Big sap run

[mitchellbob]

I had a great sap run today but is it over this week?

[Lindsey Simanskas]

Let hope not...first year for me and lovin it

[spud]

As of 11:00pm I have 7000 gallons of sap today and it is still coming in at 400GPH. I hope the night temps go below 32 all week and the weather people are wrong. Right now it is 42 at my house.

Spud

[wdchuck]

We've got nearly 2000 gals that ran yesterday- the trees finally seemed to perk up! We show freezes wed and thurs night, so it looks like one continuous run until then.

[spud]

I woke up to 1500 more gallons in the tank to start my day. The temps last night went down to 37 but the ground is froze. I'm not sure how good of a run I will get today. Sap is running 200GPH as of 7:00am. Here comes the sun as I sit drinking my coffee. I wish everyone a big sap day. Let us all know how you do.

Spud

[lew]

Well I know I don't live in your neck of the woods, but we had our fastest run yesterday. Our Bernard double was dumping 4 times in 70 seconds. that works out to 719 gallons per hour off of 3,000 taps. Pretty impressive. that was at 5:00 llast night. At 10:30 last night it had slowed down to 400 gph and the tank had 3,300 gallons in it. So it must have ran at that peak rate for quite awhile. Only bummer is the sugar is down to 1.2. We were forecast for a low of 36 last night but got down to 28. Sound s like a big day today.

[spud]

Lew,

That is some great numbers for you. The best I did yesterday was about 650 GPH. Today it is running 500 GPH as of 4:00pm. So far today I have about 4000 gallons in the tank. They say it is going to be 34 tonight where I live but I hope it gets colder then that. I hope we keep going into April.

Spud

[sjdoyon]

We're averaging around 250 gallons an hour the past 24hrs but we still had cold temps yesterday morning and our slope is facing north so not getting the full impact of warm weather yet. Hopefully this will be a banner year for the North facing slope folks.

[Lindsey Simanskas]

Nice wd were in Cabot are you? I'm on Sadie foss rd

[802maple]

Just got in from a 42 hour RO and boiling marathon, 1100 gallons all drummed up and I am headed to bed to start all over at 5 tomorrow morning. yeehaw

[PATheron]

Jerry- How many posts and how many gallons per minute perm and concentrate free flow? Theron

[spud]

Sap ran pretty good last night. I woke up to 3000+ gallons in the tank. I think we may have another few weeks of good sugaring.

Spud

[lew]

Spud,
How many taps are you running?

[spud]

I have just shy of 5000. I have another 1000-1500 to put in for next year.

Spud

[zwickey]

Talked to my buddy in Enosburg last night, he said theyre still running good. I just finished up yesterday in the flatlands of Ohio. I used to deer hunt right outside of Richford by the border and the golf course when I was a kid. Beautiful area up there. Hope you guys get a while longer.

[poulu]

collected 90 gal. hope we get a frost on thursday.

[KZecher]

well between monday we gathered 6,500 gallons and today we gathered 3,500 gallons to 10000 gallons we had a great night last night made 100 gallons tonight we had a filter press pump go down and had to bring in the back up cast grimm single bank press and pump 100 gallons of grade B through it... changed the filters 5 times hell yea... sugar is down from 2.0 to 1.5 no freeze in 3 days and none for another 7 from the forcast... maples in our region are starting to bud out... no matter how much cold weather we get i believe that this season may be reaching its final day or days.. we are done for the time being if there is a night that is reaches 30 i plan on turning on the vacuums bit until the thermometer hits that this season for us is over.. and yup sure set another record 1170 for a season that started early and will possibly end early. good luck to to all.. keep it bubblin'

[spud]

Not running great but woke up to 3000 gallons this morning. We are going to have a freeze tonight and then tomorrow see some big numbers ( I hope ).

Spud

[802maple]

Jerry- How many posts and how many gallons per minute perm and concentrate free flow? Theron


Just one 3 post machine Theron, around 20%. Made 6 more drums yesterday, We got a little freeze here last night, have got to head to the bush to see what happened there.

[Phlynna]

Had 29 degrees at the house this morning, maybe things are looking up?

[mitchellbob]

Boiling off the last of sap today and crossing my fingers but not look good?

[GeneralStark]

The sap is still trickling in on vacuum but sugar has dropped below 1.5%. We had a good run sunday thru tuesday with the tubing and buckets with over 100 gallons collected on about 340 taps. Sugar was over 2% but dropped slowly thru the run. Some of my buckets produced 6-10 gallons during this run.

It looks like it may be all over though. 33 degrees last night but not cold enough. We're at about 1/3 of our crop. Forecast looks real bad for our location.

[chevypower]

We're still running pretty good right now. Buckets have pretty much stopped but we're pulling around 27 inches on the pump right now and the releaser is dumping about every 3 minutes and 20 seconds compared to almost 7 minutes yesterday. I think we're pulling it from the roots but the sap is still testing at around 1.7%. I just wish it would freeze!

[spud]

I got 4000 gallons today and still running at 300GPH. I hope I can get this much everyday till Monday when it really warms up. Still have some snow in the woods and no buds in site. Sap is testing at 1.7%. The end of next week gets cold again so I hope I can keep going.

Spud

[wdchuck]

Just got home- boiled in 2200 gals. Both vac systems are still running ok- not great, but ok. I'm thinking we might get a freeze tonight- the air is a bit cool.

[802maple]

Made 4 drums yesterday, with a small freeze, have enough to boil this morning for a couple hours, might freeze tonight.

[maple maniac65]

Made 4 drums yesterday, with a small freeze, have enough to boil this morning for a couple hours, might freeze tonight.

any chance you guys in VT could send us some snow. I am thinking I will have to mow the lawn soon if it gets any greener. At 1300' and on a south facing slope I am in trouble when it comes to sugaring when it is warm out and it has not froze since Monday.

[spud]

I got another 2800 gallons as of 10:00pm last night. I have not checked the tank this morning yet. Until I'm done having my coffee I'm not going out in the rain. Maybe with this rain some kind of magic will happen and the tank will be full.:lol: It is 37 degrees at the house right now at 8:00am. I was hoping for a few more weeks of sugaring but it does not look good. It's all in God's hands.

Spud

[802maple]

Made 2 more drums this morning, it is running about 400 gallons per hour of 1.8 sap. Will make more in the morning. Maple maniac, just turn your bush to the north. What you need is a large lazy susan and elevation over 2000 feet this year. I hope we can make it thru the warm weather.

[spud]

I got another 3000 gallons today but it is testing only 1.4% We may freeze tonight and see more sap tomorrow. As of 6:00pm it is running 175 GPH. I guess a little sap is better then nothing.

Spud

[chevypower]

We boiled over 3,000 gallons last night when I got home from work around 12:30 am... I talked to my brother earlier and it looks like we should have another 2800 gallons or so to boil tonight when I get home. I am praying for a frost.

[sjdoyon]

We've been averaging over 2,000 gallons each day and the sugar content is varying between 2.75 and 3.25. North facing slope is going to save us this year. Let's hope we can survive the warm temps headed our way this week. Still over a foot of snow coverage in the sugarbush.

[spud]

The sap is starting to run good this morning. As of 7:00am I have 2000 gallons and it was running 225GPH at that time. I would like to see 500 GPH by noon. Testing at just 1.4%

Spud

[chevypower]

Spud, we're running at 1.4% also. We made 44 gallons of nice tasting B last night. We had around 2500 gallons of sap in the tank around two today so we started the RO to make room for the sap from the buckets (actually running some) and whatever we get from the pipeline from then until I'm done work tonight at midnight. The releaser was dumping every three and a half minutes compared to yesterday at around five and a half. The forcast looks dreadful and I fear the buds will be popping this coming week:cry:.

[802maple]

Made 280 gallons today of great tasting Dark amber. It was running about 750 gallons and hour of 1.9 sap, small freeze last night. Ducked another day of the forecasted warm weather as it only got to 51, just got to beat 4 more days. I have a tight grip on that towel as the trees still look like mid winter for us.

[PerryW]

I'm hearing about lots of sap. How are you Northern VT guys doing on your expected crop? At 25% or 50% of expected yield yet? I'm stuck at 25% just across the river from Concord/St Johnsbury VT.

[spud]

I was able to get 4500 gallons today. The sap is slowing down tonight to just 120 GPH. It looks like the temps are only going down to 40 tonight. I hope it gets a bit cooler and I get another good run tomorrow. As of right now I am at 50% of where I would like to be. I still think there is more sugaring to come. I wont give up yet.

Spud

[Randy Brutkoski]

Even down this way it ran good today. got about 6000 gallons of sap today. But i wish had your guys test. I am getting 1% But at least i am getting sap. Just under 1500 gallons of syrup. should be a good day tomorow, just need to push it through as fast as i can.

