Sap Brix taste test ?

[Maplesapper]

Can you calculate the Brix of raw by taste ?
Just wonder if anyone is a Sap Sommelier.

[MillbrookMaple]

Not exactly what you are looking for but I have a sense by taste of when I'm around the 12-15 Brix mark which is when I send it down to the Saphouse. More importantly when I flush the RO I capture the beginning of the rinse until I feel it tastes like 1% sap and then let the rest go to waste. To differentiate between 1.5 and 1.7% I'm not that skilled. ;)

[jrgagne99]

In season, I feel like I can taste raw sap to within a couple tenths, and concentrate to a couple percent. I don't have any experience tasting concentrate greater than about 10% though.

This is very thumb-in-the-wind..., of course it is best to use the sap hydrometer.

[Maplesapper]

totally get the need for the hydrometer.
Our bush in 1 mile back from the road- we have 600+ taps and twenty ( 55 Gallon ) barrel collection spots.
Just seems some barrels "taste" sweeter....

we boiled down some weak sap earlier- and that set the stage for the need to check the sugar of sap.
too much work getting it out for a low yield
But carrying a hydrometer cup and bulb out is a nuisance but maybe necessary now

[MillbrookMaple]

Better bet for you would be a sap refractometer. More compact and less likely to break. It only takes a drop to get a reading, you can even test the brix of individual trees if you want to go that crazy. I had a tree once by the stream that I found I pretty much sucking the stream right up.


https://www.amazon.com/Refractometer-Automatic-Temperature-Compensation-Vegetable/dp/B07KS221PM/ref=asc_df_B07KS221PM?tag=bingshoppinga-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=80333123631786&hvnetw=o&hvqmt=e&hvbmt=be&hvdev=c&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=&hvtargid=pla-4583932701196371&psc=1

I don't know if this one is reliable but cheap enough to try out and it comes with a holster in case you are challenged to duel with another producer ;). Test it to different levels of sap and compare to the hydrometer. Then you should feel confident in what it tells you. We bought one years ago to collect data for a project with Cornell on Birch sap/syrup and I'm sure it was well over $100 so your mileage may vary. Again I would never travel into the woods with a glass hydrometer. I have enough trouble not breaking them indoors let alone hiking through the woods

[Maplesapper]

Excellent suggestion thanks