2018 Maine season in review

[abbott]

Well, I'm convinced this is it. The buds are definitely swelling on some of my red maples and I'm 90% confident some of the sugars are showing signs as well. I will collect sap today and tomorrow and boil it if no funny odors or flavors are detected, then call it a season. I know some of you have already pulled the plug, so give us your totals: number of taps, production, and how does this season rank for you?

[BRL]

Good Idea Steve

Tapped Buckets on 2/17, Tapped 3/16" Lines on 2/24
87 on 3/16" Gravity and 75 Buckets = 162 Taps
Finished and Bottled 39.75 Gallons
Best year to date on half the taps! If you have good slope 3/16" is the way to go! More Lines for next year!

[Grayfarm]

At Gray Farm Maple in Denmark we pulled our taps 3/29. We tapped a littl late at 3/1. 240 taps: 25 buckets, 55 5/16 gravity, and the rest on a sap puller. Added memprotech RO 200 this year. Went from 32 gallons to 50 and had 25 % firewood left over and a lot less time boiling on our Leader Patriot 2x6. First half of season was all amber. Very last boil between dark and very dark.

[Atgreene]

Still going here, not seeing any buds yet. We are into record territory, so it's all bonus from here on out.

[abbott]

Called it quits today. Pretty sure the first hint of buddy flavor was creeping in. And boiling 1.6% sap with green wood was getting old fast.

Totals: Approx 485 gallons of syrup on 840 taps. That's over 140% of "average" and more than 60 gallons over last season (which was a great season!) Used about 21 cords of wood. I haven't checked the numbers but I think the sap:syrup ratio ended at 41 or 42:1

[McKenney Maples]

Sap is still flowing here. It’s been a great season in all, currently sitting at 95 gallons. Spent the weekend cutting standing dead fir and spruce, should have more than enough wood for the next few runs. Still making Amber so I can’t say it isn’t worth it.

[wurmdert]

Called it quits today. Pretty sure the first hint of buddy flavor was creeping in. And boiling 1.6% sap with green wood was getting old fast.

Totals: Approx 485 gallons of syrup on 840 taps. That's over 140% of "average" and more than 60 gallons over last season (which was a great season!) Used about 21 cords of wood. I haven't checked the numbers but I think the sap:syrup ratio ended at 41 or 42:1


Wow thats over a half gallon a tap. Nice Haul

[Mitchman]

Nice Season Abbott!!!!

[mainebackswoodssyrup]

Great season Abbott. We should have a good season, plenty of sap but new job meant not much time to boil. We dumped a fair amount of sap but it won’t happen again! We’ll be around 15 gallons but should have been close to double that.

[donka]

Record season for us this year in North Raymond. Made a little under 12 gallons on 30 gravity taps.

[Mvhomesteader]

Finished with 7 gallons off 15 taps, producing 285 gallons of sap for an average sugar of 2.5%. I tapped 2/13, started collecting 2/15, and pulled everything 3/31. I noted that the best sap days in terms of volume followed the snow storm in late February and two storms in March.

[McKenney Maples]

Who’s still at it? Filtered off 10 gallons of dark amber tonight, looks like 3 more freezing nights left then it’s all over for me. Sugar content was around 3% from yesterday’s run. Not sure the next sap will be good for anything beyond commercial but who knows.

[Atgreene]

We're still going. Got a couple more days from the looks.

[maineboiler]

About 1/2 of my taps are pulled but I am still collecting. Sap is still pretty clear but the brix is about 1.4 - 1.8

[Road's End]

Still running good, but at 1.4% now. Also, even with the RO I am making very dark grade. Looks like a couple more freezing nights and that'll be it.

[McKenney Maples]

Finished up the final boil of 2018 tonight. Need to bottle up 10 or so gallons of dark before the cleaning saga begins.

[maineboiler]

I’m done for the year. Spent 2 solid days doing clean up and I still have some buckets and lines to clean. We have lots of good syrup so it’s well worth it. I increased my yield about %50. Great season. Now it’s time for some fishing

[Road's End]

Wrapped up a few days ago, still some bottling to do but will be up over 85 gallons for sure. It was a decent year, still learning and always adjusting.

[maineboiler]

Way to go Roads End. Good season. We are always learning I hope

[Revi]

It was a sweet season! The sap flowed at the perfect times to allow us to boil on the weekends and it was a great time overall. We made about a third more than last year and had a fun time doing it! Overall I rate it an A!

[wurmdert]

Finished out the season here yesterday. Had a large increase over last year. So Im well pleased.

[Mitchman]

Well good for you wurmdert!!! The 3/16ths worked well for me, and i decided i'm going back to cooking my own again next year, gonna upgrade to a 2 x 4 pan and use the turkey burners for pre-heat, i missed it that much. The family has been saying " What you didn't cook this " ?:o