[802maple]

Had a little freeze here tonight, see what is over at the bush 20 miles away from here. By the end of the day the numbers will be just under half of a normal crop, should be around 2100 gallons by night fall

[wdchuck]

Good day yesterday- no freeze, but it was close. The sap took off and ran well just the same, put 3400 gallons through our "rustic" old sugarhouse.......And it freaking froze last night!!! Totally not in the forecast, but the skies were clear, and the temps got down to 30. So with 1400 left that didnt get trucked home yesterday, we'll be at it again. Now I only have to hope we can survive the upcoming week. Admittedly, things dont look too good, but if I can just avoid talking to other sugarmakers (its been doom and gloom since the first sap run), I should be ok.

[Randy Brutkoski]

Even down here we have frost on our winshields,great sighn. Should make 150 gallons later.

[spud]

Woke up to 2000 gallons and 54 degrees. The sap is still coming in at 125GPH but because it only went down to 54 last night it could hurt me today. It is supposed to rain tonight and bring temps down a bit. I hope it gets a bit colder then the whether people say. There are no buds in sight but sap is a bit cloudy. If we can make it through this little heat wave this week we may be golden again. I wish you all well.

Spud

[MapleChaser]

We processed 3600 gallons of sap yesterday. In the aftrenoon it came in very nice. I decided to wash the concentrate tank wich was starting to get murky and I don't know if it help but we came from "B" back to dark Amber last night. Was very happy with the 57 gallons made. See how the next few days go.
MC

[sjdoyon]

Had five hundred gallons of sap in the two side by side 1,500 gallon tanks Friday evening. Arrived Saturday morning, both filled to the top. Still running good but this week will probably change everything. Hoping for a cold snap to arrive end of the month.

[Squaredeal]

We collected about 5000 gals of 1.6% sap on ~6000 taps here in Walden. It froze last night, so hopefully we'll get another decent run today. Still plenty of snow here in the woods, and for once our elevation and exposure may be in our favor.
We're at about 1/3 crop and gritting our teeth as we wait for the next weekends expected cool down.

[sjdoyon]

yeah, things might take a turn for the better after this heat wave comes through. Sap has been running for eight days straight on a north facing slope. We're on the side of a mountain at an elevation of 2,000ft, with still over a foot of snow cover. Thinking all these conditions are saving us this year.

[spud]

I am getting 400 GPH and it is going well. I might get 6000-7000 gallons by midnight. It is 78 degrees at my house and 96 in the sun. Should I be scared?

Spud

[PerryW]

Saw a couple buckets dripping at 2 drips per second and surprisingly, all the pipelines running pretty good.

[wdchuck]

Caught up with yesterday's 1500 gals and a bit of this mornings run- got it all home by noon. Checked things at 6 pm and we're right back where we started from and the saps running the best it has all season and it hit 70 degrees today. If it runs much tonight, and it sure looks like it will, I'll be up ro'ing at 5:00. Careful what you wish for......

[spud]

The sap has slowed way down for me tonight. Right now at 9:00pm it is 75GPH. I had a good day and got 5200 gallons of 1.4% sap. It is still 62 degrees outside and is only going to mid 40s tonight. I think I will get at least 3000-4000 gallons tomorrow. No buds in sight so I should sleep good tonight.

Spud

[PARKER MAPLE]

Well guys i was throwing out in the towel today, pulled many of my taps, when my sugaring partner went to the new sugarbush (above 2000ft) he called me. He said well I dont think we want to pull these yet. And put his phone to the pipe running in, Wow I said. Well it was the best running I have ever seen as of now coming out of there. 68deg and was pouring in. will go get it in the am, so im down to 350taps for the rest of the season but it might keep me going for awile.
this spot had 12in of snow in it on monday, so I think the ground just thawed out today, no buds in sight there also.

Were not done yet
MR

[Lindsey Simanskas]

Crazy sap ran all day and collect 40 gallons and made a nice gallon plus of some buttery flavored amber..

[802maple]

Had a good day, around 14,000 gallons ran in and RO'd, boiled and drummed up 7 and a half drums. When I left it was still running at about 900 gallons an hour, so tomorrow it starts all over again.

[spud]

Had a good day, around 14,000 gallons ran in and RO'd, boiled and drummed up 7 and a half drums. When I left it was still running at about 900 gallons an hour, so tomorrow it starts all over again.

WOW thats a lot of sap. How many taps do you have? What town do you live in? I hope you get another 14,000 tomorrow. Sounds like you testing at 1.8-1.9%

Spud

[802maple]

Starksboro and you are right the sap tested 1.9. We have 9800 tapped. This was a good week as we made 44 drums. I couldn't believe how it ran considering it only got down to 30

[PerryW]

Starksboro and you are right the sap tested 1.9. We have 9800 tapped. This was a good week as we made 44 drums. I couldn't believe how it ran considering it only got down to 30

My temp only dropped to 34 on the thermometer, although there was the slightest skim of ice on the driveway. Don't think I've ever been plugged in in 70 degree weather? Maybe the hot weather pushed the sap out? As soon as you think you understand the Sugar Maple, it proves you wrong.

[802maple]

No freeze tonight, so have to see what the vacuum did to make up for it. The good news is we are making syrup, the bad news is the large Canadian producers most likely are to, which will most likely keep the price where it is.

[spud]

Woke up to 55 degrees and little sap. It is running about 75 GPH as of 6:00am I am wondering what it will do today. The 10 day forecast keeps changing so I have no idea as to what will happen. Hoping for some cold nights soon.

Spud

[sugarhouse veiw farm]

sap is still running here to just like it freezes every night. High vac is the way to go. Had to gather at 11 last night or tank would have been running over this morning it ran 600 gal sins 11 last night on 1600 taps and vac is 27 nice. well off to check for leakes

[Squaredeal]

Got down to 33* at the sugarhouse last night, and the sap slowed way down. This morning it's starting right back up again. Collected 3500 gal since 3:00 yesterday afternoon.
I keep watching the NWS forecast and they keep inching the highs down with freezing expected on Friday. In the meantime I'm going to hold my breath and keep my head down.

[wdchuck]

Give 'em hell Ed! I've thought about dropping by this week .....if only the **** sap would stop running!

[chevypower]

Well the sap was running well again yesterday considering the weather, it slowed down last night which had me pretty nervous but it picked back up today. We've got some trees starting to bud and we're making pretty good tasting commercial grade right now, hopefully we can make it to the cooler weather.

[GeneralStark]

Sap is still running strong at 27" but looks like the buckets are done. High vac and seasonal spouts are impressive. This is the year of the north aspect. We have had sap every day since last sunday and it is still coming in. Sugar is down to 1.3 but we are still making good tasting C. Red maples are swollen but sugar maples are tight. Back at it tomorrow AM.

[spud]

I got 3700 gallons today and it's still running tonight 150GPH I hope to wake up to 1000 gallons or more.

Spud

[220 maple]

I just talked to another WV syrupmaker and he said he talked to a rep. at CDl in Vermont today, the rep said it was 70 degrees yesterday and that everyone is done! Would one of you guys call them and tell them your still in operation and may stay in if you get a freeze this coming weekend. Don't ever believe that because the temperture got to 70 degrees the season is over. Welcome to south of the Mason-Dixon syrupmaking my friends. I had my second best season last year and had two different 70 degree days during the season.

Mark 220 Maple

[802maple]

Just got home from making another 5 barrels of Dark amber, with a decent taste, from around 10,000 gallons of sap. Good talking to fellow trader Maple Chaser today, he got to see the sap coming in from the no freeze, freeze last night. Really slowed down tonight, not betting against it picking up tomorrow though, it seems the trees are like what Theron said, they are used to it and just don't want to quit.

[PATheron]

Jerry- Im still getting 2500-3000 a day off 4700 taps (24 hours) going on two weeks with no freeze. I think with a cold pump head and a tight system (somewhat) must be you can just make that amount happen. The only thing its making is something thats to density that came from a maple tree that stinks a lot. If you guys do what Im doing youll go to June up there. ITs retarded. Theron

[spud]

Sap is slowing down to just 50 gallons an hour or so. I have around 1200 gallons in the tank this morning. The question is will it pick back up today or be done? Two of my neighbors stopped 2 days ago saying their trees are done. They were turning their vacuum off at night and I think that is what ended their season. I have no buds in sight and hope the cold temps gets here sooner then expected. Let's keep this going for three more weeks.

Spud

[sugartree310]

Still going here in Williston, made 25 gallons of dark amber last night. We will do the same tonight and see what happens after that. Keep them pumps on.

