First run results in off taste

[Indiana-Jones]

Hi, Saturday we boiled off about 200 gallons of sap on a new 2X5 continuous flow set of pans. By the time we sweetened the pans and cooled it down we pulled off about 2.5 gallons of syrup. I put it in a SS pot and refrigerated it. I also put some in a jar for use in the house. Yesterday I used some from the jar and it tasted good like normal, this morning it tasted different, not in a good way.

Had the wife taste some, she couldn't taste the bad that seems to be bugging me. (I wanted to see if she would taste it, thinking may be she had enough of my syrup addiction and was poisoning me. Ha Ha)

I was a bit disappointed that the syrup off of the new pans was so dark. It is as dark or darker than last years syrup made in batches. I made many changes this year, ramping up to larger volume.

What I think is the sap was a bit old, it was clear and I kept it cool with sap burgs. Freezing 3 gallon buckets of sap and floating in the horse trough lined with plastic sheet. Half of the sap was 10 days old.

This is only my second year and I don't know what buddy, ropey, or off tasting syrup tastes like. I cleaned up yesterday and there was a couple of burn marks near the draw off, the size of a quarter. I think is was making too big of draws.

I know that you can't taste through the computer, but the dark color and the change over night may be a clue.

IJ

[Daren]

Not sure what got you tasting different from same batch. SS sure should not have imparted any off flavors that were not already in there. I think 10 days was a bit long to keep any sap, even if well chilled. With nearly 50 percent of the sap volume from that old, it sure could have messed things up. Now...if that is the case, it is going to take a while to finally rotate all that fluid volume through the system. I would be afraid that the next run will still have a bit of the off flavor in the earlier if not the bulk of the draws, potentially tainting the next run too to some degree. I know this sounds aweful, but you should at least consider emptying the pans and starting over. You can clean the quarter sized spots too....which could also explain a burnt flavor in there if that is what you taste. I hate it when you start chasing an off flavor when others cant even detect it. Good luck.

[Russell Lampron]

Maybe the off taste that you are tasting is because of something that you drank or ate before tasting the syrup again. I was drinking a root beer while was boiling once and tasted the syrup I had just filtered and thought that there was something wrong with it. I had my mother taste it and she said there was nothing wrong with it. I switched the root beer for real beer (boiling soda) and found out it was the root beer that made the syrup taste bad.

[Sugarmaker]

You can get early syrup that tastes metabolic too. But As Others have mentioned I would not recommend holding sap 10 days even in the best conditions.
Regards,
Chris

[Indiana-Jones]

I'm in the old sap camp when it comes to the most likely issue. The syrup is very dark. I taste tested with some syrup from a friend and there is a after taste on my batch. I will keep the batch separate.

So, I cleaned the pans, wash my sap collection tank and pump/hose. I lined a 300 gallon stock tank with clear plastic film for storage. I'm going to change the lining and start over. The weather man seems to be getting his act together, so maybe if I can get some more tap in and get more sap per day I can boil two times a week.

I'm really bummed on my first boil on a continuous draw set up was so dark. This winter has been a hard one to figure, especially for a novice.

Thanks

[C.Wilcox]

I'd recommend rinsing off that plastic sheeting as well. There's no telling what might be on that from the factory.

[SugarSquirrel]

One thing to watch out for is when your sap runs like egg white, it is rotten, and will make nasty syrup. Im sure thats not an issue if your keeping it chilled but i had that happen to about 1 1/2 gallons of syrup last year. Just something to look out for.

[SPILEDRIVER]

im sure your off flavor is from the ten day old sap.i no from my own trials and errors that the older it is the darker it gets and the funkier the flavor gets.i wont store sap longer than 7 days and try my darndest to boil every day and at the most every 3.

[Indiana-Jones]

I washed or changed everything, last night I collected sap and dumped anything that was buggy or didn't look fresh. I kept about 25 gallons. We are looking better here in Indiana for the next week or two weather wise. The new question that I have, should I boil small batches. It takes a couple of hundred gallons of sap to get to a draw on my 2X5. If I get my pans sweet again is it better to boil even small batches of sap just to sterilize it?

I have 50 taps out today. I'm adding 40 more as soon as possible.

