2nd Season

[New Hope Mapleman]

Well here we go again. Sap is really running good today. Its been about a week below freezing. Glad I finished down the pans and cleaned up. Now I know whatever I get it is the best I could make from this sap.

One woods has shut down--well what I mean is the sap resembles milk more than sap. The other is running fast and clear as can be! After the ruff season I'm greatful for anything I can make. Maybe we'll get over .75 of a crop by Thursday PM. Would be nice. So far none of the syrup had a poor flavor although it dipped below Dark A for a good bit. Makes my coffee nice!

Hope its good for the rest of you guys!

[danno]

Dan,

Very cool that you are still getting good syrup in central new york in the middle of April. Wonder if you may get some snow tonight up high as you guys are. I'm sure it will be rain down here in the valley.

I'm over to buddy syrup now, but check this out. Brought a few cases of my amber into work today to sell and included a couple of bottles of the blackest, black syrup I have ever made. I mean - it is DARK! They loved it! I had 10 more gallons of the black (it's beyond dark) in bulk at home that still had to be finished that I was thinking of pitching. NOT!

[Russell Lampron]

Danno,

That is how I sold alot of the darkest syrup that I made this year. I brought a pint can and some sample cups to work with me and gave everyone a taste. The typical expression was "Wow!" and sold most of it in 1/2 gallons and quarts. Don't pitch anything! Bulk syrup is worth a lot of money.

Russ

[New Hope Mapleman]

Yesterday we got 2550 gallons from 2200 taps. No reaming or resanitizing just vacuum on new taps or new extenders. These taps were put in on the 24th of Febraury through the 2nd of March. Over 15 gallons of sap per tap from that woods so far. (The other woods hasn't done so well, but there are reasons.) Clear sap, Light/Medium border and it isn't buddy although it does taste like Dark A. Only pulled 5 gallons off the rig in the last 10 minutes of boiling, but now it will start coming! When I finshed off the pans last Friday, I made 55 gallons of syrup, so they have to pretty sweet!

Don't throw syrup out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! PLEASE!!!!!!!

Having a sample jar is a great way to go. I have customers who want it and if I still have too much I can always make sugar.

Have fun! It's all a gift after the 10th of April as far as I am concerned.
Dan

[Russell Lampron]

Around here it is all a gift after March 31st.

Russ

[maple flats]

I have made more dark than ever this year and now I am making Grade B which i have never made before. The flavor is still real good, I cleaned my pans and bulk tanks in the freeze but not the buckets nor collection tanks for the tubing tanks, If I had gotton that far I might be getting Med but B is better than nothing.

[oneoldsap]

Here in Lincoln VT we are starting the third leg of this season. First run we made Fancy and Med Amber . Then it froze up for eight days and we started making Dark Amber ( about 475 Gal) and B (75 Gal.) . Then it froze up again for Five days and Now we are making Fancy again (65 Gal. so far) . We started this stretch with clean pans and everything else, The sap is running good and is clearing up nicely and it's still pretty cool and there is plenty of snow left, we still have syrup to make,we may get a crop yet.

[New Hope Mapleman]

Sometimes you get surprised! I was planning to go and pull taps on the woods that had shut down when it came back to life! This is a season to remember.

The sample bottles in the window have quite the contrast this year. Never had so much light colored stuff on the bottom shelf with B right in before it!

[danno]

Dan, are you tired yet? This is crazy! Started cooking at noon yesterday and shut her down about 1:00 am.

Boiled another 600 gallons last night, had 400 left in the stock tank and it ran all night again. I'm out of wood, so I gotta do some quick splitting.

And, what I thought was buddy, ain't buddy! I cooked down a gallon on the stove the other night just to check, and it was light and buddy. But, that's not what came off the evaporator last night - back to the real dark that everybody seems to like. Started with a clean evaporator (for the 3rd time this season - so I guess this is my 3rd season), so took awhile to sweeten the pans, but they're sweet now!

I want to get down to see you, but no time. I need an RO or bigger rig NOW!

[danno]

I talked to a local 30 year sugar maker. Latest he ever boiled down here was 4/7!