[spud]

Still going here in Williston, made 25 gallons of dark amber last night. We will do the same tonight and see what happens after that. Keep them pumps on.

Are there no buds in Williston yet? My folks live in Williston Woods. They are surround by maple trees but nobody taps them.

Spud

[sugartree310]

No buds yet here in Williston, at least here where we are , only time will tell.

[MapleChaser]

Just finish putting away all the snow plowing equipment. Took a ride up to the pump house and the sap is starting to run hard again. Just amazing! 802 i think you are going to be late again tonight. I only made 17 gallons of avery nice tasting "C" last night. See what happens tonight. Sugar tree with weather like this it is time to go back to our real jobs. Just kidding. Keep making syrup.
MC

[802maple]

Yeah, at 10 o'clock when it thawed out it (or fake freeze) started coming in just like yesterday. Go figure

[Thompson's Tree Farm]

Well here in NNY it is slowing up today. Made 3 barrels of nice tasting C yesterday but the sap is beginning to get pretty funky. Got 1000 gallons + working through the RO's right now. Little shot more and hope things hold tight until it cools this weekend. I ain't throwing in the towel because I'll have to sell it this summer to get some $'s to expand again.

[spud]

I got 3200 gallons today and it has slowed down to 125 GPH. I hope to wake up to 1000 gallons in the morning. I did see 4-5 trees start to bud but they were soft maples and one red maple. All my sugar maples are doing good and no buds in sight. I think I will make it to the cold weekend with no budding. I would like to get another 20,000 gallons of sap.

Spud

[MapleChaser]

Well sad day here at MC sugar house. Just closed the door on the pump house. Did not run hard long enough. Only drew in 650 gallons of .4% very milky looking stuff. I need at least a 1000 gallons of 1% to fire the ole 5 by 16. By looking at the wine bottles over in the corner of the counter I thought I was a little past the half way point not near the end. Will wait out the weekend and see what happens. Always fun.
MC

[GeneralStark]

Since saturday evening I have collected 1200 gallons of sap from 250 taps without a freeze. Well over 1 gpt per day. 27" of vacuum has sure helped. The sugar is down to 1.1% but we'll be boiling tomorrow. Free fuel is nice. Cleaned all the tanks today and the sap that's coming in is clear.

I believe that we are pulling water out of the ground at this point as all frost is gone. Even the buckets we're running. WTF?

[802maple]

Made 2 and half big boy drums tonight of B

[spud]

Woke up to only 500 gallons of sap in the tank. It is starting to run a little but not sure what the day will bring. We have two more hot days to go and then it cools down. I hope I can make it.

Spud

[driske]

hey 802,
Hang tough you Vermonters! things in Wisco land are bleak as far as Maple production. Our bush hasn't made this small amount of syrup since 1988, when our tap count was half of what it is today. Buckets yielded maybe 2 gallons of sap. Tubing guys with decent vacuum seem to be around .1 gallon syrup per tap.
The weather here went from total freeze to full bloom red maple in 8 days. No frost in between. Last sap tested 1.3%, and looked like what the whey truck used to bring for our hogs. The string of 80F days and 60F nights continues on.
If you throw a frog into a pot of hot water he jumps out immediately.....turn the heat up gradually and he sits still for his own cooking.

[802maple]

Theron, I need your help, I am not use to making Pennsylvania fancy. I think with your professional level and ability at making it, your time would be valuable.

[sugartree310]

We made 15 gallons of nasty buddy, off flavor syrup last night. The run reall slowed down . We shut it down. We are done. If we get a freeze may try to make some C grade. But not holding much hope on that!!!!

[PerryW]

hey 802,
Our bush hasn't made this small amount of syrup since 1988, when our tap count was half of what it is today. .

I'm about 2/3 of the way up New Hampshire and this is my worst year since I started here in 1989. My previous worst year was 72 gallons and I may just hit 40 if I get lucky.

[Squaredeal]

sap still coming in Walden. we made a drum of dark last night, but I think before the end of the week I'm going to have to learn the art of boiling "C".

[MapleChaser]

802 was out your way around 3:00. You all done?

[markcasper]

Is it only me?? Boiled the last of things yesterday and the syrup just did not want to stay in the pans. Turned my head for 10 seconds and the whole front pan was running down the fire doors. Defoamer don't work. The only thing you could do was do minimal firing, even having to open the doors from time to time to keep it contained. Sap was not ropy.

[GeneralStark]

Another 300+ gallons of 1% since 6 pm yesterday. Started detecting some off flavor in the syrup but we'll finish boiling it off tomorrow.

Peepers have been heard.

[Squaredeal]

We collected another 4000 gals of sap today.
Something strange is going on. We've got a bunch of bee hives, and even after all this heat, today was the fist day that they were flying.
It is not for me to wonder why. I've got my head down so I can't see the buds (or lack thereof), and I keep on trucking.

[Squaredeal]

I did just notice that there will be a full moon tomorrow night...

[PerryW]

I did just notice that there will be a full moon tomorrow night...

that would be a NEW Moon. It was just a sliver last night.


GOod luck in Vermont. Collected 75 gallons of sap today. Getting to the point of diminishing returns, but I'm staying plugged in in the name of science. Ain't made any bud run since 1989.

[Squaredeal]

You're right Perry.
God help my addled mind.

[spud]

I got 2500 gallons of sap today. Tomorrow night will be cold and Friday I am hoping for better quality sap and lots of it. Only time will tell but I am not giving up yet. No buds on the sugar maple yet.

Spud

[sjdoyon]

Thought we'd get a break today but another 2,000 gallons came in and still running. Cold temps arriving Thursday night and next two weeks look ideal (20 degree nights and 45/50 during the day). Think we might get lucky up here in the NEK this year.

[wdchuck]

This is crazy! Umpteenth day in a row of 70+ weather and the sap's still running. Its getting tough to boil- foams up a lot and doesnt go thru the press too well, but as long as it keeps coming, we'll keep boiling......The flavor, although not fancy, is ok and the color is just shy of being medium. ...and I'm drinking about 3 quarts of water to get me thru an afternoon of boiling.

[wcproctor]

No not a full moon a new moon, IS Vt still having the sugar open houses all over or is it off the year?
I did just notice that there will be a full moon tomorrow night...

[802maple]

I would like to say that I am going to hold in there, but I will leave that to you diehards. I just don't have the will to run to the RO feed tank, then to the RO and then the filter press and back to feed tank changing filters, so I shut the vacuum off and threw in the towel. I just didn't waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnnnnnnnn nnnnnnt it anymore I guess, but I did end up making 2 more big boy barrels tonight and I should get one more tomorrow when I push the pans.

[wiam]

Don't be that way Jerry.

[PerryW]

I would like to say that I am going to hold in there, but I will leave that to you diehards. I just don't have the will to run to the RO feed tank, then to the RO and then the filter press and back to feed tank changing filters, so I shut the vacuum off and threw in the towel. I just didn't waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnnnnnnnn nnnnnnt it anymore I guess, but I did end up making 2 more big boy barrels tonight and I should get one more tomorrow when I push the pans.

I never figgured you for a quitter, but I guess it's better to stick to your morals and not have to unload a load of bud-run drums. Seasons prolly over for me too. Only 32 gallons short of my worst year. Good luck in 2013!!!

[wdchuck]

1100 gallons in the tanks, sap still coming into the releaser. The way its been going, it might run well again today. We'll boil again, if only to sterilize the evaporator so it doesnt turn to goo at todays high temps. AND I'M CROSSING MY FINGERS THAT THESE COOLER TEMPS ON THE WAY WILL EXTEND MY SEASON!

[spud]

The temps are going down tonight. I am going to keep the vacuum on for the weekend and see if we can get more. The guy that boils my sap said the taste is good and it is still dark amber. I still have no real buds in the sugar woods yet. There is still money to be made in Grade B and Commercial and I'm not even there yet. Woke up to 600 gallons in the tank this morning. My friend up the road three miles thinks we are still going to make a bunch. He has 30,000 taps and said he is not even close to giving up yet. He thinks we are going to make syrup in April. Still having fun. Good luck to everyone.

Spud

[802maple]

I never figgured you for a quitter, but I guess it's better to stick to your morals and not have to unload a load of bud-run drums. Seasons prolly over for me too. Only 32 gallons short of my worst year. Good luck in 2013!!!

