what's the actual rope?

[canaanmaple]

So, I know why syrup can get ropey from end of season contamination when not boiled quick enough. Just had this happen to the contents of the flue pan and float box I had sitting in buckets for only a day after the last boil of the season. Like others say, syrup tastes good, but a little snotty, so I guess a distiller can have it.

Anyway, the geek in me needs to know more than the 'why' it happens and exactly what it is :) Dr Tim, has this ever been studied to figure out what exactly the snotty composition actually is? Like is it some form of pectin that is created from metaboliziation of stuff, etc?

thanks!

[maple flats]

It likely didn't cool fast enough and micro-organisms did their job.
I had that happen just once. I had to clean my pans in mid boil, I shut down, drained the syrup pan into my draw off tank and proceeded to clean the syrup pan. I paid no attention to what concentrate was in the pre-heater. As I later learned, the pre-heater became a perfect breeding ground for micro-organisms and then as I resumed boiling they got worse and about 30-45 minutes later the entire syrup pan got very ropy. It took a lot of work and time to get things flowing properly again.
I'm not qualified to show this as a study, but I did learn what not to do.

[sweet spot maple addict]

Maple sap contains a good population of bacteria , among them the family lactobacillus ans the genus leuconostoc.
They are always present to some extend , but conditions like a rise in temperature will make them more competitive and they will
colonize to represent the majority of the flora.
The slime they produce is metabolized from the sugar of the maple sap and is a complex form of a polysaccharide that serve them as a biofilm in which
they integrate. Kefir grain used to ferment milk and or fruit juice produce the same kind of polysaccharide , known as "kefiran" , but to my knowledge the one
from maple sap has no mame so far !!!!! or has as much names as the number of producers that will never forget it.

[canaanmaple]

Maple sap contains a good population of bacteria , among them the family lactobacillus ans the genus leuconostoc.
They are always present to some extend , but conditions like a rise in temperature will make them more competitive and they will
colonize to represent the majority of the flora.
The slime they produce is metabolized from the sugar of the maple sap and is a complex form of a polysaccharide that serve them as a biofilm in which
they integrate. Kefir grain used to ferment milk and or fruit juice produce the same kind of polysaccharide , known as "kefiran" , but to my knowledge the one
from maple sap has no mame so far !!!!! or has as much names as the number of producers that will never forget it.

it reminds me of the toy called "slime" when I was a kid, but a little less viscous :P Im gonna let some sit in a bucket and see what happens over time just for the heck of it :)

[DrTimPerkins]

Maple sap contains a good population of bacteria , among them the family lactobacillus ans the genus leuconostoc.

All correct. More details can be found in this paper: https://mapleresearch.org/pub/1218ropy-2/

[Swingpure]

I personally have not seen Rooney syrup but found this on You Tube: https://youtu.be/2yTELBmwoI8

[Ghs57]

I seem to have had the same problem. The contents of my pan after draining and waiting for me to finish the process turned into a gooey mess. I would guess it was about 5 gallons of syrup when finished, so was not at syrup density when this happened. I suppose there is nothing to be done with this end of the season batch except to discard it (not sure where to dump it either). Once this process has occurred, what's the likelihood it can spread to bulk syrup, which was hot packed/sealed in 5 gallon buckets awaiting reheating, filtering and bottling/long term bulk storing?
After the season, I also let the last of the sap spoil in the pan for a few months (for cleaning purposes), which is well on its way now.

First time for me, and my fault for not moving quickly to finish the batch.