Frozen sap in bucket - throw it out?

[bagpiper]

I am a new addict and am really greatful for this forum! I am tapping Red Maples only here in southern Maine. Most trees are in the 12-18 in. diameter class. I set up 30 buckets with spouts and drop lines last weekend and several of them have about an inch or two of frozen sap, some with a yellowish color towards the bottom. Should I toss this out or is it OK to leave it until the sap really starts to run and fill the buckets?

[TerryEspo]

I would say if the sap has been continually frozen it is fine. Regardless of how long it has been frozen. If you think or know it has been thawed from temps or the sun, toss it. It doesn't sound like much sap is getting tossed anyway.

The yellow could be some rain water, water dripping off the bucket etc.

I would not be concerned about the yellow off colour if its minor.

Hope that helps.

Terry

[Pibster]

Dump the ice out, it's mostly water. What's left has all the sugar in it. I would dump anything yellowish out, just nuisance sap. The real good flows will start once things warm up.

[Ed R]

The yellowish color is from concentrated sap. It happens whenever you have a hard freeze with very little liquid left. Save the liquid, dump the ice and boil when you have enough sap to fire the evaporator. The concentrate is probably over 6 brix.

[Sugarmaster310]

Toss the ice. I did an experiment and there's barley and sugaring in the ice. Not even .5% sugar content

[Tor Haxson]

The yellowish color is from concentrated sap. It happens whenever you have a hard freeze with very little liquid left. Save the liquid, dump the ice and boil when you have enough sap to fire the evaporator. The concentrate is probably over 6 brix.

I agree, I just siphoned the sap from around the block of ice in the tank and got 5 gallons of 5brix.

[Galena]

Nothing wrong with a little *tree pee*, in my humble opinion...it's never ruined a batch of mine. Now, if sap gets cloudy and/or just smells bad, then you should probably dump it. But so long as it stays clear (if a little off-colour), it should be fine.