[New Hope Mapleman]

I'm tired but its not from boiling. Last year I put 260 hrs on the rig. This year I'm not up to 40 yet! Its alot faster though. With the RO and all I'm running 1100 gallons per hour of boil! Makes it alot more fun. One thing I can say is those 11 inch flue pans REALLY BOIL!!!!!
I've had nine different rigs that I boiled on, starting with a half pint and this one boils the hardest of any I've ever used. I made 80 gallons the other day on one face cord of wood!
The reason I'm tired is working outside on a boathouse in the wind on the icy deck! Makes one a bit low and then I come home and boil. Glad I have made the improvements! I couldn't do it all otherwise.

Sap has slowed down, of course it was only 33 today so I'm surprised we got anything. Made 20 gallons of the lightest medium you can get this morning. What a contrast to the last we made a week ago!

Have fun splitting. I remember what its like. Last year I burned 65 face cord and this year I haven't burned 17 yet, even though we have made 225 gallons more!

[danno]

Dan -

So, in other words, what took me 13 hours to boil last night, you could do in a half hour. You know where to hit a guy where it hurts.

[Russell Lampron]

Danno,

Put an RO machine on your wish list, near or at the top. Once you get one you will love it. I haven't made my final tally yet but last year I burned 1-1/2 cords to make 80 gallons and this year I have used close to the 1-1/2 cords and am in the 70 gallon range. I used more wood this year because I boiled more times and had smaller runs.

Russ

[danno]

OK - I'm starting to think about this RO thing. Would be good for me as I don't have a sweet bush. My first run was 2%. Have been 1.5% ever since.

So, what will a 150 gph RO set me back? Hold on a second, let me sit down first:)

[Russell Lampron]

Danno,

For the size of your evaporator you would need a 300gph RO. The concentrate flow would be a little more than the evaporation rate so you could concentrate and boil at the same time. The Maple Guys were selling the 300gph Lapierre RO for, are you sitting down? for about $8000 last year.

You could get by with a smaller machine you just have to concentrate your sap before you boiled. My 150gph cost me $5055 3 years ago. The year I bought mine I was quoted $7195 for an Airablo machine and that was 10% off of the regular price.

Talk to MaplePancakeMan or Royalmaple they can tell you who to contact in NY that makes them for a lot less money.

Russ

[sapman]

Well we got a surprise this am when I checked a few buckets, and some were running over! So we got at least one more collection done, and that puts us at just about a full crop. Since recuperating from the old sap last week, everything has been a pretty nice medium, though today's was starting to get perhaps that metabolism flavor. Temps aren't supposed to dip below freezing for us again here.

All in all, it's been an interesting, and now good, season for us. Maybe I'll ream taps half way through the season next year to keep things as close to 100% as possible.

Hope others are able to make more syrup!

Tim

[sapman]

Dan,

About your evaporator, is it the new prototype Leader 11" flues? What size is your evaporator and RO? I sure wish I would be down your way some time to check it out, but so far hasn't worked out. Hope it keeps flowing for you!

Tim

[New Hope Mapleman]

Tim,
Yes it's the new style Leader and it was new this season.

I have an Inferno Air Tight SS Arch which was only 10' and I stretched to make it 14'
The back flue pan is 10' Enhanced Flue Pan and the front Revolution Style Syrup Pan is only 4'
We also have a Piggyback on the flue pan so there is alot of SS stacked up in there. All together that 4x14 will boil off more than 400 gph if I'm doing my job and conditions are right. I've seen it as low as 250 when the wood is not quite so good and I'm overtired.

The RO is a 600 not quite as large as it needs to be to match the evaporator, but hey I can shut it down for a few hours if the RO has to get ahead. Seems nice to be overboard on the process of sap concentration. Now I can add taps and not worry about how many hours of sleep I will loose.

Stop in anytime. Fulton is only up the road and a couple of corners.

You can even stop by and see the original New Hope Mills Facility here in town (my grandfather started the mill).
Dan

[danno]

Tim, if you go down to Dan's, pick me up on your way through. I really want to see his operation, but have not been able to get out of my sugarhouse.

[New Hope Mapleman]

Well I doubt we will break the 80's blizzard record, but this is a bit later in April. It's white and snow is trying to pile high. It was wet, wet snow yesterday-today well the plow went by 5 times in 30 minutes so I gather my uncle was having a hard time moving the snow off the road. Temp around the 25 degree mark.

The pines look like they can't handle any more. No sap now and yesterdays run lasted one hour only. We are on borrowed time so who knows what we will get.

We'll just have to wait and see how much snow we really get, but its's not been a two foot packed event-YET!