When I heard Bascom didn't want that rope or unfiltered syrup, it totally made up my mind. Don't need to waste energy or oil to make something that I can't get rid of. I hope he sticks to his guns on that as we shouldn't be making it anyway, I have always felt that way, as it only hurts the industry

[PerryW]

thanks for the tip. I was toying with the idea of bringing some commercial down there if I get a freeze. Guess I've never experienced Rope Sap/Syrup. I haven't made any real bud run since 1989. That year, I made 70 gallons on my 2x6 but the last 30 was buddy. The first buddy stuff was dark C grade, but it gradually lightened up to Fancy. Probably had 10 gallons of nice-looking fancy syrup that had a buddy flavor. I gave it away to the farmer down the road for his animals, but he used it on his pancakes. Apparantly, some people have no taste buds.

[driske]

That phenomenon of the the last and bitterest syrup turning from dark to light happened to me only once. The last boil was nearly luminous in color, the flavor started with a mellow butterscotch tone, peaked with caramel, and finished with a bitter tang that could have curled the teeth on a brass monkey.
LOL; " Apparently some people have no taste buds"

[GeneralStark]

I have heard some refer to that buddy fancy as "bud light".

The sap is still coming in and it looks like we might be selling some sap to a tourist trap who wants to be able to boil this weekend for the tourists at the open house. Open house weekend is still happening.

[802maple]

Brave man if it smells like ours did. LOL

[sjdoyon]

Crazy week, another 2,500+ gallons of sap this morning. Don't understand why they just keep running, night temps are only down to 34/35. Almost lost our snow cover, only snow left is in shaded areas. Cold temps moving in tonight, we might be good into April.

[MapleChaser]

Crazy week, another 2,500+ gallons of sap this morning. Don't understand why they just keep running, night temps are only down to 34/35. Almost lost our snow cover, only snow left is in shaded areas. Cold temps moving in tonight, we might be good into April.
Keep us posted all of us sugar makers are very envious of you. April is a great month to produce maple.

[chevypower]

We shut the pump off late last night after our last attempt at boiling. We were making some pretty nasty stuff and were having a very hard time getting it through the press and it looked as dirty coming out as it did going in. We might try to start up again Saturday night if it freezes and the sap looks better. We've got budding on most of our soft maples but the hard ones aren't bad. My brother started pulling the buckets today.

[Randy Brutkoski]

I pushed water through yesterday. I shut my pumps off yesterday but are getting turned back on saturday. I am the last one still going anywhere down here.

[spud]

I got 1800 gallons yesterday. I have not been to the sugar house this morning yet but I think the sap had stopped last night at about 8:00pm. I washed out my tanks in hoping to get better quality sap today. We have ideal temps for the next 7 days. I'm not sure if we will get more or not but i am not shutting the pump off. Still having fun.

Spud

[Gravel]

Between my father and I we have boiled everyday but one since the 15th and amazingly enough it is still filtering well and most of it has been fancy, we havent had a freeze since the 11th and our snow in the sugarwoods is all gone! Doesnt make sense but it doesnt have too!

[Squaredeal]

Still flowing well here and making DA. Yesterday was the first day that the sap was at all cloudy, but not too stinky. We're going crazy keeping everything clean.

I think I am developing "tank washer's elbow".

[GeneralStark]

The pump is off here. Down to .7% sugar. It is still running but looks and smells pretty nasty. Another 400 gallons in the last 24. It's hard to keep sap at 80 degrees for too long.

We'll see what the weather brings this week, but I have a feeling we won't be making any table syrup.

[sjdoyon]

Sap was cloudy yesterday and finally slowed down in the afternoon. Freeze last night got things going again, another 2,000+ gallons today. Supposed to get in the low 20s tonight and 40s tomorrow so looks like a good run for the next two weeks. 2100ft elevation looks like it's going to pay off this year (i hope). 760 gallons barreled to date.

[Gravel]

Got home tonight and saw some buds on my maples, cold weather just didnt get here quick enough!!

[spud]

Got home tonight and saw some buds on my maples, cold weather just didnt get here quick enough!!

I have the same deal here. Some (not all) of my maples are starting to bud. I was hoping we could beat the heat. I will leave the pump on today and see what happens. It went down to 30 last night. My sap buyer says he still has hope but I'm not so sure. Yesterday I only got 1000 gallons and the sap was of better quality then past days so who knows what will happen.

Spud

[GeneralStark]

Red maples have really budded out here, but sugar maples look swollen but tight. We'll see if the colder weather slows things down.

We sold 700 gallons of 1% sap collected this week to a local brewer for .60/gallon. They are using it to create some traditional VT brew that used late season sap and that was supposedly so intense that a strong VT man could only drink two glasses. We'll see how it turns out.

[sjdoyon]

The reds in the area are budding. We have 100% rock maple so still at it, even though we had some slime come down the line last night while still collecting 200+ gallons an hour. Very cold temps arrive on Monday so hopefully the sap will clear up or else we'll just have to keep changing the filter on the RO each day.

[sjdoyon]

I think we're putting the Check Valves to the test with the weather we had this week.

[sjdoyon]

Anybody else in Vermont still going? We collected another 2,000+ gallons over the night. Cold temps moving in the next few days hoping we can get some production out of the next few weeks. Sugar maples still in good shape, no sign of budding.

[Gravel]

Well I have given up on my pipeline being they are mostly soft maple but I went and hung some buckets on the hard maples! Just not ready to throw in the towel yet.

[PerryW]

DOne here in Lyman. I walked up the hill of the big bush yesterday, sat down and had a talk my trees. Though the Rock Maples looks okay (from a distance) my Red's are practically sprouting leaves. Based on the taste of my last commercial syrup and no sap in 3 days, I could not see an economic reason to stay plugged in. Even in the best situation, I may make 10-15 gallons of syrup not fit for human consumption.

Sounds like you are a week behind me so you may be okay up in Canaan. Good luck.

[Squaredeal]

We're still going in Walden.
Sap flow is not so great, as I think the trees are in shock from the temp chance. It will really be interesting to see what happens next week.

[PerryW]

We're still going in Walden.
Sap flow is not so great, as I think the trees are in shock from the temp chance. It will really be interesting to see what happens next week.


Walden?? Two year ago, my sugarbush was pretty much melted out with only a few inches of snow here and there. I went up to Walden VT to do a survey and there was over 3 feet of snow on the ground. It was essentially impossible to go anywhere without snowshoes. Luckily, I was able to borrow a pair from a contractor who was working on site. You'll probably go well into April.

[spud]

Anybody else in Vermont still going? We collected another 2,000+ gallons over the night. Cold temps moving in the next few days hoping we can get some production out of the next few weeks. Sugar maples still in good shape, no sign of budding.

I have 2000 gallons in the tank. It ran a little today but not much. I am going to see what happens this week. By mid to end of the week we should know if we are going to be able to make money or not. My sap smells good and the woods is still looking good.

Spud

[spud]

I woke up to no sap but 1 inch of snow on the ground. I talked to the guy that buy's my sap and he thinks we will be making syrup by the end of the week. The back side of my woods has not started to bud much so I might run vacuum just to them and shut the rest of the woods off. That would still give me 2800 taps to work with. As of right now the whole woods is still under high vacuum. I am being told that I have to keep it going if I want to be a part of 2012 sugaring Part-2. This is a crazy season but I'm excited to see what happens and hoping to make more.

Spud

[Squaredeal]

23* here this morning. Finally a break -for us and the trees.
We made 40 gals last night of C -it was pretty nasty.
Time to clean everything up and get ready for what will hopefully be round 2.

Perry, yours sounds like a typical introduction to Walden. It's beautiful up here, but cold. In fact last week would have been considered hot weather in the summer.
As far as snowshoes, my 9 year old daughter is on her fourth pair and ready for another. We live on them. :-)

[Brandy Brook Maple Farm]

We are holding out in Northern N.Y. to wait and see what happens this week, too. Hopefully we kept our pumps going long enough to take advantage of what I hope is a good (albeit long-anticipated) 2nd run of sap. Still don't know what it's going to taste like.

[PerryW]

I unplugged and rinsed 35% of my taps (the warmer ones). The rest are still plugged in and I'm ready to go with clean tanks if it runs tomorrow. Been below freezing all day and spose to freeze hard and warm to 38 tomorrow. I suspect the flavor will be buddy but we can just put a Made In Vermont Label on the jugs and noone will know the difference.;)

[sjdoyon]

Sap stop running early this morning. Got down to 9 degrees this morning and snowing. Looks like it will hopefully start back up tomorrow or Wednesday.

[MapleChaser]

Sap stop running early this morning. Got down to 9 degrees this morning and snowing. Looks like it will hopefully start back up tomorrow or Wednesday.
Iam still tap, but the vacuum has been off for almost a week. Can I salvage a second run??? It will be buddy iam sure. Does that still go as commercial? Never made commercial before.
MC

[sugartree310]

Turn the the pump on when it warms up and see what you get. I know I will later when it warms up . I hope to make a little c grade. We will see what happens. I will let you know what I do.

