Sap clarity before turning buddy....

[Jolly Acres Farm]

Some of the veteran sugar makers in my area say that the sap will always turn cloudy before it gets buddy.......is this true?

FYI, As of today the sap is still crystal clear here, and the buds on the sugar maples are all still tight up in the woods. My yards trees, silver and reds started swelling 2 days ago.

[markcasper]

Sap gets cloudy because of bacteria and warm weather, not an indicator of bud swell.

[Ed R]

I've made buddy syrup out of crystal clear sap before, but usually it is either cloudy or yellow due to end of the year bacterial action.

[DrTimPerkins]

Ed R has it right. While the clarity of the sap is often cloudy/milky at the end of the season, the actual cause of buddy-off flavor and the clarity of the sap are two different things. Buddy sap is due to amino acids the tree releases into the sap just at the time buds are breaking or about to break (that is OPEN, not swell). Cloudy sap is due to microbial contamination, predominantly yeasts at the end of the season. I've seen a lot of nice clear sap at the end of the season that makes terribly buddy syrup.

[Ed R]

I've also made very light buddy syrup and some very dark buddy syrup in the past. Have not made buddy since we stoped using pellets back in the 80s, the tapholes just don't hold up that long on buckets in southern mi unless you tap pretty late.

[Bgreisch]

2nd year tapper here with a question. The season is coming to a close in North Wisconsin and was hoping to make a little more syrup yet this week. My dad went to collect today and he said he has some sap that is clear, some little cloudy and some has a yellowish tint. There have been warm days this week since sunday when last collected in the 50's and 60's cool at night to get it flowing some. How do you guys know if the sap will be ok to cook or should I do a test of a few up inside on the stove to see. The yellowish tint I think we have seen before because the buckets can make it look that way when they are full. If it is only slightly cloudy is that ok for end of season sap or should that be dumped.
Thanks,
Bryan

[markcasper]

You can boil it as long as it is not stringy or ropey. You will probably get some off taste and it may be very dark, but its great for cooking and baking. If it has been very warm, it may be sour as well, but for baking with, no worries. Your basically making commercial grade at this point which isn't worth much and most people quit because it isn't worth the bother of producing it. Depends what angle you view it at.