dark sap ?

[Mapleridge]

We just had a small run ,and the sap we collected on the lower north slope in the woods is much darker than sap from on the ridge in the woods. We are using white plastic buckets with lids in these areas. Yes, they were all very clean and nothing had gotten into the buckets. The sap is a different color. What causes the color difference??
Thanks for any info. We have a lot to learn......':D' Jean & Ray

[MaineMapleDave]

What color is the sap? I find that sometimes my perfectly good sap will seem to have a greenish or yellowish tint to it. It seems to have something to do with the way the white plastic buckets affect the light.

[SUGARSMITH]

Was it a feew weeks before it was collected so the mix was old sap and fresh sap mix. As sap ages it will discoler

[PrimitiveOperation]

I use white plastic buckets that I get for free from a local bakery-I've found that some of the buckets made with a solid white plastic seem to give the sap the appearence of a darker shade. If i dump it into a different bucket it will look fine.

Just my experience hopefully it helps.

[sapman]

I assume that since you use plastic buckets, there's probably no way rain can get in. But when we collect from our galvanized buckets, I can tell if they've gotten rain runoff from the tree as I pour the sap into a plastic pail, it will have a darker color to it. And as others said, I notice that different pails present the sap color differently.

Tim

[Mapleridge]

We are using about 30 white plastic buckets with lids, tapped Sunday, and collected Monday night. In the buckets from the trees at the bottom of our north ridge( about 30-40 foot drop) 5 of the buckets had light yellowish brown colored sap. The other buckets had clear sap. Nothing got into the buckets to color the sap. And it was just out of the tree, so it could not be old. It has a good taste. Since we didn't have enough to evaporate, we stored the sap in a few buckets and allowed it to freeze. Will wait for warmer temps to return. We will watch when the sap runs again and see what we get. This is our first year making syrup at our home in NY. Ray grew up in northeast Ohio where his family made syrup every year. The darker sap is new to him. Thought maybe due to certain soil conditions being at the bottom of a hill in the woods. ? Thanks for any info...Jean
Ray & Jean Somers
Maple Ridge farm
Charlton, NY
1ST year in new sugarhouse!
30 metal buckets, 36 plastic
2x4 Leader drop flu evaporator
3 burner propane stove for
pancakes !

[Twin_Maple]

I too had dark, almost brown sap in the bottom of the white HDPE plastic pails I use. The sap tasted very sweet, it seems it is only on the first run, just after tapping and only a small amount. At first I I thought I had drilled too deep, but I checked the mark on my bit and it was only at 2". My pails were clean and new with lids. The sap was fine when I boiled it off. I am glad to hear that someone else has seen this because I thought I was crazy. . . I am now waiting for it to warm up so I can actually collect some sap and see what color it will be out of the tree.

[Mapleridge]

The color of the sap lighten as soon as it ran again. It still is slightly colored compared to our trees on top of the ridge. ?

[latewood]

Maybe some of you are drilling too deep-about 1and one half to 1 and three quarter inches is good. If you tap too deep the chances of hitting old dead wood increases as well as the chance of darker sap. Only a guess,just trying to help.

[oldemaple]

It sounds like you might have tapped into a dead spot in the tree. If brownish sawdust came out when you drilled the hole, it was in dead wood. This would give you darker sap.