Have fun in the snow everyone!

[danno]

At 8:40 this morning it's 32 degrees and thumping outside. Just heard some thunder snow! About 6-8" on the ground and it looks from the radar that we are just at the beginning. One heck of a storm for mid April!

[New Hope Mapleman]

Well almost two feet so far and its still coming down. Seems like it must stop soon.
No sap today as it never got above 30 today. Hopefully we get one or two more good runs this week. I think this weekend will be the end unless the weathermen were wrong again. I guess they got this storm right almost nailed it on the head.
Was nice to have a little break and get some other stuff done. Now we just have to double time it the rest of the week.

Happy sugaring or clean-up to all!!
Dan

[sapman]

Dan,

Sounds like you can handle quite a run with your setup! Wish I had room to expand, even with my small rig, and then add an RO. A 500 gph would go perfectly with my evaporator, if I could just get the additional taps.

Visitation during the season is always difficult, isn't it? Sometime, we'll all have to get together and have our own little maple tour.

Tim

[New Hope Mapleman]

Well it was two foot deep and then it started melting a bit-also means the sap started running. Was five hundred in the tank at 11:00 Now it's snowing again like yesterday. We have alot of trees down in the woods. Well maybe not as many as an ice storm, but enough to make a days work for sure. Right now its too hard to get up there. It was almost impossible to get to the vacuum pump and tank. So far I haven't seen a drop in vacuum so hopefully it's just a matter of cutting limbs around the lines for now.

The jobsite is impassible also. Today will be snow removal and boiling only. Guess I'll be able to get to work again Wednseday. Oh well there's no power and none of the guys like driving nails by hand anyways.

Hope everyone else is having fun also! You don't often get this much white stuff in the middle of April-so its like a gift!

Dan

[danno]

Hi Dan -

We did well with the snow. About 14". I was back out with the snowmobile in the bush pulling limbs off lines, but no real damage. It was amazing to see the snow caked to the lines - It was like 3 inches in diameter on each line - pulling the lines down to the ground in runs of over 15 or 20' between trees. Was down in Skaneatles today - they got snow! Can't even imagine what it must be like up by you. Was meeting with a women who lives up in your neck of the woods - New Hope.

[New Hope Mapleman]

Just as I was getting the last of the limbs off the lines I heard voal eases from the fat lady. I think she'll hit the high note today!!!!!!

If so we're done! I guess I'll be glad as it seems like it's been a VERY Long season.

I'm not sure how the shut down is going to be as I've never cleaned tubing with snow on the ground! There's a first time for everything.

Loved seeing the sun today. Seemed like an old friend that had been out of state for years.

Hope the cleaning goes quickly for everyone else.

Dan

[New Hope Mapleman]

Spent the three hours I had after work pulling taps and washing!!! Washed all the pails and such last night and they should be dry now. By Saturday night I hope to have all my sap through and sitting in the front pans; also half the taps pulled. Actually seemed nice to start pulling them this year.

Not the worst year we have ever had but definately not the best.

The syrup I made last night had just a slight hint of bud to it. I was planning to let it go as bulk until a couple people came by and wanted to taste what I was making. They liked it so much they wouldn't take my good syrup!? Oh well, I'm glad to get resonable prices for what I think is my worst of the crop!!
It was fun hearing them, "you think that is bad!? You don't know what bad tastes like." My response, oh well I'm glad you like it. Thats more really good stuff for me!

Anyone coming through New Hope is welcome to stop!

Dan

[mountainvan]

That happened to me last year with syrup I thought was'nt too good, customers thought it was the best. Guess us sugarers are just finicky when it come it to syrup.

[HanginAround]

Funny about that... usually it's only sugarmakers that taste it "straight up" and really pay close attention to the actual flavour... most of this stuff gets dumped on pancakes or wherever and normal people wouldn't be able to tell you if it was bad.

[New Hope Mapleman]

Looks like 46,700 gallons of sap averaging 56.97 gallons-1 ratio. Now you know how much I made. (We had caterpillers so I knew my sugar% would be down. They're young trees and need serious thining once the crawling monsters leave!)

Dan

Interesting tidbit.
Higher vacuum woods yielded 35,100 gallons of tha sap. Difference in vacuum was 25" or 18". The 18" woods has only 200 less taps and yielded less than 11,000 gallons of sap. Guess you know were I'll be working now!