[PerryW]

not sure if we're gonna warm up enough today to run. WOuldnt-ya-know it? 2 weeks with out a freeze and now it won't warm up. Oh well, at least the mud froze up enough to sneak a load of firewood out this morning.

[GeneralStark]

The vacuum pump is back on and the sap is lightly running...onto the ground for now as it is nothing I would want to boil between the stench and the cheese curd like chunks. We'll give it through tomorrow to see if it clears up and maybe boil a bit on the stove. I suspect it will be buddy. The 2012 experiment sure is fun though!

[802maple]

Spouts are still in but I have no desire to spend the time or money on something I can't sell

[Mark]

Can you sell buddy syrup as commercial?

[spud]

I got 500 gallons of sap today. It smells good and looked a little clearer then the other day. We will know real soon if sugaring is back on or not. Good luck to everyone crazy enough to keep trying.

Spud

[sjdoyon]

temps still in the teens today, nothing running....hope to get warm enough weather tomorrow to start back up.

[maplecrest]

as the cold weather is back after 7 straight days of 80's and 60 at night. we dont see that in the summer.my last boil was a week ago today. processsed 13000 gal of sap to make no syrup. was all foam.1/2 qt defoamer would not make liquid. after shutting off evap. took 3 hours to drain header tank to evap.was all foam.yesterday sap smells bad still and looks like heavy cream. the buds are out and growing even with yesterdays cold. decided to pull my taps.

[802maple]

Can you sell buddy syrup as commercial?

I was told by Bascom's that they might take it if you sold them your whole crop and that depended on how much you had and how bad.

[Snow Hill Farm]

I heard yesterday that the market already has a lot of filtered and un-filtered commercial and I would be taking my chances if I boiled and then wanted to sell the bulk. Unfiltered is only getting $1.50 a pound right now...

[PerryW]

I was just cutting firewood over at my tank and it was just starting to run. I drained out what was there and cleaned the tank.

ALso, I plugged a spout back in to a (good-running) bucket I pulled a week ago and it was dripping 1 drip per sec. I am almost sure anything I gather will make buddy syrup, but I may just use it to push the sweet out.

[Greenwich Maple Man]

I heard yesterday that the market already has a lot of filtered and un-filtered commercial and I would be taking my chances if I boiled and then wanted to sell the bulk. Unfiltered is only getting $1.50 a pound right now...

I was told today from Bascoms that unfiltered Com. is $1.75 and filtered is $2.00 per pound. That was today so who knows what will happen. If they start this crap of only taking Com. if you sell them good, it will bite them at another time.

[802maple]

I was told today from Bascoms that unfiltered Com. is $1.75 and filtered is $2.00 per pound. That was today so who knows what will happen. If they start this crap of only taking Com. if you sell them good, it will bite them at another time.

they will take commercial all day long I believe, unfiltered and buddy syrup won't make the grade as commercial

[spud]

Part two is on. I got 2000 gallons so far today of the clearest sap of the season. The sugar is low 1% but I will take it. The sap taste great and as of 9:00 pm it is flowing at 250GPH.

Spud

[Brandy Brook Maple Farm]

Hey, Spud! Good for you! We are still sucking sap here, too. Let me know what kind (grade) of syrup you draw out! Thanks!

[DucFight]

Hey Spud, We've decided not to boil anymore this year but the sap was running in pretty decent even with the pump off. You don't suppose your buyer would want any more sap do you? If they do, I'd gladly turn on the pump if I could sell a little sap. We're located in Berkshire.

[spud]

Hey Spud, We've decided not to boil anymore this year but the sap was running in pretty decent even with the pump off. You don't suppose your buyer would want any more sap do you? If they do, I'd gladly turn on the pump if I could sell a little sap. We're located in Berkshire.

Hey DucFight I will check and see if they will buy more. I think they would if you were close. They even have people bringing sap to them in pickup tanks. The guy I was selling sap to all season shut down because his trees were budding. They were pulling taps yesterday. I hooked up with this other guy a few weeks ago and they are real nice people. I got another 1500 gallons last night but then everything froze. I hope for a lot of sap this afternoon. I will let you know the quality of the syrup as soon as I hear. I know it's going to be good.

Spud

[Squaredeal]

Just curious, Spud. What is the elevation of your bush and what direction does it face?
Ray

[spud]

Just curious, Spud. What is the elevation of your bush and what direction does it face?
Ray

My woods faces SouthEast ( Jay Peak ) all the way around to the SouthWest. The elevation is 450-500 feet I think. Are you close by? We had a good freeze last night and it went down to 28 or so. I am hoping for two more weeks of sugaring. Good luck to all who are crazy enough to keep trying.

Spud

[Squaredeal]

Wow, that's lower that I thought.
I live in Walden, and generally don't go South of Route 2 or West of Route 100 unless there is a very good reason.
Our bush is at 2000+ feet, and faces North West. It was 25* here last night, and has not really warmed up from the big chill. We boiled until Sunday, and are hoping for a miracle...

[GeneralStark]

The pump is still on and the sap is coming in. I have collected about 100 gallons since I closed the valve on the tank yesterday afternoon. Sap is relatively clear but sugar is only .9%. Will boil some on the stove today but I'm not very optimistic. At least the pipeline and tubing is getting flushed...

[PerryW]

My coldest trees are a string of 25 that ran pretty well overnight. Got almost 1 gallon per tap and sap is crystal clear. Unfortunately, my big tank only ran 50 gallons with maybe 400 taps plugged in (still crystal clear, good tasting sap)

Upon inspection of the taps I pulled, I believe at least half of the taps have dried up.

THe sap looks good, but I'm 90% sure it will produce bud run (though maybe bud-light). I will probably gather tonite and use the sap to push the sweet out of the pan.

[spud]

It was to cold here today for any sap to run. Starting Friday things should start running again. It's nice to know there are other people sticking it out to see what's going to happen. What a weird season this is. Good luck to everyone.

Spud

[wdchuck]

I'm with ya Spud!....Only problem is that its been too cold here for the sap to run much. I really need enough to come down those mainlines to give it a decent flushing, then its hope for something that's at least somewhat clear. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

[802maple]

Reached in and grabbed the corner of the towel again, maybe

[Randy Brutkoski]

4500 gallons of sap the last 2 days. Pretty clear. concentrating now. Going to boil tomorow. Forcast looks ok. Everyone down this way has been done for almost 2 weeks. Im not a quiter.

[GeneralStark]

4500 gallons of sap the last 2 days. Pretty clear. concentrating now. Going to boil tomorow. Forcast looks ok. Everyone down this way has been done for almost 2 weeks. Im not a quiter.

Randy - What's the sugar content? .9% here but 1 gallon per tap in the last 24. Will boil some on the stove tomorrow to see if it is buddy before firing up the boiler.

Beanie says we shouldn't make buddy syrup.:)

[GeneralStark]

Reached in and grabbed the corner of the towel again, maybe

Too hard to resist right?

[spud]

Welcome back 802maple. That towel never felt so good.

Spud

[Randy Brutkoski]

Mine is also .9% but my sugars are not budded. The soft are around here but there are not any buds on my sugars.

[802maple]

Randy - What's the sugar content? .9% here but 1 gallon per tap in the last 24. Will boil some on the stove tomorrow to see if it is buddy before firing up the boiler.

Beanie says we shouldn't make buddy syrup.:)

I won't be making any if it tastes like I saw and tasted tonight from a fellow sugarmaker, just can't make myself do it. I will make "c" but not substandard ugh

[Papa John's Sugar Shack]

Ran great today 7500 gallons on 5000.

[spud]

Ran great today 7500 gallons on 5000.

Wow that's a good run your having. Whats your sugar content? I am all froze up again today but I am in hopes of getting the mother load when it thaws. How much syrup have you made to date? Did you shut the other 5000 taps off due to budding? I wish you the best Papa John.

Spud

[Gravel]

I made a gallon of great tasting B last night, I honestly think its going to get lighter as some of what I got last night was left over from the pans from a week ago that I have kept cold. Sap was clear as water and tested just a little over 2.5%. Just didnt have as much to boil as I would have liked being I am now chasing buckets because my pipeline is mostly soft maple which have budded!

[spud]

It is 6:00pm at my house and the sap is running in at 475 GPH and has been for all afternoon. Sap is testing at just 1% and it is as clear as water. The sap taste great so it should make some good tasting syrup ( I will let you know ). I only have about 15 very large maples with some buds starting. Next week could be real good.

Spud

[Papa John's Sugar Shack]

Ran 6200 today at 1.6 clear as water but syrup tasted like shiiiiiiiiiiiiit !!!

