What gives syrup a stronger maple flavor?

[skillet]

What gives maple syrup a strong maple flavor? Is it from the the sap starting to ferment before you boil it. If that is the case the darker the sap the stronger the maple flavor?
Many people want the darker syrup and my keeps comming out vermont fancy. Do have to let it sit around longer (spoil) before i boil???

Thanks skillet

[Brent]

I have the same problem. Mine is great for kids who mostly want sweet with a bit of maple flavor. In 5 years we have not made dark stuff yet. Personally I would like more maple flavor and not so much sweet.

It seems if your sloppy about cleaning your gear, ie storage tanks or pipelines, you get a few batches of darker but then it's likely to get lighter on you.

Maybe we should try "aging" the sap a bit. It is related to the amount of microbes in the sap. More in warmer weather, which is why most folks get darker as the season progresses.

So far every year we skipped the dark and went directly from fancy to buddy and foul tasting.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

I have been making syrup since aprox 1989 or 1990 and have never made any buddy off flavoured tasting syrup. I am amazed how you would go from light syrup to buddy this early in the season. Maybe it has to do with me being this far south as my holes dry up well before buds are a problem other than maybe red maples which I tap very few of.

[Brent]

No buddy yet this year. Just getting started up here.

Only did the light to buddy the last (and only ) 5 years. Skipped the dark every year.

[KenWP]

Informed the wife that since I have to make batch syrup its going to be dark and I now get informed she likes the light stuff. Guy can't win. So far it won't really matter as you need sap to make the stuff and at 6 liters of sap a day will take 6 months to collect enough to boil.

[PerryW]

Darker syrup results from several factors:

1) Late season sap where the trees are close to budding

2) Syrup produced just after a warm period.

3) Boiling Sap that sat around too long

4) Sap that is slow-boiled (i.e. running your pans deep of making syrup in batches)

#1, #2 & #3 can produce off flavors and is generally NOT desirable.

#4 will produce darker syrup w/ more maple flavor, but most sugarmakers don't do this because lighter grades are more valuable.

If you are patient, you will most likely make some darker syrup later in the season.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Why you make dark syrup?? BACTERIA

Years ago I made syrup extremely light syrup that batch boiled 3 or 4 times and boiled forever and then a day and it still was very light. I think I could have boiled it for a week on a stove and it would have still been very light as it was early in the season with all clean and sanitized buckets.

I think some of the other factors may contribute a little to it, but bacteria is the main culprit.

[Beweller]

Read the 2008 summary from Centre Acer.

[Yankee Ingenuity]

I will tell you of our experience. We are a mostly self sufficient, old-fashioned family that makes syrup for our own use. This year we used a 100 year old cast iron cauldron to boil our sap, it was first stored in a wooden 50 gallon barrel (not for longer than 2 days). It boiled off fairly quickly, though obviously "quick" is a relative term :) and we finished it in the house. It is all *really* dark and so mapley! I've never tasted better syrup anywhere. I know that our method isn't desirable for most of you, much less feasible but I wanted to share. I don't think bacteria is the answer, I think it's a combination of long boiling times and the cast iron itself. Just my opinion.

Paris

[skillet]

made some very dark syrup last week darker than B. The sap was somewhat cloudy sat in tank for 6 days. The temps were, sat thru mon high 50 low 20's tues -wed high 50 low 40 then thur sat hi 40 low 30 . I think if thursday and friday were any warmer i wood have lost the sap. The sap only lost about 1/4 percent sugar. Great tasting syrup thought better than light. I feel this has a bolder maple flavor and not as sweet. I believe it has to do with some of sugar being sonsumed by the bacteria.

skillet

[wally]

Why you make dark syrup?? BACTERIA

I think some of the other factors may contribute a little to it, but bacteria is the main culprit.

i would tend to disagree that bacteria is the prime culprit early in the season, especially with the relatively cold weather we've had around here. i believe low sugar content plays a larger role early in the season (of course, sugar content gets lower later, too), resulting in long boil times per gallon of syrup.

mostly dark stuff for us this season, with our normal 1.9 to 2.0. last year produced a lot of light stuff, and we had 2.6 to 2.4, with virtually the same weather patterns.

of course, the original question was about maple flavor, not darkness. i'd guess that length of boil time contributes to it, too.

wally

[KenWP]

Within a couple of miles of me there are several huge cast iron pots sitting around that the old timers made syrup with. I can see them filling it with sap and boiling with a big fire under it all day getting it down to syrup or sugar. Must have been pretty dark stuff.

[Yankee Ingenuity]

It is pretty dark but not in a nasty way. :) I'd love to have a bigger cauldron, ours is a 20 gallon. Antique ones are really shooting up in price though.

[Russell Lampron]

The sugars caramelize more to make the syrup darker and have a stronger maple flavor. In the early season it all has to do with the temperatures, sugar content and chemical make up of the sap. Later in the season bacteria takes over as the prime cause. All season long my syrup has been grade B and darker this year. Last year I couldn't make anything darker than dark amber until the last boil of the season. I keep everything clean and boil frequently to keep the sap fresh.

[lrgoodger]

My whole first batch this year was dark. I guess it was from slow boiling. I started with about four inches of sap in the pan and every time it boiled down to an inch I put more sap in. I did this a dozen times before I took the pan off the fire and took it in the house to finish it. My question was how to get light syrup. I got the answer when I took it off the fire for finishing after only one refill. Turns out nice and amber when I do it that way. It tastes great either way.

[Jerome]

My whole first batch this year was dark. I guess it was from slow boiling. I started with about four inches of sap in the pan and every time it boiled down to an inch I put more sap in. I did this a dozen times before I took the pan off the fire and took it in the house to finish it. My question was how to get light syrup. I got the answer when I took it off the fire for finishing after only one refill. Turns out nice and amber when I do it that way. It tastes great either way.

It sounds like you are batching, to get a lighter syrup you will need to get a system where you are slowly adding sap all the time, instead of boil down, fill up, heat up, boil down, this really extends the time and darken the syrup. I went through the same process but have modified it over the years with holding tanks, pre- heaters, hoods float valves etc.
There are lots of good ideas here just do one or two a year and in no time you will have light.

[KenWP]

I find the store bought light stuff has no flavour and sometimes you buy a can of it that isn't even sweet. A lot of it is like Karo to me. Thats one reason I am makeing my own as I wanted the most intense maple flavour I could make and also to enjoy being in Quebec for what it has to offer.