Silver Maples

[Adammp1]

My sugarbush consists of mostly Silver Maples. Does anyone know how they compare to other maple species in terms or sap flow, sugar content, and syrup flavor?

[Spolcik]

Last year I tapped one silver and three sugar maples. The bulk of my sap came from the silver maple. I also didnt tap till the end of the season. When the sap ran I was getting a full five gallon bucket most every time. I did have two taps in that tree both going to same same bucket. This year however that same maple has not been as productive yet. My guess is that maybe it will run more later in the season. It is still early too so there is time for things to change. Also the syrup tasted absolutely fine it was still very good. Hope this helps.


Steve

[Asthepotthickens]

Silver Maples produce more sap but it has less sugar content. So in the end you boil more water out of the sap.

[happy thoughts]

Does anyone know how they compare to other maple species in terms or sap flow, sugar content, and syrup flavor?

To the best of my knowledge the only tappable maple species with sap that may taste differently is box elder. Those that tap them often keep it separate from sap collected from other maples, or so I've been told here..

[mathprofdk]

I'm tapping neighbor trees in the suburbs, and most are silvers. We get a decent amount of sap, but with less sugar, as has been mentioned. The taste is comparable, IMO. I've made box-elder syrup in the past, and that has a markedly stronger flavor.

[Tweegs]

I have a stand of about 30 Silvers, some around here call them “swamp maples”, some years I get lots of sap from them, some years I don’t. Mine are in a low area that usually floods in the spring.

Sugar content in those silvers usually runs 1~1.5% while in my sugars it runs 2~3%.

No difference in flavor that I can tell.

[SPILEDRIVER]

every trees different,i tapped @30 silvers in 1 location last year.they pumped out gallons of sap but they had some funky weird smell and taste to them that was BAD!!! i dumped all them and pulled the taps..........i have another lone huge silver i tap every year that pumps out the sap rite at 2% for about 2.5 weeks and then gets buddy regardless of the weather....

[dschultz]

I have 20 acres of silvers I tap,and the sap average is 2 to 2.5%.And there are years that they will produce just as good as the other maples I tap.

[Stax]

Put 4 taps in 2 large Silvers Sunday night. Got 22 gallons over 3 days from the 4 taps. Got nothing the last two because non-sugar season weather.

[dave44090]

I have 1 sugar and about 2 dozen silvers. The silvers consistently put out more sap. I don't know the sugar content. We love the taste of our syrup but I can't compare it to "just sugar maples" syrup as I've never had it. From 55 taps this year I made just over 6 gallons of syrup from my silvers.

[MarkL]

You'll work hard for syrup from silvers, they tend to be 50% less sugar than a good sugar maple. I tapped a neighbor's for one season because he insisted the flavor was better. I didn't notice and I stopped because it was taking too **** long to boil off.

If that's all I had I'd still tap them though!

MarkL

[lastwoodsman]

A freind of mine taps 1100 silvers here in the twin cities and has for 30 years. His sap averages, yes averages 3% year in and year out.
This tells me the same as sugars, location place a important part.
Woodsman

[Michael Greer]

We tested sugar content from various types of maple last year, and found few clear trends, Many of the silvers were jus as high as the sugars. The only difference I've noted is that the silvers seem to wake up a week later than the sugars. This may have to do with species, but may also have to do with soil type, or the lay of the land. Tap 'em.

[Run Forest Run!]

My various silver trees are producing sugar anywhere from 2.3 - 2.75+ at the moment. One difference that I notice is in the taste of the sap. Silvers have almost a "grassy" hint in the flavour of the sap, but it is not present in the final syrup. It tends to not have quite as pronounced a maple flavour, but is very delicious all on its own or mixed in with sugar maple sap. My pure silver sap is more buttery tasting.

[Kyle Baker]

The bulk of my sap also comes from Silver maples. I find that the syrup is a bit mellower in the sweetness dept. than full sugar maple syrup. I have some sugar maples tapped but only a small % of them.
I like the slightly less sweet flavor myself. I should print off silver labels for my silver maple syrup ;) haha
gold labels for sugar maple syrup... the gold standard!

[SPILEDRIVER]

one thing ive noticed with the silvers i tap.....when they change(go buddy) it happens overnight.....so when its getting close i check them everyday befor i dump it in with the sap from my sugar maples

[dufftj]

As far as sugar content goes the silvers that i tapped are running form 2-3%...I'll take it! I almost didn't tap these trees because of what I read in various books on sugar making, they seem to be biased towards the sugars.......I know last year was really strange weather but I was still collecting sap off these trees after they flowered and the sap was clear and made a great syrup....Did I just get lucky or does the buddy sap happen after the flowers are out for a while?

