grades??

[CTsugarMan]

Is anyone else already onto the b grade? i had about 1 - 1 1/2 weeks of fancy grade... since this is my first year, is that right? and some of my taps are drying up? im in southern ct, ffld cnty... tell me its not coming to an end... im having a blast, plus gets me outa house work on sundays lol

I was wondering if should tap more trees here? my wife likes the fancy (of course) or is the fancy gone??

any advice would be great

[CTfarm]

My last boil was much darker than my first 3. I don't have a grading kit but it was "B"ish, I'm boiling tomorrow so I'll let you know.

[rchase]

clean your gathering and holding tubs. they can get a slim coating on the bottom. mabye thats the problem.

[PerryW]

cold weather can lighten the grade of syrup. as rchase says, cleaning you buckets or tanks (and boiling up your sap quickly) and rinsing will keep your grade up. more trees is always better.

[stoweski]

I didn't get any light this year. Got some dark then switched to medium then went back to dark. I've been on a cleaning frenzy because I wanted some light for friends who request it. After each boil and at least once a week I clean everything. Ie. drain evaporator, wash, scrub, and rinse then start over.

I have had a TON of sugar sand... most ever. I use three paper filters and one synthetic cloth filter. The top paper filter is black after just one use. I have to pull it over to expose clean paper in order for all of the syrup to filter through.

Gotta say that the syrup tastes great. I love dark and "B" but have a feeling I'll be swimming in the stuff if this year lasts another 2-3 weeks!

[CTsugarMan]

I clean after every boil (batch). i also have had alot of sand, although i have nothing to compare it to (1st yr) ... it taste fine, so i guess it is what it is ... thanks everyone for the advise

[Flat47]

Fairfield County is a tough spot to sugar. Lots of weather influence from the Sound. North of the Merritt and it's like another weather zone.

[red maples]

the weather for me has been wacky like everyone else. I started with very light med A, then dark then Grade B (had a 3 day warm up with no freeze. then went back to to dark and I have been sitting on a little sap for a bit but its OK but I am sure that will give me some Grade B.

But yeah give everything a good wipe that uaually helps. Also for flue pan folks I find if if I simply strain out my back pan through pre filters to remove the niter it lightens up a bit as well.

[CTsugarMan]

im north of the merrit, not that it helps, some days i more then others, except for 1 bucket, always 2 gals in 24 hrs, it close to the chicken coop, maybe that help....