[spud]

Ran 6200 today at 1.6 clear as water but syrup tasted like shiiiiiiiiiiiiit !!!

Are your trees budded and thats why your syrup taste bad? I have not heard back from my sap buyer on taste of my syrup. I do know that the sap taste great so I was under the assumption the syrup would be good tasting also. Am I wrong on my assumption? If my clear sap is still making bad tasting syrup then I guess my season will be over sooner then I thought. I thought as long as the buds are not out the syrup taste would still be pretty good. Any info would be helpful. Thank you.

Spud

[Gravel]

I believe you are correct, as long as there is no buds your syrup should taste good, trees I have tapped arent budded and the syrup I made taste great!

[spud]

Would it be to my best interest to pull some spouts out of maybe 10-20 larger maples that are starting to bud? My sap still taste great and is as clear as water but still only test at 1%. I'm running 28 lbs in the woods and that might be part of it. I see others on Trader getting 1.5 and better. I'm still having fun.

Spud

[802maple]

The flavor that is effecting me more then bud is metabolism, which i would rather have buddy syrup. Alot of people confuse metabolism with good tasting syrup. LOL

[spud]

The flavor that is effecting me more then bud is metabolism, which i would rather have buddy syrup. Alot of people confuse metabolism with good tasting syrup. LOL

I thought the Metabolism was all connected with trees budding. If my buds are not out and my sap taste great and is clear then could I still have a Metabolism problem? If so then how does that happen? Did the high temps two weeks ago cause this? Any info would be great. Thank you.

Spud

[Ed R]

Back in the mid 70's in mid- michigan there was a year when it reached the upper 70's to 80 for a three to five day stretch, then turned cold for a week, then turned to perfect syrup weather. We cleaned our buckets and the sap was crystal clear. During our first boil you could tell something wasn't right, every once in a while you would get a whiff of an unpleasant odor. It was kindof like buddy but not quite. The syrup was fancy to light amber and tasted good when it first hit your taste buds but then left an unpleasant aftertaste. We only had 50-75 gallons prior to that heat wave so we continued making syrup and sold alot of it in bulk but some to our customers. In hindsight, we should have just quit because we ticked off a few of our customers. It wasn't just us, there was alot of bad syrup made that year in lower Michigan and it took awhile for the market to come back. The trees were not swollen/budded at all, the sap tasted fine and was over 2%. You couldn't tell untill boiled and almost syrup.

[802maple]

The best I can explain it is it is an advancement in the tree, but it can be turned around by cold weather, but from my experience it takes much colder weather then we are having. When I have seen a reversal in the metabolism flavor it is usually during late February to early March when you can have several days of sub freezing weather and never thaws during the period. I have never seen it change when it continues to freeze and thaw. But who knows this year.
Alot of times Metabolism syrup tastes fine when it is made but when you open up a barrel in a couple of months, you will question your sanity for making it. It becomes a very earthy- chocolate flavor that is sweet, but has no similarity to syrup flavor and when you open the barrel it is a very noticeable smell. Some sugarmakers think that it is alright for "B" syrup but in all reality it has a serious off flavor that shouldn't be marketed as a table grade syrup and only as commercial. I have seen it so bad that is was also called "substandard" and when there is a bountiful amount of it the packers refuse to buy it or really penalize the producer by giving about half price. We haven't seen that situation yet, but it is getting closer as the packers are starting to question whether they want it or not. Being a former buyer for Maple Grove, my advice is to continue to make it if you think you need to, but i wouldn't bury my head in the sand and think that you will are guaranteed selling it. I would contact your packer daily as things can change that fast, especially with Canada and Maine doing the same thing you folks are, the market can get flooded fast.

I have to agree with the above post as the same thing happened to me in 1987. Made 30 barrels of it and I thought it was fine until compared it to good syrup.

I let loose of the towel again so you won't have to worry about me making a bigger risk for you. LOL

Good luck everyone

[GeneralStark]

Started pulling taps yesterday even though the sap is running like gangbusters. We boiled some of the sap we collected in the last two days and the smell coming off the pans was not good. It doesn't make sense for a small retail producer like me to boil 1% sap to produce off flavored syrup so it's time to move onto innoculating logs and growing food. The first spinach of the season will be harvested today.

It is unfortunate that we had such a dramatic warm up last week as the weather is looking ideal for sugaring. The trees are moving on though. I did pull about 60 taps last week from trees that appeared to have budded, but I'm not convinced you can visibly tell when a tree has started producing chemicals that give off flavors (buddy, metabolism) in the associated syrup.

I am impressed by the taps and tapholes being so clean and still giving sap after such warm weather last week. High vacuum and seasonal spouts are impressive.

For me, the towel has been thrown in but good luck to the rest of you who are still at it.

[spud]

Thank you guy's for helping me understand better. I hope to hear something tonight as to how my syrup taste. I will keep you all posted. As for right now the sap is running at 500 GPH. I just hope the quality is good enough to keep selling. Thanks again for all your help.

Spud

[PerryW]

I have to agree with the above post as the same thing happened to me in 1987. Made 30 barrels of it and I thought it was fine until compared it to good syrup.

I

Good luck everyone

that's exactly what happened to me in 1989. I made 70 gallons for the season on my 2x6 and the last 30 was all bud run. I thought it tasted okay when I put it in the drum, but upon reheating and bottling, the stuff was pretty bad. Even went all the way up for fancy grade for some of the 30 gallons.

I believe the trees are farther along this year then in 1989, so I little hope of making table syrup. Boiled up 150 gallons of nice looking sap this morning and no takeoff. I don't own a sap hydrometer, but I'm guessing the sugar content is down.

[Papa John's Sugar Shack]

The sap is still running like mad just as clear as can be, made 60 gallons of real light syrup much lighter tha fancy I believe
The tree started their metabolism for the budding process,because my tree show no sign of buds. When I said the syrup taste like **** I really mean it. ( it smells like your cooking dirty socks) with that I started washing things up and pulling taps
Today.

[spud]

My sap is running 800 GPH and has been for hours. I should get about 6000-7000 gallons today. Sap is running through the RO right now and they will be boiling it later tonight. I hope it's good because i'm not ready to throw in the towel.

Spud

[MapleChaser]

I was untapping today and the sap was running like crazy. But when you stuck your tongue under the taps and tasted the sap it was a mild bitter taste. Just teases you into thinking you should be saveing it and start boiling. For now all I can do is think about next year.
MC

[argohauler]

I was just wondering if you guys had finished what was in your pans from the hot spell and started new and still got the metabolism flavour?

My metabolism year was 07, made 77 Imperial gallons of the crap, even a bit of ropey at the end and the packer bought it fortunately.

[Thompson's Tree Farm]

Had a supplier bring me several hundred gallons of pretty good looking sap today. He will have more Monday. I boiled a couple of gallons on the stove...The rest goes on the ground. This stuff isn't worth making even if you can sell it. Hurts the industry IMO.

[Papa John's Sugar Shack]

I drained my and washed my entire rig twice before starting and still was disapointed with the taste. Trust me I tried everything to make it right. Dumping thousands of gallons of sap on the ground kills me.

[spud]

I am now going to find out tomorrow if my sugaring season is over or not. I was told yesterday's sap was not good because it got mixed in with some bad sap. We now have 5000 gallons of good clear sap to try for tomorrow. Based on what everyone is saying it does not look good. I did get 80,000 gallons of sap this year with an average of 1.7 % so thats just shy of 1600 gallons of syrup. I'm having fun and thats all that matters. Is anyone in northern Vermont still boiling?

Spud

[PerryW]

My sugarbush is right across the river from Waterford VT (near St J) at about 1000' elevation. I was guessing there were some big sap runs to the north or higher elevation. I had a few small pipelines that ran their best runs of the season yesterday & today.

The jury is out on taste though. The 3 gallons I took off today were so dark that any buddy flavor was masked. Mostly sap that sat in the pans for 8 days. Things were starting to lighten up toward the end of the boil. I'll find out then how bad the taste is tomorrow when I boil again (it was running when I gathered). THe steam really didn't smell too bad. I had a few visitors during the boil and they were all able to hold down their lunch.

[Gravel]

I boiled with my dad on Saturday, his didnt smell very good while boiling or taste very good but we thought it was because he had approximately 600 soft maples mixed in that had budded so we pulled all the soft maple and havent boiled since. I boiled yesterday and the smell was a little off but the syrup taste really good and has good color, do you guys think there is a chance this syrup will get an off taste?

[Scribner's Mountain Maple]

I'm in northern, VT at 1200 ft elevation. I pulled most of my red maples, cleaned the pans and boiled 1200 gal of fresh sap yesterday. I made 8 gal of dark A, but it tastes like Karo. It's over. I just had to see it for myself.

