Hop Kiln Road 2016

[Hop Kiln Road]

Touché

Goooooodddd Morninggggggggg Maplelannnnndddd!!! M, my dear wife for you tappers new to Hop Kiln Road, thought it was me having the issues when I told her I wasn't going to tap this year. Earred me right down to see this nice new allopath, Johns Hopkin, according the credentials posted on his wall. While Dr. Hopkin checks me out, I explained how a Loonie was making me feel tiny and worthless. Young Hopkin starts in about drug use and whether I feel safe at home, I mean really, like I need some big wall in Texas! Finally he caves and gives me a bottle of these experimental, "avant garde" pills called Placebo. Just approved by the US FDA, same folks inspecting the sugarhouses. Says I'm his very first tapper to get 'em cause I'm such a serious case. Dang! As my Vermont friends know, "avant garde" is a French dueling term for "on your toes!" Tappers, hustle your toes down to your PCP and grab this stuff, cause this kid Hopkin sure knows pills. Yup, after a couple, I told M I'm untangling my tubing, loading the truck and tapping a swath from Montpelier back to Bow, gravity. Why I'm gonna float the sugarhouse!

[SandMan]

Always enjoy your post! Good luck this year....

[maplestudent]

I've been watching for your thread....always a pleasure to read, so I'm glad the Doc helped you out. Best wishes on your season.

[Russell Lampron]

It's about time you started your new thread. What's this crap about not tapping this year? I'm glad the new Placebo pills are getting you back on track. I treat my ailments with boiling soda's. Sugaring wouldn't be the same without the wisdom from Hop Kiln Road.

[Hop Kiln Road]

I took four more! And the sap was just a pouring in. 2.5 gpt in less than 24 hours. Doctor, Please, some more of these! Had to nix the Montpelier idea. Scouted the route and a lot of the good trees are already taken. Best to stick close to home. But it wasn't a wasted trip. Stopped by Quechee and picked up M a surprise box of chocolates for Valentines Day! Couldn't find any of the new .225 X 3/16th barb spouts this year, only .225 with a 5/16th barb. So went the adapter route. 3/16 lines are running 30 to 50% ahead of the 5/16th lines. Weather looks good. Early, but good.

[Hop Kiln Road]

This is an experience. Thank goodness for big field tanks and Placebo! Been carting in the sap by the full cube and haven't lost a drop. Almost got tangled up with raw sap, a peak over the precipice, but otherwise entire system running hard and to spec. And I gotta apologize for airing my personal issues. I'm a guy with a $20 copay and 120 pounds of elk meat in the freezer (BTW, don't let NH F&G tell you there ain't no elk in Bow. I got pixs!) and probably many tappers can't afford Placebo. It's pretty expensive stuff cause these big pharmaceutical companies have huge R&D expenses, cost of capital, human trials, marketing, but somewhere back in the cobwebs I got this sneaky suspicion somehow they're ripping me off.

[Hop Kiln Road]

OMG! Somehow somebody is sending the governor up here to tap the first tree on Monday. And whoever my dear patron saint - and I got some real, real strong suspicions - he was good enough to send over a copy of the rules. So #7, and I quote, " Sugar House shall be free of all unnecessary debris," and #11, "There shall be no domestic animals in the Sugar House." Ha! I don't wanna split straws here so late in the game, but are chickens domestic animals? Forget it. Decided I better run down to Dr. Hopkin's and pick up another flight of help. But when I get there, and I'm positive it was the same place, no doctor's office!!! Instead, I find this dude doing cash for automobile titles! Exact same place cause I recognize the furniture. And now the sap is going to run again. Hard. I'm talking peak flow. So I've cut all the Placebo I got left in half and figure I might make it to Tuesday noon, but I'm going to need some serious help here, ole patron saint. Should be warm enough so the chickens can run around the yard, but without a foot of snow, I gotta trailer my debris someplace for a couple of days.

[Parker]

Arnt those rules great!?! I really like the penalties section,,,,,,a violation of any of the rules is a misdomenor and subject to up to a $5000 a day fine collectabel by civil forfiture,,,,,,,,,better shut the chickens in,,,,,a couple of chickens in the sugarhouse could get costly.........fast!

[Hop Kiln Road]

Cripes now Parker's got me knotted. $5K? You sure? Still got a couple bantams up in the collar ties too stirred up and they ain't coming down. Have to find my registration and see that cash for title guy or I'll lose my boil.

[Hop Kiln Road]

Decided to put out the 50 buckets this morning after finding this in Market Basket Saturday morning. I'm not getting pushed around.

13538

[Hop Kiln Road]

13628

There were kids with donuts and drills running all over the place!

[Sinzibuckwud]

Looks like a blast!

[Hop Kiln Road]

Lines finally let loose just after 3 PM. Sugar high. Will run all night.

[Hop Kiln Road]

Cleaned the entire system this morning, pumped in 700 gal of milky, 50F sap, and the feed tank looked like lemonade and the syrup went from 47% to 58%.

