Sap tank smells like yeast

[blaircountysugarin85]

I finished boiling off everything that was in my IBC tote yesterday and everything looked good. The tank was empty and it got down to below freezing last night and a high of 61 today. Had a good run and the wife and kids collected sap while I was at work and although the tank is empty she said it smells like yeast. Im sure it's the bacteria residue from the tank being empty and it getting that warm. It's supposed to be a low of 28 tonight and remain mild the rest of the week. Will this ruin my sap or should I be ok ?

[blaircountysugarin85]

And they collected almost 100 gallons today and put it in the tank....

[Woodsrover]

Clean your tanks. Takes very little time. Better safe than sorry.

[blaircountysugarin85]

Yea it's kind of an after the fact kinda thing that's what I was thinking

[Haynes Forest Products]

Cook it and clean the tank. Be more careful next time and remember your finished product depends on the start of the process.

[blaircountysugarin85]

Yea I hated to have to do it but I ended up dumping it all. By morning it was bad so I cleaned out the tank with a tiny bit of bleach and water this **** weather this season has been terrible for maple syrup!

[Russell Lampron]

I would have boiled it anyway. I don't have the time to clean my bulk tank between runs and by the end of the season you don't want to smell the inside of it. I always make great tasting syrup.

[maple flats]

And I clean all of my tanks every time they are emptied. If you set things up right, cleaning a tank only takes about 10-15 minutes to clean it with just fresh potable water (permeate if you have an RO). It makes a huge difference in how long the next sap put in that tank stay fresh.
However, you can't destroy the sugar (but some is lost as microbes feed on it), boiling that sap would have simply resulted in darker syrup.

[Michael Greer]

You'll get a better grade on your next boil. Many of us never get the chance to clean everything between even though we know it would make lighter syrup.
Next time this happens, look into some of the threads about maple vinegar. If you have space for yet another project, maple vinegar is delicious, and worth more than syrup.