Bad Tasting Syrup, What Am I Doing Wrong.

[OCHTO]

Boiled down my 26 gals. of sap to make 5 pt. of off flavored syrup yesterday. Trying to eliminate variables. It tastes like green wood. I'm in North West Wisc. and shouldn't have any buds yet. It filtered very bad. Dark syrup. Sap was collected day before and put in clean plastic jugs and put in snow overnight. Same jug I used 2 years ago when I had good syrup. Asked at Roth Sugar Bush Supplies and she didn't think it was bad sap. Thinks it might be my trees! Sap was clear, tasted OK and was 2.5 pct. sugar. Boiled normally not a lot of foam. All sugar maples except for about 4 reds. While boiling tastes good but the closer to syrup I get the flavor shows up and a smell like green wood. That's the best description I can give it. Did I tap an Elm? I don't think so! This happened last year too and I was blaming spoiled sap. Not the year before. Could I have a bad tree? I hope someone has had similar experience and a solution. Thank You!

[PerryW]

If your using tubing, sometimes rinse water left in the lines can develop mold (during the off-season) and make the first batch of syrup have an off flavor.

[TerryEspo]

I kinda understand what your saying, same here to in a way.

My first boil this season, I boiled about 30 gallons of sap, while boiling I am tasting the sweetness and found it to be a bit off flavour. I did not finish it to syrup.

I wrote it off as, first of season sap did sit a few days, low sugar content, first time pan used this year, first of season barrels, new lines, new pump, etc. Even cleaning everything and new stuff can still have dirt and such around.

I call it getting the bugs out and all fresh sap is now in everything I have.

The big guys let the first sap spill out to clean lines so me dumping 30 gallons is nothing.

I feel my next collection and boil will be fresh and taste great.

I hope so anyway !!

Terry

[OCHTO]

Thanks guys! Well I should have mentioned I'm using bags. I have a 2 x 4 stainless pan, oil tank arch and I boil down till I have about 6 gal. then finish on propane. I just now finished boiling down 13 gals. all on propane and it tastes good but it was collected different days. Darker than I expected being first sap. Won't filter it till wife gets home this evening and after our corned beef and cabbage. I think maybe my arch is the big variable but I can't comprehend why. Boiling is boiling on stainless isn't it?. If I had made good syrup in the past then could it be the trees? A different set of weather conditions? I draw off the arch and immediately the concentrate goes to propane till near syrup then into deep stock pots and cooled in snow or on ice, into the cooler taken home and finished with wife. Wife agrees it tastes different but just writes it of as that's just the way it is. I need to know the why!. Thanks Again

[DrTimPerkins]

What is the flavor like? Kind of musty tasting? Could be metabolism, which occurs some years in early-season syrup, but not in other years. Sap tastes fine, but syrup tastes bad. Fortunately it tends to go away after a couple of runs.

[Urban Sugarmaker]

Hmm, I noticed my first batch I started bottling today had a little strange aftertaste. It's amber rich (medium amber) and tastes good to me but I swear there's a slight woody undertone. Good maple flavor but the other flavor is noticeable. Only had a couple decent runs, so maybe the flavor profile will change. Not concerned about it.

[DrTimPerkins]

Hmm, I noticed my first batch I started bottling today had a little strange aftertaste. It's amber rich (medium amber) and tastes good to me but I swear there's a slight woody undertone.

The other name for "metabolism" is "woody". It is quite different from buddy, although some people use the terms "buddy" and "woody" and "metabolism" interchangeably, which they are not. "Metabolism" off-flavor is distinctive, and takes only a miniscule amount to cause the off-flavor. It is extremely difficult to blend out, but can sometimes be boiled off by taking the syrup to extremely high density, adding water, and reboiling. Sometimes it takes a few courses of this to work. As you reboil, you're also developing a stronger maple flavor (and darker syrup), so as the metabolism off-flavor is reduced, the strong maple flavors increase, and eventually overcome the off-flavor.

[sapdog]

+1 on what the folks here have said. I had an off flavor in the first two boils last year and chalked it up to the nebulous 'bad tree', but found subsequent boils to end up just fine. I suspect there was an early metabolism as Dr. Tim indicated might be your issue, as it had that woody/buddy flavor. It should turn out ok in the next boil or so.
Now on the other hand I came home tonight to find my wife using our maple thermometer to fry fish (which I can't understand for multiple reasons) - talk about an off flavor! :D

[Urban Sugarmaker]

Thanks Dr. Tim. I read through your articles on the subject. The flavor I'm getting is subtle but noticeable to me. Despite this I don't think I will try and get rid of it. I only bottled a gallon of it. I'll be sure to update as the season progresses.

[DrTimPerkins]

Thanks Dr. Tim. I read through your articles on the subject. The flavor I'm getting is subtle but noticeable to me. Despite this I don't think I will try and get rid of it. I only bottled a gallon of it. I'll be sure to update as the season progresses.

As with many flavors (and sensation of taste), some people don't find a slight amount of metabolism objectionable, whereas others do. So one person might say it isn't bad, while another person might think it is terrible.

[OCHTO]

Thanks Dr. Tim and everyone who responded so far. I can only describe the flavor I sense as green wood like when you cut a green branch off a tree, peel the bark off and roast marshmallows. Woody? I don't know not musty though. If it might clear up I feel better. Going to try to keep my days collections separate. Was going to pull my red maple taps too so I don't find out what buddy is. If I don't like the way my syrup tastes I will give it to the bears. They love it!

[OCHTO]

I did as Dr. Tim suggested and boiled to 240. While boiling a very strong smell came off the syrup that was not at all maple. I then added water and got my syrup back to the right consistency. It was darker but I thought I lost some maple flavor but it did reduce the bad flavor a lot so I'm sure I had metabolism issues with my sap. My wife agreed it tasted better after the hard boil than before although she didn't mind the syrup before I re-boiled it. Now hoping I can determine which trees it came from next year. The flavor showed up after I extended my line into some low land. I had real good syrup prior to that. I'm real glad to know I didn't cause the flavor. This forum helped me so much answer my questions. Thanks so much to all who are so willing to help others.