Always dark

[hitnspit]

I just finished off my first 2 quarts of the year. Now my question is. Early sap should be the lighter syrup right. All my syrup comesout dark. I got by the hydrometer so not sure if something else is wrong or what.. Thank you all.....

[cpmaple]

there could be a few things making that happen low sugar content, and with that your boiling longer which in turn will make darker syrup. Also if you sap sits for a few day and starts to break down that will do it also due to the micro organism breaking down the sugar also.Pans being dirty could affect it also. List goes on and on

[DrTimPerkins]

All my syrup comesout dark.

It can depend on a lot of things, especially the condition of the sap. How long did it sit before it was boiled?

More important question...how did it taste?

[hitnspit]

The Taste was very good but yes my sap did sit for a few days. Did not think it would hurt the sap being as cold as it was........

[adk1]

Yes, and was the sap tank very clean? Also, did you check the brix of the sap? I am sure that the good Dr. can chime in on this but as I understand it, sometimes the very first runs do not produce the highest sugar content in the sap? The tree really dictates when it needs to send the most sugar to the buds. Is this somewhat correct Dr. Tim?

[Sandersyrup]

I am wondering about color too.

6874

What a difference a week makes. My trees went from beautiful light syrup to an extra dark. Both with similar flavor but the darker stuff is smokier tasting both batches started with 2.0 brix sap. Norway and red maples, oddly my Norways have a higher brix than my reds.

Differences in the batches:

I have 1 tree (out of 9) that began to run this week and it runs sap with a yellow hue it is the only tree that did not run in the previous batch.

This weeks sap sat in the tank slightly longer and experienced slightly warmer temps than the previous batch (brix did not change after sitting in tank)

2x More sap in the tank, which lead to a boil that was 2x longer.

I'm not sure it matters much but I'd like to make a batch of medium to compliment my assortment. Any tips with the above notes? Boil the yellow sap separately?

What else can cause a dark batch early in the season?