Red Maple

[flyzone13]

Are red maple trees still a good tree to tap? I mean a maple is a maple right? Or will some maples out produce others, or do some make a better tasting syrup?

[daniel_wentworth]

You can tap reds but sap tends to be not as sweet. Also reds will bud before sugars. If you have sugar maples to tap I'd start there.

[DrTimPerkins]

I mean a maple is a maple right?

Well that's kind of like saying that a rock is a rock. You're right in some ways, but very wrong in others. A geologist would disagree entirely. Being a plant biologist, my first inclination is to say that you are incorrect, but I suppose it matters in which way you're asking.

Different maple species tend to produce more or less sap than others, that is more or less sweet than others, and that may have some different flavor characteristics.

To get to your initial question though.....red maple trees are fine to tap. In comparison to a sugar maple they may not run as well without vacuum, may have slightly lower sugar content, might turn buddy a little earlier, and might have a slightly different flavor. If all you have is red maple....tap it. If you can only handle sap from 10 trees, and you have 10 sugar maples and 10 red maples...choose the sugar maples all other things being equal.

[flyzone13]

the reason I ask is because I am adding more taps this year and I found an area that has many red maples. I did a test tap and found the sap running well. Took the sample home and boiled what I had seemed alright to me, but I have notice not many people tap them. My hope is that I am not wasting my time with these trees and that they are in a way productive. Thanks all for your input.

[southfork]

Dr. Perkins is of course correct.

There are many sugarmakers who utilize red maple to some extent in their operations, not over sugar maples however. Some tap only red maples if that is what they have available. I have never considered reds a waste of time. Rather than walk by them, I plug them in.

[Russell Lampron]

If you are using buckets or gravity tubing you may be disappointed with the reds. If you are tapping with vacuum go for it. I tap mostly reds and get about a qt of syrup per tap on vacuum. The flavor of the syrup is excellent and I have many repeat customers.

[Cedar Eater]

I tap exclusively reds because that's all I have. I tapped 15 last year on drop tubes into buckets and jugs. I ended the season with just over 3 gallons of syrup and it was the best maple syrup I've ever tasted. It was buttery and had hints of vanilla and chocolate. I boiled in pots on propane burners. This year, I'm experimenting with 3/16" tubing to produce a natural vacuum on the north facing slope of my little sugarbush. It will be about 8 taps down a 15-20' slope. My target this year is 5 gallons of syrup from around 35 taps. If I get to 7, I'll be delighted.

[flyzone13]

I just came back in from tapping the reds and found only 3 out of 5 running. The ones that were going were dripping at a good rate which is a little confusing seeing as though they were a part of the same trunk system. I'll see what I have tomorrow, but I figured I having really nothing to lose at this point.

[esetter]

My reds here have been soooooo hit and miss. Some pretty good flow others , nothing! no in between. I suspect lack of sunlight because they are in the woods.

[BoarsNest]

I tap mostly reds, because that's what I have. I have found the same thing as others that some reds run good and others are not very good at all. The sugars that I tap are very consistent and the flow of sap is really good. I think my syrup tastes great and I have several repeat customers that come back specifically for my syrup.

[pennslytucky]

I am certain that syrup from reds is different. I prefer it by a big margin and it seems like most people do. It's all good, but the flavors from different species of trees on different soils makes everyone's syrup taste different. Kinda like wine if you care to go that far with it

[Biz]

I tapped about 40 red maples on buckets 2 years ago and was disappointed. It was a waste of a bucket, about half gave a gallon of sap total all season, some less, some much better. But last year after reading on this site that reds run well on vacuum, I found a group of reds on a slope and tapped with 3/16" tubing. They ran nearly as well as the sugars! About a half percent lower in sugar content. I only got 12" of vacuum at the top, not much drop, but they ran great with just a little natural vacuum.

Dave

[lyford]

I've mostly tap reds, 87 out 90 taps and I've only ever used bags or buckets. Tapped 36 of my 90 yesterday, today I collected 40 gallons total. Earliest tap date for me in 5 years of doing this. I will agree with others though as some trees only had a cup or two while some had 2 plus gallons. Tap what you got

[themoonlighttapper]

This is our second year tapping and our bush is predominantly, if not totally, red maples. This year we have about 60 taps on 3/16" vacuum with elevation drop ranging from 40-160 feet (gotta love living in the mountains). We're over 300 gallons of sap in a nice run over the last five days. Lower sugar content than sugar maples, but the syrup is delicious.

[bcarpenter]

We tap all reds. We had similar disappointments in collecting until we hooked up a hobby sized shurflo pump on about 30 of our 50 trees.

As others have said the people who eat our syrup prefer ours to other real syrup.


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[adk1]

I have a mix of both sugars and reds. only thing I ahve to do is to watch the reds at the end of the season and pull those taps if they bud out. then I usually get another 3-4 days of sugars running

[DaveB]

We tap mostly reds and as other people have mentioned, it has a better flavor than just sugar maples. I have found that the sap flow is mostly hit or miss with some trees running better than others but I've also had that with some of my sugar maples. One thing I have noticed is that the reds basically stop producing sap when they bud out so I don't have to worry about buddy sap.