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View Full Version : % of sugar in the sap - Can it be this high ?


christwo
03-13-2005, 05:38 PM
Today even though it was sunny the sap was not flowing.
I decided I needed to boil something. I was having a 'mapleman3 - Jim' attack of the need to do something.
I had a 75 gal barrel and a 55 barrel full of sap that had froze from the other night of 0 degrees. I have pumped out about 35 gallons of sap that did not freeze.
I put a hydrometer into the sap and it read about 6% sugar content.
CAN THIS BE CORRECT???
I also had a drain system attached to one of the barrels and it started dripping after the sun hit it most of the day today. I collected about a gallon of that sap and it measured 12 % sugar content. !!!!!
IS THAT POSSIBLE ALSO???
Now I need to get the Rule of 86 or 87 or whatever and figure out what I should be getting from this batch
I am going to wait for the rest to melt and see what that reads, probably 0 % as it was also in the melted stuff.
brookledge
03-13-2005, 09:16 PM
Yes sugar content is always high on sap that has started to freeze. If you can catch it before it freezes solid the sugar tend to freeze last and only when extreamly cold. Take some of the ice and melt it down you will find it to test at less than .5% probably. At .5% using the 86 rule about 172 to 1 that is why most people throw the ice away.
Keith
Brian
03-14-2005, 07:37 AM
Mother natures RO machine :lol:
MaineMapleDave
03-18-2005, 12:41 PM
Yes, the concentrated sap will have a higher sugar content than if it were all thawed. Works slick!!
Mapleridge
03-22-2008, 10:37 AM
We are in upstate NY and have reds and sugar maples. We have made about 15 gallons of syrup so far this and the season average we are boiling about 33 gallons of sap for 1 gallon of syrup. Really clear sap and the best tasting syrup. We are wondering if others also have sweeter sap this year? During 1 day collecting we pitched the ice out of the buckets, but that wasn't enought to make a big difference in the over all season average. The weather looks great for next week here.
WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER
03-22-2008, 10:05 PM
Just count your blessing, most of the rest of us on here could only dream of sap that high in sugar.