Hudson Valley

[Jonnie Maple]

How is it going for everyone? Tapped 30 last Sat. 2/10 and have collected about 85 gallons this week. Only getting about1.5% so far :cry:

[georgelineman]

sap ran strong today and is just a hair under 2%

[Ghs57]

Not tapped yet here in Woodstock, but I'm sure things are moving. This weekend for sure. Doing some work on the evaporator, which will take a few more days at least.

Average sugar here is 1.8%, and has been consistent for 4 years now.

[Jonnie Maple]

First boil Sat. on 2x4 Mason, holy smokes (steam). My ventilation system was not up to snuff and filled the garage with steam. Boiled 110 gallons in about 9 hours. Would have taken 2 days on the old hotel pans.
Got 52 gallons of sap today (30 taps).

[Ghs57]

You are making me jealous.

I was getting ready to tap this morning, but by the time I had everything together, it had started raining. So, will try again tomorrow. I will take advantage of this warm up to repair the broken/loose firebrick in the arch. Then put it all back together. by then I should have enough sap to start processing.

My records show that I tapped on this date last year. I thought I was way behind.

[georgelineman]

yup 1.5 now here also. Made about 4 gallons so far somewhere around 64 to 1 but we haven't done the official math yet ran strong today.

[Jonnie Maple]

Dumped about 50 gallons of sap today. 65 degrees yesterday and 75 today sitting in the sun in plastic buckets, not taking a chance.

[Snake Hill]

Snake Hill Sugarbush in St Remy (south of Kingston) has just finished a nice run. We have about 30 buckets and 30 tapes on tubes. Running a 'half pint' evaporator. First time on the forum, but have been sugaring for 20 yrs or so. Sap at a little less than 2%.

[ponderingjunkman]

It spoils quick in the sun! We moved our main storage tank under cover for this warm spell-the tractor has to sit outside- but sap stayed clear and made good syrup! We have covered with a light colored tarp in times past too, but nothing beats boiling asap!

[Jonnie Maple]

Well, this nor'easter has made things tough. No sap since Wed. Could not get to my shed where I boil yesterday because of a foot of snow. Got it plowed enough to get in today but no power to run pump or fans. And a sizeable leak in the roof right over the evaporator.
Try again tomorrow, have about 80 gallons that I need to get boiled.

[Ghs57]

It's so odd that over here in Kingston/Woodstock there was no snow. I did not loose power, but plenty of others did.

Boiled all afternoon yesterday and now pretty much all caught up.

[Jonnie Maple]

Up to 30" of snow so far this month and the sap is flowing good. Sugar content is rising, mostly 2% now. Still can not get to 10 buckets that are in the woods. Collected 90 gallons from the other 20 in the last 4 days. Thinking about taking next week off to get-er done.

[Freedmad]

Last year was my first time tapping and I tapped in late January. With how crazy the weather is this year, is anyone considering tapping earlier? Some people in the other NY threads have tapped early, but I'm concerned with how warm the weather has been.

[maple flats]

Where in NY are you? In the warmer areas many are tapping now, if in the colder regions it will be a while. Give us more info on where you are, it will help us answer all of your questions much better.
Dave

[Freedmad]

I'm in Columbia County near Hillsdale. It's been pretty warm around where I am. Thanks a lot.
Also Dave

[Freedmad]

I got about 85 gallons of 3.5% sap off of 27 taps this past week. Really happy we had the freeze in mid February.

[PeterHolmes]

First Timer here!
I'm in the Holmes NY ( Pawling ) and I put in 6 taps on Feb 20th , each with 5 gallon food-grade plastic buckes, and on the 24th had 10.5 gallons of sap to boil. Sorry , no starting % was done.
Being a newbie I hadn't anticipated I'd need to move quickly ( didn't want to overflow my buckets ) so I pulled out my beer brew pot and boiled it down on a propane King Cooker ( from my beer rig ). Boiled it all down with about a half tank of propane , and finished the last 3/4 gallon indoors on the gas stove. Total time about 9 hours, and I ended up with a bit over a quart. I like the results ( hey, it's my first time!), but find my first batch to be very light in color, very sweet but not the deep maple flavor I enjoy. I did the final pull based on the boiling temperature increase ( and also since bubbles started to cover the pot and rise in the pot ), but maybe I should boil down a bit more? Or is this light flavor and color because it's early sap? Will later batches this season give me more robust flavor and color?
Thanks!!

