First Year Maple sap collector

[netsplitter]

Hello,

I am a first year tapper (or will be soon :) ). I have built a little arch evaporator outside that should be able to boil around 15 gallons at a time - and I have identified around 20 trees that I can tap.

I am excited to get started,

In my area, the weather forecast starting on 12/6 and going on for the rest of December are all low 20's and high's min the low to mid 40's. Looks like at least 3-4 good weeks of sap weather.

I was planning on starting in January, but this December temperature looks perfect to get started. Anyone else considering tapping in December?

[bmbmkr]

Hey NetSplitter,

I'm lookin at that same forecast. I'm about 15 miles North of Ashland, KY in OH. This is our second year, and we are expanding quite a bit. I am so tempted to tap net week, but I'm really no where near ready.

Not sure where you are in KY or if you've seen this post, I had a great time with these guys last year and learned a lot at the KY/VA Maple School.

Here's the link: http://mapletrader.com/community/showthread.php?31163-Kentucky-Virginia-Maple-Syrup-School&highlight=school

[netsplitter]

Hi bmbmkr,

Thanks for the reply. I am in the Somerset, KY area, about 50 miles south of Lexington.

I don't have a big production, just went around my property and marked 20 of the maples.

I had read that the sugar content in always lower in the early part of the season, which makes me nervous. Given the weather last year, I had a friend whose production spoiled due to the weather we had in Feb/March this year.

I think I may try to tap 5 trees and see how they do.

Just out of curiosity, Do you tap every maple you can find, or just sugar maples?

I had not seen that, and it looks really interesting - thanks for showing.

[maple flats]

A combination of maples is good. I tap mostly sugars, but at one woods I have about 25% reds, at the other it's all sugars. As you get towards the end of the season, watch the buds, the soft maples open bud a few weeks earlier than sugars. You want to pull the soft taps when their buds open, then keep going with the sugars until they open. Last year I got 3.5 weeks on the sugars after the reds popped, more commonly it's about 2-2.5 weeks.

[Mark B]

Up here in Belmont, Maine, the property is about 65-70% reds. The rest is Sugars with a handful of silvers between their and my other accessible trees. As long as they are healthy, I'm tapping. I was taking advantage of our "warm" spell up here to run some new lines on trees my uncle never tapped.

[bmbmkr]

Hi bmbmkr,

Thanks for the reply. I am in the Somerset, KY area, about 50 miles south of Lexington.

I don't have a big production, just went around my property and marked 20 of the maples.

I had read that the sugar content in always lower in the early part of the season, which makes me nervous. Given the weather last year, I had a friend whose production spoiled due to the weather we had in Feb/March this year.

I think I may try to tap 5 trees and see how they do.

Just out of curiosity, Do you tap every maple you can find, or just sugar maples?

I had not seen that, and it looks really interesting - thanks for showing.

The KY/VA Maple seminar is geared for both first timers and small to medium production. I started in 2013 with buffet steam pans, a propane burner, the kitchen stove and finally a cinder block arch- tapped 15 sugars and reds that year, took 2 years off to move back home from eastern NC. Last year I built my arch by welding 2 1/2 55 gal drums end to end. I purchased an 18x42" drop flue pan and a 18x30 front pan. I tapped a little over 100 last year, with about 20 of those being reds and Freemans- a hybrid red/silver. I had everything on 3/16 tubing, and had to pull the taps out of the reds because they budded out even earlier than usual due to the crazy warm weather we had. We also dumped almost 1000 gallons of sap that spoiled before we could get it cooked. Pretty crappy ordeal for my first "real" season- but we got 11 gallons of good syrup and priceless experience. I tapped on 6 & 7 Feb last year, looking to tap about that time in Jan this year. I bought an RO so I'm goin to go up to about 300 taps this year, 90-95% Sugars. My trees are on the north slope of a pretty steep ridge, they say that lowers sugar content also, but I averaged 2.1% last year. Good luck with your season, the guys here on the Trader are a valuable resource, I have learned a lot from them in the last 5 years- can't wait to put some more of it to practice next month!

[Jim Brown]

Just a FYI guys not a good idea to tap the same trees in the fall that you plan on tepping in the spring ! Really hard on the trees

Jim

[netsplitter]

Thanks for the great replies.

I look forward to this year.

I am going to tap 5-10 trees now and save the rest for Jan/feb depending on the weather.

Just do not want to miss the best weather.

How are the flows when the weather does get much above mid 30's?

Is it a myth that maple sap can get freezer burn if left frozen too long?

Thanks again!

