Syrup gone sour

[sapcanmike]

I was bottling up some syrup the other day to fill an order, and one of my 5 gallon bulk syrup container was bloated up. I knew that wasn't good. So I opened it and sure enough, sour vinegar!!! My question is, what to do with it or should I just dump it?

Any thoughts on what caused this. I store my bulk syrup in 5 gallon containers that I purchased new from a syrup equipment dealer. I don't believe in reusing containers that was once used to store something other then maple syrup. I always clean them after using them and I rinse them out with the hot water from my steam-away before reusing them.

Thanks, Sapcanmike

[batsofbedlam]

Usually low Brix is the culprit.

[GeneralStark]

As stated previously, low brix is generally the issue. Also, if you don't hot pack (180F) the jugs, the syrup will be more likely to ferment. Turning the jug on its side after hot packing for a few minutes to expose the cap to the hot syrup is a good idea as well.

There are quite a few other threads about this on here and it seems that folks that don't hot pack, or that partially fill a jug and then finishing filling it later are more likely to run into this issue. Sometimes it is related to storage in warm or damp places, or lids that don't seal correctly. I had two jugs ferment last year due to bad caps.

I have had good results making sugar from fermented syrup. It is a little tricky to boil to 265F as it foams like crazy at first, but it will work. Or, you can hold onto it until next season and once you start making dark syrup towards the end, pour the fermented syrup into your flue pan.

[wiam]

I have had issues with plastic fives. I have filled 2 new jugs out of the canner above 185 with the same syrup the same day and treated them the same. One goes bad and one does not. I only store 5 gallon containers in the freezer now.

[RC Maple]

Nothing should go bad if it's stored in the freezer. The only thing is... having room in the freezer. Get the syrup to the right brix before freezing and you can recheck when you pull it out before bottling or whatever you are going to do with it.

[maplecrest]

take your hydrometer and float it in 5 gal jug. see if on the cold red line. that will tell you if density is right.check the cap, see if the gasket is good or has cracks in it. have had bad brand new caps with cracked gaskets.did you rinse the cap with steam away water? if not going to bascoms in near future save till spring and run back thru evap. or cows sure like it poured on feed.

[sapcanmike]

Thanks anyone for the replies, I check the brix and all is good. I only had one container go bad and I always fill 2 -3 containers at a time. I'm thinking it was a bad cap. I would like to get a walk-in cooler but the my Chief Financial Officer (wife) says no!!! LOL!

[PerryW]

I have an occasional 5 gal blue plastic drum that gets fermented; probably one drum in every 50 does this even though the BRIX was above syrup. I believe this happens because condensation forms on the top-inside of the drums, which allows fermentation to take place even thought your syrup is above standard density.

You can often recover the good syrup by carefully siphoning the syrup from the bottom of the drum or cutting a hole near the bottom of the drum and draining. (the fermented syrup is generally on the top surface of the drum)

The real solutions are to hot pack all your drums (above 185) or to store at below 40 deg F.

If you can't do this, the following ideas help:

1) Fill the drums as full as possible. When the drum "appears" full, tip the drum at an angle by wedging a board underneath to get more syrup in. I can usually get 5.5 gallons of syrup in by this method.

2) Try to full the drum entirely during a boiling session so the syrup is as hot as possible. Any drum that I can't fill in one session, I label it "COLD" and use these drums first. If I have an extra syrup that can't fit, I will heat the syrup up when I start filling the next drum.

3) Store the drums in your basement and block any sun from hitting it.

4)If possible, every couple weeks, rock the drums back and forth to mix up any condensation that form on the inside-top of the drum.