[spud]

Sap is running at 500 GPH and I just got the word it's good. Syrup is going through the filter press but it taste poor. If it filters it sells is what my buyer is telling me. It's still better then birch syrup.

Spud

[PerryW]

Sap is running at 500 GPH and I just got the word it's good. Syrup is going through the filter press but it taste poor. If it filters it sells is what my buyer is telling me. It's still better then birch syrup.

Spud

FOR SALE: Spud's Budrun 2012 End of the World Syrup

Available in Spud Light, Spud Medium and Spud Dark Amber

This Spud's for you!

Spend 13 hours chopping line for surveying today so didn't check my tanks today. I'm sure the sap is lovely.

[spud]

Thanks for the free ad and for helping me out. I'm sending you a free quart of the crap 3rd class mail.:lol: It appears yesterday that my buyer could not boil for long and then the syrup jelled up on him. I know they sell jelled cranberry in the store so I might be on to something.:lol::lol: I have about five thousand gallons of sap I was planning to dump last night and then a neighbor called asking if he could have it. I don't think he can make anything out of it but if he wants to try I said have at it. As the old saying goes ( you can't make chicken soup out of chicken poop ). It was a fun season for me and my family. I want to thank everyone who helped me along the way here on Trader. I plan to start setting up the last section of my woods next week. I hope to have another 1500 taps for next year. I hope everyone enjoy's their summer.

Spud

[PerryW]

I think I'll gather today and use the sap to push out the another couple take-offs out and dump the pans. Can't see finishing that stuff from the pans in the house and wasting an afternoon and stinking up the house.

I'm replacing my culvert, widening the driveway for a log truck and getting a cable skidder over to the bush and whack down everything I can get too that's competing with my maples. Got 2000' of new 1" & 3/4" mainline and gonna hang them up and strive for 5 instead of 40. I may dig a trench to the nearest neighbor's house under the cover of darkness and install a 50 amp breaker in their panel and run some UE over to my saptank.

Looks like around 48 gallons will be the final tally, about 40% crop.

[Randy Brutkoski]

I am way to the south of you and i am also getting a fair amount of sap but i cant do anything with it. its too bad

[PerryW]

Picked up 110 gallons of cloudy sap and ended up taking off 6 gallons of Comercial for a total of 51 gallons for the season. Steam starting to smell real buddy and the syrup now has a noticable buddy flavor.

I am done gathering sap and going to get back to pulling taps today.

[802maple]

Boss told me to turn the pumps back on, brought in 6000 gallons over night off the 4500 taps that aren't pulled. It is making wonderful tasting metabolism syrup but no bud taste, especially after a couple buds.

[Squaredeal]

Round 2 is on hard in Walden. Sap ran well and clear yesterday and today, and the taste, although not great is getting better. Our sugaring weather roughly equates to that in Quebec, so I can imagine that they are making a ton of syrup up there.

[paul]

Hey 802 will that get the ROBUST LABLE? sounds like there will be a lot of that stuff this year.

[spud]

I'm starting to pull spouts in the morning. The season is over for me. Just 10 more months and I will do it all over again.

Spud

[802maple]

I have to agree with squaredeal the flavor was much better then yesterday and lot better then Sunday. Still not going on my pancakes though. We got over 2 gallons per tap in 24 hours, wouldn't you know we would get good sugaring weather after the season was over.

[Brandy Brook Maple Farm]

It is making wonderful tasting metabolism syrup but no bud taste, especially after a couple buds.

:lol:

We were making bud light.....but now it tastes like something completely different [it 'snot maple]

My son asked if they were going to start a classification system for commercial....

[spud]

Boss told me to turn the pumps back on, brought in 6000 gallons over night off the 4500 taps that aren't pulled. It is making wonderful tasting metabolism syrup but no bud taste, especially after a couple buds.

If the syrup starts getting ropey you better stop. The last thing you want is to be known as the guy from ( rope sap mountain ). :lol::lol: My syrup smelled so bad yesterday that they could not stand it. Right around the 212 degree mark is when it went from bad to ugly and that is when we shut down. Good luck to everyone. Happy Easter.

Spud

[wdchuck]

Been done for over a week now- tried to hold on, but the sap was pretty manky, the lines were all snot, and the sample I boiled on the stove was "less than spectacular". Our last batch wouldnt stay in the pans, wouldnt sheet, wouldnt go through the press, and probably wouldnt stay down if you ate it. 2/3 of a crop- not a total disaster, better than most folks around here, but not what I had hoped for. Luckily, I budget on last years sales, not next years pipedreams.

[802maple]

Been done for over a week now- tried to hold on, but the sap was pretty manky, the lines were all snot, and the sample I boiled on the stove was "less than spectacular". Our last batch wouldnt stay in the pans, wouldnt sheet, wouldnt go through the press, and probably wouldnt stay down if you ate it. 2/3 of a crop- not a total disaster, better than most folks around here, but not what I had hoped for. Luckily, I budget on last years sales, not next years pipedreams.
That is what was happening to ours a week ago, but now it is acting like early season syrup and easily filters 100 gallons at a time thru the press. The flavor is much better, I do believe this is a usable syrup, albeit i would still call it commercial, but in the past I have seen a company i use to work for call it the grade it is in color when it was this flavor. Everybody knows how I don't believe we should be making stuff like we were facing last week, and that is why i dumped it. I probably dumped enough to make a 1000 gallons last week until the day before yesterday when we started saving it again. Go figure

[Mud Island Maple]

Boiled for the first time in 16 days and was worried about the results. We hadn't saved any sap except what had run the last couple of days. Took off just over a gallon and the color was great-arguably fancy but the flavor wasn't fancy. Still it probably was comparable to dark amber. We are at 1800 feet in Glover and may get another run or two.
Have any of you taken syrup to the wholesalers? What are they saying if the color is good but the flavor doesn't match the color? This seems like it could be a risky situation if this ends up on the market- we don't want to risk Vermont's maple reputation. Just wondering.

[maplwrks]

Not an issue--They sell it as Pennsylvania Fancy

[vtmapleman]

It is my undestanding that if the color is Fancy and the taste is Dark Amber it is suppose to be sold as Dark Amber.

[802maple]

It is my undestanding that if the color is Fancy and the taste is Dark Amber it is suppose to be sold as Dark Amber.

You are correct

[Brandy Brook Maple Farm]

And if the color is medium and it tastes like someone added orange extract? ;P

[802maple]

And if the color is medium and it tastes like someone added orange extract? ;P

"Commercial" at best, or maybe the grade that is used by the packers "substandard"

[doocat]

Hey what is this about Pennsylvania Fancy???? We made quite a bit this year...I mean real Fancy. Sorry just had to reply.

Craig

[PerryW]

Hey what is this about Pennsylvania Fancy???? We made quite a bit this year...I mean real Fancy. Sorry just had to reply.

Craig

Hey Craig, Vermonters are kind of stuck up about their syrup but to me, it smells a little bit like cows.

[802maple]

Hey what is this about Pennsylvania Fancy???? We made quite a bit this year...I mean real Fancy. Sorry just had to reply.

Craig

I guess you had to be there, right Theron,, hehehehehehe

and then there is that NH fancy, has that smell of dead lobster. lol Perry you had to get me going didn't you.

[PerryW]

I guess you had to be there, right Theron,, hehehehehehe

and then there is that NH fancy, has that smell of dead lobster. lol Perry you had to get me going didn't you.

You're thinking of Maine Syrup.

[sjdoyon]

Anyone else still sugaring? Heard some operations west of us are still going. We made 100 gallons yesterday (Dark Amber), snowed last night and had another 2,500 gallons of clear sap (2.5%) came in by noon today. Check Valves are proving to be worth the money.

[lew]

sjdoyon, when did you tap. we used the cv's as well but pulled theplug 3 weeks ago.

[802maple]

sjdoyon, when did you tap. we used the cv's as well but pulled theplug 3 weeks ago.

we used CV's and the sap is still running but so aren't the ones that used other new types of tips in the area, we aren't saving anymore and are all done. Our cv's weren't doing any better then lappierre or cdl spouts, so i think we will save some money next year and use another brand.

[lew]

802, In our local area with or with out vac. the trees seemed to quit about the 15-16 of march. With 24" of vac. we were only able to pull about 600+ gallons per day of of 3050 taps at 1%.. After three days of that we decided to pull the taps. Not enough to bother with. Holes were only drilled 3 weeks prior. I see that Wallings maple was still able to make syrup until just last week (he's just over the hill a few miles frpm us), but he was working with north slopes. I am not decided against the cv's yet. We were able to make 30 gallons per tap in three weeks, just not much sugar. I have seen us pulling sap when others are not the past 2 years when we were using cv's and they were not.
this year was not a good year to tell down here. But your info sounds not so promising for the cv's. Were others in your area not using cv's puting in new droplines as well as new spouts, or new spouts on old droplines?

