Checking what VT sugar makers are doing

I think we'll likely do our last boil today. Sap from one bush was slightly thickish. What a weird season as far as sap quality and flavors. Never would have imagined we'd see clear sap in April!! Really proves to me it's the temps not the trees that cause the end season flavor changes, I guess I thought it was more from the trees but seems otherwise. Sap was toffee tasting back in March when that warm spell hit, then came back to a little more buttery and crisp after that 3 day cold spell last week of March.

Having our best year for numbers, alot (400 out of 5100) of smaller maples 5-8" that should be cut but are tapped, so that I feel will usually keep us under .45 but this year we're up to a.48 and one more boil so will be just under .5.
Sap is still running unbelievably good, taphole still open hate to stop when it's like this!

I will say I didn't get a dry line in and I think that weighed in on yield a bit, slush was horrible this year. Many improvement to begin soon!

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Originally Posted by blissville maples

Really proves to me it's the temps not the trees that cause the end season flavor changes, I guess I thought it was more from the trees but seems otherwise.

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It's a combination of both things and how they interact. Temperature affects both the trees with the sugar and amino acids they generate throughout the season, and temperature affects the microbes that live in the sap, which create different compounds that affect flavor. Both have a role in how the syrup tastes.

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Having our best year for numbers, alot (400 out of 5100) of smaller maples 5-8" that should be cut but are tapped,

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Tree size has a huge effect. You get about 2 gal more sap for each 1" in diameter. So going from 5" dbh to 9" dbh means 8 gal more sap. Better to do a little thinning. https://mapleresearch.org/pub/m0218treesize/

we had our last boil last night. sap is still running decent, clear and still testing 1.75%. i certainly could keep going through the weekend but other projects need tending to. we ended up with .43 gpt... that's pretty good for us! nitre is horrible. each 2 gallons i filter gives me a 3lb glob of nitre in the filter. having to switch pans every hour and a half makes boiling a challenging! overall, a good season production wise with no real issues.

Flow really slowed down (but didn't stop) yesterday with the high temps and wind. With the cooler weather and rain the flow picked up a little. The crew is going to boil out the pans with what came in overnight but we'll leave the vacuum pumps on over the weekend to see what happens. Looks like a freeze Sunday night, so that might get things going again if we're lucky (fingers crossed). Definitely ahead of last year in syrup total, sap sugar, and syrup quality. Either way, we're getting close to the end, but aren't quite willing to pull the plug quite yet. No sign of buddy in the sap that did come in, but it is a bit yeasty.

It pretty much did stop for us yesterday (we're anywhere from about EL. 880 to 1100 ft and somewhat NW facing). We boiled what we had yesterday and both the sap and the syrup were fine. I kept the vacuum pump on and then this morning it looked a little more promising. Hopefully, we can get a boil on Sunday. A Sunday night freeze could extend us for even another. We'll see.
Ken

Things picked up again here this morning a bit. Some lines are still really slow, some are better, and some are doing pretty good. The cool rain has helped a lot.

Sap is a bit cloudy and low in sugar, but the syrup tastes good (a bit darker than we typically make). Red maple flower buds have swollen a good bit, but havent' popped yet. Sugar maple buds are still tight. Hoping a good freeze Sunday night will bump out another decent flow. Either way, we've made a full crop, so no complaints.

We are all done our last boil was Wednesday, I heard the peepers in the pond behind the house when I walked out of the sugarhouse Monday night. we were making Dark Robust with a great flavor. But the sap has slowed to just about nothing, so I shut the pump off. I had held out hope the rain and cooler temps would kick it in but no such luck here, we had our best season ever. .30 of a gallon on 4000 taps which is the best we have ever done. now to build on that. now to pull taps and rebuild that fire wood pile before I have to go to my other job moving dirt. Good luck to those still running.

Sap started coming well again this afternoon with great color and taste. Boiled well with minimal issues. Maybe we will get through the weekend after all! Sap testing at 1.1. Still higher than last year!

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Originally Posted by sugartree310

We are all done our last boil was Wednesday, I heard the peepers in the pond behind the house when I walked out of the sugarhouse Monday night. we were making Dark Robust with a great flavor. But the sap has slowed to just about nothing, so I shut the pump off. I had held out hope the rain and cooler temps would kick it in but no such luck here, we had our best season ever. .30 of a gallon on 4000 taps which is the best we have ever done. now to build on that. now to pull taps and rebuild that fire wood pile before I have to go to my other job moving dirt. Good luck to those still running.

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Mark,
I'm surprised you're not yielding a little higher gal/tap. Do you have a high red count? I'm currently just breaking 0.40. You're on hi-vac, right?
Ken

I am on hi-vac 27" and I work hard from the beginning to keep the system tight, we are 60% sugar maples, 40% soft maple, we are north face for the majority our sugarbush and have always averaged around .25 per tap. I sure would love to average .40 just not sure if that is possible here.

thanks
Mark