[buckeye gold]

Netsplitter - I am in southern Ohio so we're not a lot different in our weather, but you will be a tad warmer. I have fall tapped for several years and I will share my experience. I agree the forecast looks pretty good and I am tempted as well. I have only seen a year or two that you could get away with tapping this early and be very successful, but this is looking good. I usually put my fall taps out between December 20th and 25th. I'm going to assume your using buckets or bags. If you are using buckets it helps to run a piece of tubing down to a bucket on the ground. I drill a hole in the side that I can snugly push the tubing through. This method allows a little sap to stay in the tubing and it keeps air out of the hole. If your using bags and an open tap get check valve taps. One warm spell will drastically impact your sap flow in December. Fall runs are more sporadic and smaller volumes. You won't get much more than 3 weeks out of your taps. It's fun to start early but the cost is substantial if you have limited trees. You should not retap a tree that was fall tapped in the spring. Keep your gear clean, if you get a warm spell dump any old sap and wash buckets. It is far more critical to keep bacteria at bay in the fall, because flows are less frequent,slower and will spoil faster. all this is because we usually have a warmer daily high. If I only had a few trees I would wait until January, everything will go much better. If you tap 5 trees now you will struggle to get enough sap to cook. On a good day you might get a half gallon of sap per tap. In your area you should be able to start about January 20-25th and go right through February. Your season will probably be over by March 1st.

I have a whole separate woods I tap for fall, and it only gets tapped in the fall. You can make some good early syrup, but you suffer in efficiency. I am now all on 3/16th tubing after 10 years of buckets and bags and I am interested to see how my fall taps work on the tubing.

[netsplitter]

Again thank you all for the great advice.

Buckeye - That is great information - and I actually am using it. I witheld from my urge to tap a bunch of maples, and I am glad I did (temperatures are a little higher than desired currently).

I couldn't resist completely, so I went ahead and tapped 4 large black walnut trees (since I didn't want to risk my maples). I had read about making maple syrup from walnut trees (that the sugar content was very similar, but the flow is considerably smaller).

The walnut trees have been flowing great. The largest walnut tree I tapped has been giving me 4 gallons a day (past two days), and the rest seem to be producing a gallon a day. The sap is not as sweet as the maple sap, it has a hint of nuttiness to it. I have just been storing the sap in large 5 gallon buckets, and putting them in my freezor.

16943

[esetter]

You have done the right thing by scouting your trees now. One thing I always look for is the sap sucker holes and the black stains on sugar maples from years of dries sap. If the sapsuckers like it , its a good one. When I find those trees they just about always produce well! One thing I run into with reds is that the ones that are deep in the woods and don't receive much sunlight usually don't flow too well. I will bet you will be an addict like the rest of us by this time next year.
Ill check in with you guys from time to time since theres no Tennessee discussion. Best of luck!

[Sugarmaker]

Good luck with your first season! It sure sounds like you have done research and fabrication to be ready for a great season. When you get done head to north west PA and help us make some syrup too.
Regards,
Chris

[netsplitter]

Since about Christmas, it has been frozen around here HIGH's in the low 30's and LOW's in the 10's and under.

This next week, it looks like thaw temperatures are coming. Good lows, but some HIGH's are a little too high :). Next WED/Thur shows a possibility of upper 50's, but then it is back down.

Man, I am ready to start!

This may be a dumb question. If someone were to TAP a tree, and the temperatures stay well below flow temperatures (saw low 20's/30's) for a good two weeks, does that negatively affect that tap hole once tempatures do rise? I assume that tap hole is healing even in the frigid cold tempatures?

[berkshires]

This may be a dumb question. If someone were to TAP a tree, and the temperatures stay well below flow temperatures (saw low 20's/30's) for a good two weeks, does that negatively affect that tap hole once tempatures do rise? I assume that tap hole is healing even in the frigid cold tempatures?

From the literature I have read, yes even low temperatures do dry out a tap hole. Much more slowly than warm temps, though. Also, I think that if it warm for a while first, that gives the microbes a chance to take hold, and then they can keep growing (albeit slowly) even when it's cold. However if it's cold throughout, they don't really do much until it starts to warm up.

Another issue is that I've read that splitting the tree is more likely if you pound your spiles in when the tree is really frozen.

[netsplitter]

Thanks for the great answers.

I think I am going to set my taps up tomorrow. I put a tap out on one of my red maples closer to my house and got about a gallon today - close to 2% sugar content. It is really going to warm and thaw everything tomorrow and Thursday. Then the extended forecast looks great. May be a little early, but I am just ready to go.

[netsplitter]

Well I tapped a bunch of reds, and one sugar maple.

I have two large reds and one large sugar close to my house. They were dripping really well yesterday. I have collected around 6 gallons just from them. (the sugar maple has around 3.5% brix, the red's are around 2%.)

The rest of the red maples that I tapped are up a mountainside, and sadly they have not dripped at all. I am not sure what to make of it. I figured they would not produce as well, but I expected something.

I have some monster sugar maples that are all the way up the mountainside, the sun exposure is better there, and I expect they will produce really well. I think I am going to wait until around next Friday to tap those.

Since I will not have enough to boil, I am just storing the sap in 5-gallon buckets, and placing them in a chest freezer. I am so paranoid about ruining the sap, I hope there is no such thing as freezer burned sap :).

[maple flats]

Give them time, the ground is likely still frozen there. In general, in years with good snow cover, you will not get much sap flow until there is a bare ground ring around the tree, at least that's what one oldtimer told me.