--Peter19543

[PeterHolmes]

March 11, 2019 in Holmes NY , Dutchess County. Last week we had quite a cold snap--single digits in the evening, and only in the teens in the daytime for 3-4 days in a row. I checked my 6 buckets today ( in the 40's all day ) and found massive ice cylinders in each one, but they were loose. Using the applejack analogy, I tossed the ice out of each, hoping that what's left is more concentrated. Ice was at least 1/3 to 1/2 of the volume in each bucket. I was tossing probably 1-2 gallons of ice out of each bucket. Hopefully that wasn't a dumb move.
Any comments on this practice? Is this the poor man's RO?
Hopefully another boil this weekend--this time instead of my propane burner I'll build my cinder block arch, but will keep 10 gallons on propane to feed my 4 inch deep Vollrath full-size SuperPan 2 steam trays (x2)

[maple flats]

At those percentages of ice to liquid you did the right thing. The ice contained only a trace of sugar, the liquid held the bulk of the sugar. You just used the poor man's RO effectively and saved plenty of time and fuel.

[Jake8484]

March 11, 2019 in Holmes NY , Dutchess County. Last week we had quite a cold snap--single digits in the evening, and only in the teens in the daytime for 3-4 days in a row. I checked my 6 buckets today ( in the 40's all day ) and found massive ice cylinders in each one, but they were loose. Using the applejack analogy, I tossed the ice out of each, hoping that what's left is more concentrated. Ice was at least 1/3 to 1/2 of the volume in each bucket. I was tossing probably 1-2 gallons of ice out of each bucket. Hopefully that wasn't a dumb move.
Any comments on this practice? Is this the poor man's RO?
Hopefully another boil this weekend--this time instead of my propane burner I'll build my cinder block arch, but will keep 10 gallons on propane to feed my 4 inch deep Vollrath full-size SuperPan 2 steam trays (x2)
Pete- you did the right thing. In this forum go to MAPLE TALK and under the heading ITS ALL ABOUT MAPLE SYRUP AND JUST SYRUP look at the thread SUGAR CONTENT it may help you. Using a sap hydrometer can be time consuming but you learn a lot first hand.

[mastercat]

Welcome Peter, I'm just across the river in Orange county same weather as you! Generally light syrup in the beginning of season progressing to dark as the season goes. Personally I don't like light syrup as much dark but then again I like dark coffee too:) I have a restaurant that will take any and all dark they could care less about my amber

[PeterHolmes]

Welcome Peter, I'm just across the river in Orange county same weather as you! Generally light syrup in the beginning of season progressing to dark as the season goes. Personally I don't like light syrup as much dark but then again I like dark coffee too:) I have a restaurant that will take any and all dark they could care less about my amber
\
Thanks for all the tips mastercat, Jake8484, and mapleflats. We got slammed tonight 3/15/2019 with a super thunderstorm. Tons of rain , thunder and lightning. I am hoping to boil this weekend but fear wood is readdl wet--want to do my first cinderblock arch. I have about 20 gallons now. I have my 15 gallon and 10gallon beer brewpots sitting full in snow drifts from my tractor FEL driveway cleanup, trying to stay cold till boil. Boiling either 3/16 of 3/17. I need to learn the hydrometer test-- I have one for my beer making. Hopefully it's the same technique doing sugar content.
Great community here btw

[Jonnie Maple]

I'm Back !!!
Long story short, the property I've been tapping is for sale. So I found someone who gave me my price for my evaporator and sold it back in November. The property has not sold and I could have been making syrup still.
Last week I tapped 2 tree's in my back yard (1 sugar 1 red). Collected about 6 gallons of sap so far and am boiling on a hotel pan with a propane camp stove. Ah, the smell :). Hope to get at least a couple pints this year.

[PeterHolmes]

So I boiled on March 17th, and got 8 pints . The big rain early that week ( soaked firewood) and my poor time management forced me to end up boiling on propane again using my beer-making setup. Next year I'll take the time to put together a proper cinder-block arch. Probably a good idea to do a test build before I need it, huh?
My 8 pints came from 27 gallons. In my earlier post I commented on tossing big ice blocks out of my buckets-- seems to have done the trick.

I was away at the end of March and tossed all my full buckets-- sap got cloudy. For me the season is over-- pulled all my taps and tubing.
19950

[Ghs57]

Good going, it looks good. I started on a block arch when I was young. If you are at all serious, you may want to go straight to a small evaporator, as the block arch is going to be slow and painful if you add too many taps. But, what you use (and spend) is directly proportional to your addiction to this undertaking.

[PeterHolmes]

Hi Gary,

Just seeing your 4/4/2019 post in June-- wanted to say thanks for all the encouragement, and chat more in the 2020 season.
--Peter

[PeterHolmes]

How has the 2020 season been for you ? Sadly I have been traveling and won't get to tap until (hopefully) March 7.
Will the non-winter we had this season have an effect?

--Peter

[Ghs57]

How has the 2020 season been for you ? Sadly I have been traveling and won't get to tap until (hopefully) March 7.
Will the non-winter we had this season have an effect?