[Squaredeal]

We're still going. CDL smart spouts are still running quite well when it warms up -it snowed off and on all day today.

[Walling's Maple Syrup]

802, In our local area with or with out vac. the trees seemed to quit about the 15-16 of march. With 24" of vac. we were only able to pull about 600+ gallons per day of of 3050 taps at 1%.. After three days of that we decided to pull the taps. Not enough to bother with. Holes were only drilled 3 weeks prior. I see that Wallings maple was still able to make syrup until just last week (he's just over the hill a few miles frpm us), but he was working with north slopes. I am not decided against the cv's yet. We were able to make 30 gallons per tap in three weeks, just not much sugar. I have seen us pulling sap when others are not the past 2 years when we were using cv's and they were not.
this year was not a good year to tell down here. But your info sounds not so promising for the cv's. Were others in your area not using cv's puting in new droplines as well as new spouts, or new spouts on old droplines? We have one woods (2400 taps) with southern exposure. The other three woods are both north and east facing. We started transitioning to cvs three years ago when they came out by converting one of our woods to them. This was the woods with the oldest tubing(15 years) and every year it dried up first. That year it ran the longest and produced far more than any of our other woods including the woods behind my house, which was only a year old at the time. Since then we have switched everything to cvs and believe they work the best for us. Neil

[802maple]

I am not saying they don't work as we have used them since they came out, and have done well with them. But at the same time our neighbors have done just as well with several other types of new tips. One neighbor with the lapierre tomahawks as I call them is still going and making 3 to 400 gallons a day with more of a southern exposure compared to our more of an northern exposure, though I believe he should be done also. He started tapping in very early February compared to us in mid february. Our trees were running quite well still but what good is syrup that you can't eat and maybe not be able to get rid of either. As said in another post we don't need to flood the market with crap. I know of sugarmakers that have made just as much in the past and this year to of excellent quality syrup as we have and didn't even change 1 spout. When they finished we continued making syrup, but I wouldn't ever think of putting it in a contest and really i have yet to see that syrup from any sugarmaker made after they were done that I would consider calling high quality. Trouble is we as sugarmakers have lowered our standards somewhat, as i know i have been to sugarhouses this year that thought they were making good quality syrup since the heat and I tasted it, all i can say is I hope it never gets to the consumer.

[maplwrks]

I agree 802....Many guys claiming 2/3rds crop, but unfortunately 1/3rd of it is commercial.. I'm hearing now that Bascoms has all he wants or cares to get. I don't see the price going up on this crap anytime soon.

[lew]

I'm just wondering how early I can tap and not affect my runs at the end of the season. I'm still finding myself waiting until the last minute to tap because I want the freshest hole possible through the entire season. It would be nice to tap January 30 or whatever date and not worry about having old holes.

[spud]

Look up Proctors site and click on to Tapping. It appears you could tap Jan 1st and still do great in the spring.

Spud

[lew]

That's scary. I don't know if I could bring myself to do that. It just dosen't seem right.

[Parker]

Back the the c.v's,,,,My 2 cents...I dont think check valves help you much if you have your vacuum on all the time and you have an electric releaser..I think they make a big diffrance if you dont run vac. all the time , have a mechanical releaser, or , have no vacuum...as I understand the c.v's stop the flow of sap from the dropline back into the tap hole thru the spile ..sap never gets a chance to flow back into the taphole if you have an electric releaser and the vac on all the time..

[802maple]

I know the above sugarmaker that I talked about has all manual releasers and we have electric with no difference in production and he has been tapped 2 weeks longer. Just saying

[PATheron]

Guys- This year I tapped in in Jan like I always do. All tapped in by feb 1. 4700 taps/ Made 1000 gallons by March 1 and another 1000 by end of second week of March. Left my pump on all that time. Pulled taps this weekend and sap was soaking all the trees after pulling the taps out. I left my pump on another week after I quit and was still getting 2500 gallons a day of .7 percent when I shut it off. I dont know if its the cvs or what. Probly is becouse I dont think I do that great a job on the backflow but Ive got to say my holes usually go longer than I do. I do never shut the pump off. It ran all that time. IM sure that I have couplings freeze up all over probly though and that will cause backflow. Im tapping earlier this next season If it freezes up. Im going to try starting in December of this year if it will freeze solid for me to do it. Theron

[802maple]

Just tap while you are deer hunting Theron and I mean during the regular season. LOL

[DrTimPerkins]

I agree 802....Many guys claiming 2/3rds crop, but unfortunately 1/3rd of it is commercial.

Probably about right. We made 0.43 gal/tap. About 22.5% of that is Commercial syrup. We stopped when it had a strong off-flavor (heavy fermentation caused by sap spoiling in the lines). When the cold weather returned and the lines flushed out well enough, the fermentation off-flavor stopped, but the syrup had a pronounced buddy off-flavor, so we didn't bother boiling it.

For many (most) of those who continued boiling after about March 22nd, except in the coldest zones (close to the Quebec border or north of the border, higher elevation, north-facing), it is probably more like 1/3 crop table syrup, 1/3 crop Commercial, 1/3 crop substandard-for-reprocessing (buddy off-flavor or unfiltered). Commercial syrup (without any strong off-flavors and filtered) is fine and readily marketable. The market for substandard syrup is quite a bit smaller. With the weather these past few weeks we could have easily made 0.75+ gal/tap of syrup, but the majority of that would have been commercial or substandard syrup.

When people report production yields, it would be very useful to say what the total is (gal/tap) and what percentage is table syrup, commercial syrup, and substandard syrup.

[DrTimPerkins]

Back the the c.v's,,,,My 2 cents...I dont think check valves help you much if you have your vacuum on all the time and you have an electric releaser..I think they make a big diffrance if you dont run vac. all the time , have a mechanical releaser, or , have no vacuum...as I understand the c.v's stop the flow of sap from the dropline back into the tap hole thru the spile ..sap never gets a chance to flow back into the taphole if you have an electric releaser and the vac on all the time..

More correctly, there is a lesser chance of sap backflow using an electric releaser. There is definitely the possibility of getting sap backflow at times, but it would tend to be smaller and less frequent with an electric releaser. In general, the performance increase you see from ANY taphole sanitation technology (new spouts, new drops, CV adapters, antimicrobial adapters) will vary due to a large number of possible influences. The major factors are the age of the tubing sytem (particularly the dropline), vacuum leaks and vacuum management, and the weather conditions during the season. Releaser type does seem to have an effect, but it appears to be a minor factor, and these are difficult to discern individual effect for. Cleaning of tubing also appears to have a relatively minor influence.

It is complicated somewhat by the fact that the folks who use things like electric releasers are probably also using the best management practices for everything else (changing spouts annually, changing drops regularly on a set rotation, pump ON all season, electric releasers, good vacuum leak detection and correction), so figuring out which of these things is MOST important and which are just slightly helpful is problematic.

We do use mechanical (or a hybrid mechanical-operated, electrically triggered) releasers here at UVM PMRC, but we never turn our pumps off if we can help it during the season (I know they didn't go off at all this year). That alone doesn't seem to mitigate against the need for good taphole sanitation practices. Despite this, we still generally see significant effects of various taphole sanitation practices on sap yield. This season the effect was rather muted (if you consider only the time period before substandard syrup was produced) due to the short season length and abrupt end due to record high temperatures. I think what you're going to find is that most people aren't going to make a lot of major changes based upon findings from this year alone....the season was just too short and too strange. For those of us doing research, it's going to almost require a "do-over" of the season, at least for studies on the efficacy of taphole sanitation practices....hopefully with far better results than we had this year.

In consulting my best sources on this subject, the Magic 8 Ball says, "Reply hazy, try again."

[sjdoyon]

sjdoyon, when did you tap. we used the cv's as well but pulled theplug 3 weeks ago.

We tapped the third week of February and had a couple of runs and then hit two weeks of cold weather. We don't have any soft maples, north facing slope, and sugarbush tops 2100ft elevation. Made another 80 gallons today, still making dark amber. We've made a couple of commercial barrels at the end of the really warm spell.

[PerryW]

We tapped the third week of February and had a couple of runs and then hit two weeks of cold weather. We don't have any soft maples, north facing slope, and sugarbush tops 2100ft elevation. Made another 80 gallons today, still making dark amber. We've made a couple of commercial barrels at the end of the really warm spell.

go go go! I'm rooting for ya. All cleaned up here.

51 gallons (which includes 10 gal commercial)