[netsplitter]

Well, did my first boil yesterday. Only had about 8-9 gallons, but I thought I would start fresh this next week (sap wise), and see what modifications I might want to make for a larger boil.

It took around 2 hours to boil down 8-9 gallons to 3/4 of a gallon, then I finished inside. I think I am going to take the top layer of block off my arch, I feel it is a little too high, and I can boil a bit better if my pans are lower / save wood.

I enjoyed finishing the most. It was just exciting to do. I had a hydrometer luckily, and a digital thermometer. Once the boil got to around 218-219 I started to check. Once it hit around 220 degrees, the hydrometer was telling me a 65 brix. I put it back on the stove for 10 seconds, and quit.

The warm syrup was so tasty. Very butterscotchy, rich, and a strong delicate taste. I got close to 3/4 of a quart of syrup.

When I took the sap inside to finish, I used a pre-filter to get any ash out. Then I boiled. After I was done boiling, I used a synthetic cone filter. It worked well pouring through on my first jar, but when I went to the second jar, it was going so slow that it was almost not worth it. I am not sure what I did wrong (I followed the instructions, soaking the filter in hot water prior to pouring). After my second jar, I didn't filter the third one, it was literally dripping at a snail speed. Maybe it was due to the syrup cooling down? Anybody have this issue?

I attached some pictures. The germans are my sap boiling friends :).


17060170611706217063

[Ed R]

Put the syrup all in HOT at one time with that much syrup. Use at least one pre filter inside the cone filter. An insulated filter tank would help to keep things hot while filtering or even a larger stock pot to filter into.

[netsplitter]

Hoping for some more great advice :).

I am going to be boiling tomorrow. All my sap is frozen in 5 gallon buckets that I store in a couple freezers. What would be the best way of getting these buckets thawed? Would it be safe to leave them out overnight in a room that is around 70 degrees? Should I simple pour some sap on the top in the morning to get the ice thawed enough to where I can put it in my steel pan? Just looking for some recommendations from experience.

Thank you,

[fisheatingbagel]

Overnight is fine. Our sap sits outside sometimes for a day in 50 and 60 degree temps

[netsplitter]

Thank you!

I sat the buckets outside overnight, and they were thawed enough for me to boil.

I am a bit disappointed in my batch though. I did everything like I did last time. My first batch has a butterscotch flavor, with a little bit of a smoky kick.

I made a half-gallon of syrup on my second batch. The taste is throwing me off though. The initial taste is very sweet, butterscotch/vanilla flavor. But it has a strange aftertaste, almost an alcohol taste to it. I have no idea what I may have done or what would cause that. I tested the syrup when I was finishing boiling with my hyrdrometer, and it was well within the range of syrup. Anybody have anything similar happen?

[netsplitter]

Maybe it is best described as maple whisky flavor. I finally found another post where someone had described something similar. At least I do not feel alone :).

Today should be a really good run - then back to the rain. I am about ready for another boil.

[Sugarmaker]

Check the smell of the steam as your getting close to syrup. Sap can have problems with metabolic flavors to various degrees that you have no control over. (this can be from mild to mr. YUK!) That said double check all your systems for flavor gremlins that you can control.
Good luck with your season. Keep boiling!
Regards,
Chris

[Sugarmaker]

Went back and looked at previous threads and pictures.
Good helpers you got there !
I would not lower the arch yet. Looks about right to me.
On frozen sap. The ice generally doesn't have much sugar content so set it aside and just boil the concentrated sap from the center of the ice block. (get a long stem sap hydrometer or a sap refractometor to check.
Your not doing anything wrong on filtering. Once the filter stops letting syrup through you might as well dump that syrup back in the pan heat it, rinse the filter and start with hot syrup.
Keep boiling!
Regards,
Chris

[netsplitter]

Thanks for the reply. My problem is that I store 5-gallon buckets in the freezer, the ice in the picture is really about 9/10 of the sap from one bucket. It wasn't a soft freeze, the whole bucket was frozen (I just sat it outside the night before to let it thaw some).

I smell / taste the sap throughout the boiling process. The odd part was even down to the finishing, I never tasted the off taste. It has made me quite paranoid. I ordered a new finishing filter / prefilters.

I have been boiling with stainless buffet steam pans. Two boils in, they have some burn marks all over the inside of the pans (some worse than others). I am having a difficult time cleaning them. Trying water and vinegar, but some of them are not coming off. Would this pose any risk to any off flavor of syrup?

[afretired]

Net splitter
Do you need any sap? I’ve got more than I plan on boiling in the next few days. I could probably fix you up with about 100 gallons. If you want any this weekend, let me know. I’m a little over an hour away in Green County.

[esetter]

If I were closer , id take you up on the extra sap!

[netsplitter]

Wow what an offer! This being my first year, I am not able to store more than around 40 gallons at a time - and I am at full capacity myself. I also am using an outside arch, so I probably will not get to boil until this rain we are about to get stops.

I do appreciate you offering that though, very generous - so thank you.

Afretired - do you sale maple syrup? I would love to try some other syrup from KY - I have yet to taste any syrup made locally from this area, other than my own.