Tim

[mathprofdk]

Tim,

There's no hard line on when it goes buddy. You just need to test the sap daily. If you don't boil often (I'm usually once or twice a week), keep the sap from different days separate, and test before mixing in with your batch.

~DK

[dufftj]

Thanks for the insight dk, Sounds like a pia to keep the sap seperate for daily collections.....Think I'll risk it and watch for poppin buds....

Tim

[Johnny Yooper]

A friend brought over about 16 gallons of sap from two large silver maples in his yard, he doesn't have a means to boil so we boiled at my place on a homemade arch. I tap 99% soft maple (very few hard maples here in my woods) and I've noticed it's about a 40 to 1 ratio, so I informed my friend he probably get about 3 pints of syrup when we're done with his 16 gallons. As we were approaching syrup, we boiled a pan of water on the same stove and noticed the water boiled at 209 to 209.5F. So we were going to pull the syrup off at around 217F, but kept going until 221F as my friend likes it a little thicker. When we filtered and bottled, we ended up with 5-1/4 pints, which is around a 24 to 1 ratio.......is that normal for silver maples? Again, my trees normally are 40:1, but I have not boiled yet....will do the first boil on Friday, I don't expect to see better than 40 to 1, but I'll be checking real close......can the ratio change in the same sugarbush from year to year?

[Asthepotthickens]

The BEST ratio I ever got with a mixture of silver and sugar maples was 34 to 1 at years end.

[pelz]

I am only on Silvers. 2.5%-4% at times, usually in the 3.25-3.5% range. I have never had it buddy yet, seems they drop to about 2.25% then shut right down. Syrup always looks reddish. Friend tried this year on silvers and ended up with syrup that looks like blond honey, different soil?

[Yellzee]

I hang a few buckets on what I'd call silver maple or swamp maple right behind the house to entertain the kids. They are in an area that floods in the spring and quite often under water in fall /winter.

I find if I'm lucky I'll get 1/3 bucket one or two days and then virtually nothing any other days the entire season. My soft maples must behave waaay different than most of you folks on here.

[Johnny Yooper]

very interesting. Same friend brought another 18 gallons today, three pails of clear sap, one pail of amber colored sap which came from the same tree and the same day as the clear sap, can anyone explain that? Is it ok to use?

[treeman57]

Very Interesting everyone

Hey Yooper,

I have been collecting sap from my Silvers and one box elder and just finished boiling and filtering today. Ive got about 7 gallons so far on 21 taps. That amber colored sap is probably from when it rained and the water runs down the tree and mixes with the sap. It should be fine to boil, but i usually dump it when its really colored amber. It really waters down the sap. The sap should turn cloudy when the season is done or close to done.

My silver's this year have been 3-3.5% and one Box elder is always 2%.

Questions:

It seem like I always make grade B syrup with the Silvers any one else seem to only make grade B syrup? Also is there anyway to increase your odds of making Grade A Maple Syrup?

I really like the flavor of the Syrup very much so though.

John

[Run Forest Run!]

Treeman57, I tap silvers and have only ever managed to get light syrup. However, even when I mix my soft maples and my sugar maples I still only get light. We'll see what happens later in the season.

[Tweegs]

I guess location does play a key role.

I paid particular attention to the ones I have on tube, 30 in one stand, low, wet, temperamental.
I got 5 gallons of sap per tap from them. At the beginning they measured 2.5%, the last batch I boiled came in at 1.4%. I tossed the last run of the season, about 15 gallons, because it only measured 1.1%.

In contrast, my sugars gave 13 gallons of sap per tap, ranging from 3.5% at the start to 2.0% at the end.

[MapleMark753]

Hi-- We have about 75 silver maples of normal size (18-24 in diameter trunks) that we plan to tap, but we have one giant one that I'd like input on how many taps to put in. The giant is about four and a half feet in diameter at 4 feet off the ground, and it has about an 80 foot canopy. Never tapped one this big and I am wondering what it can take.
I've tried to attach a photo with a one foot tape measure in it for perspective. Any help will be appreciated! take care, Mark7848

[Kyle Baker]

You could probably go 4 on that bad boy! My largest silver is around 3 feet dia at breast height. I put 3 on it.

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