--Peter

You'll be OK. Winter ain't over yet

[PeterHolmes]

Hi ,

I am thinking I may get my taps in tomorrow. Ten or eleven trees, using 5 gallon buckets. I am hoping this coming week will have favorable conditions. I'm hoping to double my yearly production from one to two gallons this year, and maybe make a little maple sugar too.

--Peter

[PeterHolmes]

Well it seems I was probably a bit early since there's no action as of yet from my taps on 2/21. 10 trees , all decent size, and practically no significant flow at all.
Maybe tomorrow will be different since the daytime temp should be in the 40s (F). I recall these same trees were pumping lots of sap at the same time last year, but I know mother nature has a lot to say about this process. Still hoping to get more this year than in the past, when I was getting a gallon of syrup from one day's boil from the same trees.

--Peter

[Ghs57]

You should see some sap Wednesday with the warm-up. I hope the cold and snow this season remind the maples of what they are supposed to be doing this time of year. I probably won't tap until the weekend, so I hope I don't miss too much.

[PeterHolmes]

Yes, Wednesday had some nice flow. Got to try out my refractometer and now I know which of the 10 tapped trees has the highest concentration (one tree hit 1.010 specific gravity). Yeah I guess a refractometer is overkill for ten trees but I'm a science nerd. I have a lot of trees I could tap but 10 seems all I can manage as a solo operation--no kids home to help and I'm trying not to go full tilt into this hobby ( which I am usually inclined to do!). I'm a newb and this is my 3rd season--I usually only boil once and get a little over a gallon , but this year I'd like to up my production since 1 gallon doesn't quite last a whole year for me. Want to try to make a little maple sugar this year also.
--Peter

[PeterHolmes]

The season's over for me and my 10 tapped trees. I boiled three times this season ( last two years I only boiled once per season ). I am happy to have 2 gallons plus one pint of syrup of varying grades this year (doubled my production). I even had enough sap to brew a wheat beer using maple sap for all steps in the process (mashing, sparging and brew pot ) instead of water. Probably about 7 gallons of sap went into brewing a 5.5 gallon (final volume) of beer. I assumed that I'd get no detectable maple flavor in the beer but just thought it would be a nicely balanced supply of water for brewing. I have softened well water which has a great taste but thought going all natural would be fun. And the beer is great at this point-- happy to share the recipe.

[Jonnie Maple]

Anyone get started for 2022 yet?
I put in 12 taps yesterday, working on getting evaporator set up today.

[red dorakeen]

Tapped 10 days ago. Glad to have a cold spell so I can catch up with the filtering/canning.

Crazy weather, so I tapped crazy early but so far so good.

Looks good after this quick cold snap.

[Ghs57]

Waiting a while longer....

[gbeneke]

We started tapping the last week in December and boiling 29th. I’m always tapping early because I am a hyperactive workaholic. This year we were slammed with sap so I have been too busy to report in. One area on 3/16 has had 1330 gallons on 82 taps ( south facing and 55 foot drop). Last year, my early start yielded 3.5 gals.,this year, will have 30 plus gals. I’m completely exhausted but happy with early start. I’ll let you know if there is a negative effect on the end of season. We are usually tired and done early.
Happy tapping, Doc Beneke

[Jonnie Maple]

Tapped on Tuesday (16), collected 10 gallons of sap today. Looking good for this weekend.

[PeterHolmes]

Hi ,

This year I once again tapped 11 trees, and I started March 3 2023 collecting and boiling whenever I have 20+ gallons of sap collected. I have made about 2 gallons of syrup in 4 boiling sessions,using my setup of 3 "Carolina Cookers" running off of two 20lb propane tanks, boiling in restaurant stainless steam-table trays and finishing in the kitchen.
I feel like the nitre content is higher from my trees this year, but other than that ,the season is going quite well.

--Peter

[Pdiamond]

There are a lot of producers seeing the same thing with the amount of niter this year.

[Jonnie Maple]

Started boiling yesterday. Got through 35 gal of sap, collected 30+ gallons this morning and it is still running. Going to be a busy week.

[PeterHolmes]

No taps in yet in 2024 , and I think the frog peepers that have been chirping away for the last 3 days are telling me this season is over. In all previous years , for me in Dutchess County NY, I usually put my taps in this first week of March. 12 taps and last year I got 3 gallons of sap. Now I am wishing I didn't give away so much syrup in 2023 It seems like I've got to change my game and get an earlier start in the future

Is anyone in my area in the same boat, or have you all brought in a lot of sap in February 2024?

--Peter

[Jonnie Maple]

I set 16 taps on Feb. 19. Collected 96 gallons of sap so far but have had nothing since the 1st. Checked the buckets at noon today and nothing from the silvers and reds, sugars were just starting to drip. Was hoping for one more run but not holding my breath. Looks like I'll finish and bottle what I have tomorrow.