[Russell Lampron]

Your sap was milky? Mine is still coming in crystal clear. What do you mean when you say that the syrup went from 47% to 58%, how many gallons of sap to a gallon of syrup? Mine is holding at 50 to 1.

[Hop Kiln Road]

Russ, I got a Hanna Checker, so that would be 58% light penetration. Milky, cloudy, lines and tanks are pretty warm, buckets are still clear. My 3/16ths orchards just went over 18gpt. No idea of my ratio cause I got syrup stored in wheelbarrows and totes. just poured off the evaporator yesterday.

[Parker]

Are those food grade wheelbarrows? How are your buds looking down there?

[Hop Kiln Road]

Parker, doubt I'm a good bud reader, they look tight to me, however my peach trees look ready to fruit. Don't worry about the old wheelbarrow, lined it with a brand new tarp from Northern Tool!

[Russell Lampron]

Now I see. I wish I had that problem. All I have been able to make in the Month of March is golden. In February it was all Amber. It was a little darker last night so I think I am finally headed in the right direction.

As far as the buds go the 27" of vacuum is pulling them closed and the sap is still coming in. So far I am just over 3gpt from this run. It's supposed to freeze tonight and then it will be off to the races again tomorrow.

[Hop Kiln Road]

Everywhere I hear the sound
Of marching, charging sappers boy
Cause the season's here
And the time is right for
Boiling in the street boy

Yup, making beautiful syrup here. Sap clearing up a little as the temps drop away from boil or spoil. Rigged up a little continuous permeate flow pan cleaning idea that seems to work really well. Sorta later bucket deployment my play right into the forecast. See what the tourist flow looks like next. Anybody seen a forecast on that?

[Hop Kiln Road]

Had visitors taste three of my syrups over the weekend. A March 3rd 59% Amber Rich, which had an excellent pure maple favor. A March 12th 39% Dark Robust, a point on the heavy side, so noticeably smoother on the tongue and a very pronounced favor but not all maple. And a March 18th production of fermented/metabolized sap, 2 points thin and unfiltered, which had, at best, a very bitter chocolate taste that wouldn't leave your mouth. Quite a blow to your tongue. Not a hint of maple favor that I could detect.

The tasters all came from Bow south to Boston, with one group from NJ.

The results and comments were astounding! Basically, the votes were even among the three samples.

[Hop Kiln Road]

Just over 1.5 gpt yesterday with two of the six orchards dry. 1.7% sugar. Looks like another gpt overnight, maybe a little more. Cleaned the syrup pan and pushed all the crap through and it only went down to 27%. Taste dramatically improved after filtering. Suspect the grade will climb a little. Going to be 20+% above average volumes. But all due to the 3/16ths sections.

[Hop Kiln Road]

Got a little bit yesterday. Good sap, but I don't think much more is on the calendar. Going to start pulling the warm taps and see if I can nurse a couple gallons to raw boil over the weekend and chase the sugar out of the pans. Nice above average season of good quality syrup.

[Hop Kiln Road]

Got .5gpt of 1.8% last night. Either its good sap or no sap which is better than the funky stuff last week. 29F this morning so it might drip right through the weekend.

[Russell Lampron]

I've got 27* here this morning when it wasn't supposed to freeze last night. It was supposed to gradually warm up overnight so I left the vacuum pump on. Looks like I probably just wasted some electricity.

[Hop Kiln Road]

Boiling today and tomorrow. Mostly off the 3/16ths. Foam pretty hard to control.

[Russell Lampron]

I'm boiling too. Not sure if I'm going to run out of wood or sap first. Ended up with over 1000 gallons for today's boil.

[Hop Kiln Road]

Amazing what a little chill can do. Grade and taste jump back up and made 5 gal of amber rich. Scarcely believe the Hanna Checker. Had a dozen visitors. Think I might just get a wee bit more today.

[Russell Lampron]

I was hoping that the freezes that I have been getting here would bring the sugar back up but I was at 80 to 1 yesterday.

[Hop Kiln Road]

This year I tapped my oldest and my newest orchards with 3/16ths and .225 starlines ($.17 ea). Both produced over 21 gpt and are still going, while even the buckets have stopped. No pumps, no releasers, limited mainlines, so less than $10/tap to install. However, all the 5/16ths systems, which are 4 to 8 years old and all with original 5/16th spouts and drops, produced 25% gpt above their averages. Sugar content matched the length of time an orchard had been thinned and fertilized, with the newest orchard (with the best site and trees) 35% below the oldest orchard.

[sweetvt]

Maple season isn't maple season until we hear from Hop Kiln Road...... Hello out there? Guessing maybe he is trapped in a tangle of 3/16 tubing and RO lines keeping him from getting to a computer to post his inspirational message?? BUELLER? BUELLER? ANYONE?

[Hop Kiln Road]

Huh? Who's tapping where?

[sweetvt]

Whew,

I was beginning to think that maybe after having the former Gov. of NH at your place last year that you had taken a job working at some posh home at an unnamed location..... At least I know you have checked into the Trader, and there is hope!!