Much Lighter Syrup in 2016

[Ray_Nagle]

The syrup I've made so far in 2016 is much lighter in color than the syrup I produced in 2015. It's gone from dark to light/medium. I'm curious if this is part of a larger trend this year.

2015 on the left, 2016 on the right:
12444

[mountainvan]

The syrup I made Monday was light amber. I didn't make any last year. So could be.

[GeneralStark]

Syrup color is most impacted by microbial activity in sap. Processing time is also a factor as well. Hard to say for sure what would cause lighter syrup this year in your case in Missouri but has it been colder this year? Have you changed anything with your collection or boiling process?

Van - Did you add a bunch of new tubing this year?

[adk1]

Nope, no trend. can vary from producer to producer in the same vicinity even

[DrTimPerkins]

Syrup color is most impacted by microbial activity in sap. Processing time is also a factor as well.

Correct, therefore the following factors are important:

Sanitation/Microbial load
- how clean was your tubing or buckets (the cleaner the better)
- how are you filtering (good filtering is better)
- how cold was it (colder is better)
- how long did the sap sit before processing it? (shorter is better)

Processing
- what was the sugar content....higher is better (faster processing with higher sugar content)
- how are your processing/boiling the sap...(faster is better)
- boiling straight sap or RO concentrate/how are you concentrating the sap (one-pass or recirculation)/how high are you concentrating the sap
- did you have to boil or reboil several times to get to the drawoff point (reheating makes syrup darker)

Hard to say if it is a larger trend or not.....not many other places are making syrup yet.

[SmellsLikeSyrupNH]

I was going to say I am just jealous you are already making syrup!!

[mountainvan]

No new tubing yet, that's in another sugarbush. All new antimicrobial spiles though, and flushed all my tubing with hydrogen peroxide solution last year. Sugar was 2.3% roed to 10% one pass and boiled immediately. Tastes amazing. Maple vanilla butter flavors all together.

[unc23win]

It's always interesting to see what other people in your area or anywhere are making. Personally I think it depends most on the processing time and methods and the climate in the area. Of those I think the climate is more of factor in my opinion. As for the tubing I'm less likely to believe cleaner or newer tubing in general makes lighter syrup reason being I have seen someone with old (real old) uncleaned tubing make lots of golden delicate last season actually making a nice array of all grades and while the year before the same operation made all dark. Both seemed to trend with others in the area who had newer and cleaner tubing. Like I said it is always interesting.

[blissville maples]

doesn't the chemical makeup of the sugar have quite a bit to do with it. obviously cleanliness and timeliness do as well, ive collected the clearest 2.2% during cold day runs always process asap, expect light and end up with medium or dark!? its baffled me

[DrTimPerkins]

doesn't the chemical makeup of the sugar have quite a bit to do with it. obviously cleanliness and timeliness do as well, ive collected the clearest 2.2% during cold day runs always process asap, expect light and end up with medium or dark!? its baffled me

Sap straight out of the tree is almost entirely sucrose, a large 12-carbon molecule. When you heat sucrose solutions, they are nearly colorless.

When microbes feed on sucrose, the cleave a portion of the 12-C sugar into 2 6-C sugars, glucose and fructose, commonly called "invert" sugars. Different types of sugars have different "activation energies" (roughly akin to the temperature at which things happen). When you heat invert sugar solutions, they turn color (brown) and develop strong flavors. Interestingly it only takes a very small amount of invert sugar to cause darkening and flavor development. Even very dark syrup will only have an invert level of 2-5% typically.

It is largely (but not entirely) the influence of microbes on the sap chemistry that result in the color/flavor of maple syrup. Thus the importance of keeping sap cold and processing quickly to prevent microbial degradation of the sap in order to maintain high syrup quality.

I'll be doing a presentation on this at each of the upcoming 2016 Vermont Maple Conferences.

[GeneralStark]

And furthermore it is possible to test the invert sugar levels in sap using a Glucometer. I have posted this before in other threads related to this subject, but it describes the general methodology.

http://www.centreacer.qc.ca/uploaded/Publications/109_En.pdf

This can be helpful for a producer if they desire to produce more light syrup, or more dark syrup, etc...by determining if your sap collection system or your processing is the bigger factor.

I have messed around with a glucometer for testing sap and syrup (for making confections) and at one point I was able to compare sap from a new tubing system and from a very old poorly set up system and the difference in the sap quality was dramatic at times. Generally what I found was the sap from the older system would more quickly develop higher invert levels once in a tank than the sap from the newer system. My hypothesis was that the microbial loading from the old system was much higher, especially as the season progressed.

[DrTimPerkins]

Generally what I found was the sap from the older system would more quickly develop higher invert levels once in a tank that the sap from the newer system. My hypothesis was that the microbial loading from the old system was much higher, especially as the season progressed.

All very consistent with our work.

[Ray_Nagle]

Thanks to everyone for commenting. Sorry for the late response, as I don't often get to check the internet during my work week.

I'm not sure about my sugar content last year, but I just made a small batch that was 1.9% sugar...and it's also very light colored like the one in my picture. I always try to keep my buckets and other equipment sanitized, I filter the sap through a metal sieve after I collect it each day to remove debris or bugs, and I store the sap in my fridge while I'm waiting to boil it (every 5-7 days). This practices haven't changed since last year.

However, I am boiling it much quicker than I was last year due to a better stove setup, and also put some effort into re-directing the wood smoke from the cooking fire this year. So maybe those account for the lighter color.