup so we had to add water and re-heat to get to density - so I'd guess your levels were the same as ours. Everyone enters in the same Kent bottles so that shouldn't make a difference.

Marty

[BryanEx]

Perhaps they cold filled their containers to get them so full?
I fully expect they did given the judging was so close to the end of the season but it was the consistancy of such high fill levels that made me wonder if I was missing a trick or too. The first thing Merna said when we saw the winners display was "Wow, are they ever filled high".


Everyone enters in the same Kent bottles so that shouldn't make a difference.
It shouldn't but I asked that question because I noticed a difference in glass clarity and distortion from bottles taken from within the same case of new Kent bottles. Keeping in mind that these are low-end glass producers manufacturing these bottles I think in the future I will judge my bottles before filling just to make sure everything is in my favour. Might not make any difference by at least I'll feel better. :D

Another question on scoring... I was told that flavour was scoring in order of preference so no two syrups would recieve the same score but anyone within 66.5 and 67 Brix received full marks for density. What about grade and clarity? Are they scored by rank or can two or more samples be equal in those catagories?

- Bryan

[Bruce L]

Bryan,when I judge,alot depends on the number of entries.If I don't see any differences between clarity in samples,I will give them the same score,same for color until I find a sample that needs to be dropped one point.If I end up with a tie in any samples,flavour determines the winner.Congratulations on your win,Bruce

[BryanEx]

Great info... thanks Bruce! Just to confirm, is clarity judged in the original Kent bottle the producer submitted?

[Bruce L]

Hi Bryan,yes clarity is judged in the producer's bottles,therfore it is imperative to put your syrup in bottles that the competition calls for,often I have found where I have had to judge syrup in mason jars,just doesn't show up like the other syrup in smaller,thinner walled bottles.
Bruce

[BryanEx]

Thanks very much for all the information Bruce & Marty. I'll be taking the info from here and adding it to what I learned from entering the Perth Festival and trying again in the fall at some local fairs.

- Bryan

[BryanEx]

With what I have learned from this discussion I made some adjustments and ended up winning first place for my class this weekend at the Williamstown Fair (http://www.williamstownfair.com/). Thanks for everyone's help and taking the time to explain the judging process and criteria.