[jmp]

I would be very wary of using any kind of plastic sheeting unless it is specifically manufactured for food contact.

[Indiana-Jones]

I thought that I should close this out with what I think that I learned. Filtered syrup tastes different than unfiltered syrup.

Yesterday we finished and bottled the 3 gallons of questionable product and it turned out to be not too bad. This is our first batch that we used our new cone filter/coffee maker bottling system. I'm very happy with the process and it is nice when something actually works out.

The after taste is gone and looks to grade Medium.5370

[jmp]

Awesome!!!!

[Indiana-Jones]

Is it true?? Does anyone other than me think that filtering can improve flavor? Or is it just in my head??

John, thanks for the compliment,

[Springfield Acer]

This is a curious thread. My first batch has a strange after taste; anywhere from acrid, sharp or even metallic. My sap was anywhere from 5 to 9 days old but pretty well chilled in an insulated tank. The process was the same as last year except for a completely different stand of maples (sugars this year, red last year) and I added a copper preheater. I have worried about solder flux residue in the preheater even though I did force hot water through it to clean it out. My color was light this year but cloudy. As I type this I am boiling down 2-1/2 gallons of 4-1/2% sap left from my ice filled buckets on a turkey friar just to try it. My little 20 x 40 pan takes 3 to 4 gallon just to get started with the preheater and head tank. I'm curious to see if this quick batch will have the same taste. If so, it's just the sap and hopefully it will get better with warmer weather. If not, I've got a problem with my process.
I was told that with metabolic issues a person can boil to some higher temp to boil off those aromatics and then thin it back down with new sap. Does anyone have any experience on this?

[Indiana-Jones]

This is a curious thread. My first batch has a strange after taste; anywhere from acrid, sharp or even metallic. My sap was anywhere from 5 to 9 days old but pretty well chilled in an insulated tank. The process was the same as last year except for a completely different stand of maples (sugars this year, red last year) and I added a copper preheater. I have worried about solder flux residue in the preheater even though I did force hot water through it to clean it out. My color was light this year but cloudy. As I type this I am boiling down 2-1/2 gallons of 4-1/2% sap left from my ice filled buckets on a turkey friar just to try it. My little 20 x 40 pan takes 3 to 4 gallon just to get started with the preheater and head tank. I'm curious to see if this quick batch will have the same taste. If so, it's just the sap and hopefully it will get better with warmer weather. If not, I've got a problem with my process.
I was told that with metabolic issues a person can boil to some higher temp to boil off those aromatics and then thin it back down with new sap. Does anyone have any experience on this?

I don't have any experience with the over heating and thinning out, hope fully an expert will come to the rescue.

The off taste that you describe is seems to fit what I have here. I just went to the fridge for a spoon full. I'm starting to think that this is all in my head. I'm thinking that each run, each year may have it's own flavor. We need some sap to flow so we can make a new batch. There is a county park near here that is boiling, I may drive down there for a taste of theirs. This could be a case of newbieitous on my end.

[Springfield Acer]

I finished off the new sap and it tastes excellent even without filtering. It's something in my process. Maybe old sap. Maybe an old filter (I ordered a new one). Maybe the flux which will be reflushed. I'm also suspecting iron which may have come from my sap transfer pump that has a CI body. I'll try flushing before each batch. I'm not sure which is the culprit if not more than one but I'm going to address them all.

[Flat Lander Sugaring]

give the off flavor syrup to the wife and kids keep the next batch for yourself:lol:

10 day sap uhhhhhh little long.

[mike z]

I think Flatlander hit the nail on the head. Save the primo syrup for yourself. After all your troubles, you've earned it. A few years ago my first of the season had an "off flavor" I eventually figured it to be from not rinsing well enough after cleaning everything. I am very careful now cleaning with any soaps. My filters never see the stuff; and I'm not afraid to toss them out at the end of the year and buy new. I just started boiling with a larger set up, and was disappointed with how dark the syrup came out too. I will try to draw off in smaller batches to see if that makes any difference this year.

[Indiana-Jones]

It looks like we are going to get an opportunity to make some syrup with fresh sap this weekend. Finally some normal weather and the taps are a dripping this morning.

Thanks for all of the input.