who quits when "that smell" starts sneaking into the steam?

I made buddy syrup about 4 years ago and will never forget that smell/taste. Now I seem to be hyper sensitive to it and usually quit when I first think I get a whiff of it coming from the steam. Yesterday I finally smelt it and figured it was gonna be soon anyway since the sap had slowed down, and weve had a number of days of dry weather, sunny and 50's the past week and a half. To me it reminds me of tootsie rolls with a side of stank. :)

Curious how others describe the smell and what they do when they smell it.

I compare it to boiling dirty socks, not because I ever got it, but that was a description in something I read.
My suggestion is when you start to suspect it, run a test boil before you add that sap to the rest to boil. If the test reveals that smell, toss it. Then finish off what you have that is still in need of finishing. If you just add every day, once you get the bad smell you have ruined the good sap still in the pan.

I didn't get the dirty sock smell this year but the last syrup from yesterday sure had the tootsie roll taste. I save a gallon of it each year for my vanilla ice cream. I can the rest for my kids and a brewery order I have.

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Originally Posted by canaanmaple

I made buddy syrup about 4 years ago and will never forget that smell/taste. Now I seem to be hyper sensitive to it and usually quit when I first think I get a whiff of it coming from the steam. Yesterday I finally smelt it and figured it was gonna be soon anyway since the sap had slowed down, and weve had a number of days of dry weather, sunny and 50's the past week and a half. To me it reminds me of tootsie rolls with a side of stank. :)

Curious how others describe the smell and what they do when they smell it.

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Wet cardboard. When I smell it I’m done.

the better question might be WHO DOESN'T STOP AT THAT SMELL. I run from it. it is awful and the syrup is worse!

Ooooh that smell
Can't you smell that smell
Ooooh that smell
The smell of death surrounds you

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Originally Posted by wnybassman

Ooooh that smell
Can't you smell that smell
Ooooh that smell
The smell of death surrounds you

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Good song. However, while the smell of buddy might signal the death of the sugaring season, it is actually the smell of life of the tree. It is due to amino acids the tree is dumping into the sap as it begins to ramp up growth in the spring. :D

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Originally Posted by DrTimPerkins

Good song. However, while the smell of buddy might signal the death of the sugaring season, it is actually the smell of life of the tree. It is due to amino acids the tree is dumping into the sap as it begins to ramp up growth in the spring. :D

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I actually still pulled off a few gallons after I started smelling that smell in the steam a little just to keep for something, and I keep going back and tasting it, and it's good dark flavor, not buddy at all. I still called it quits though, and gave the contents of the pans to a guy that makes mead and used the rest of the sap to fill up the pans to sit and do it's cleaning magic. Just heard the peep frogs on the pond for the first time yesterday also! Shorter season for me than last year, but just as much sap, and consistently higher sugar content also, so no complaints.

Yes, syrup made at the start of that smell can dark and strong tasting, but without any real off-flavor.

Well we just made 40 gallons of it. My Nephew described it as herbaceous and bitter. My question is ...Can I sell this stuff in bulk to someone? If so I’ll finish it off.

On our small backyard batch evaporator I always boil it out when the smell starts to change. Some of my best testing syrup from the season came from those boils. We had one boil where my brother described the smell as smelling like a clambake, lol. That syrup had a slight off taste but I would still reach for it before the light stuff.

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Originally Posted by springhillsmaple

Well we just made 40 gallons of it. My Nephew described it as herbaceous and bitter. My question is ...Can I sell this stuff in bulk to someone? If so I’ll finish it off.

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I would imagine a bakery might buy it. I think I've seen it referred to as processing grade.

A couple years ago we made a barrel of it, sold it along with the other barrels and got enough money from the buddy, stinking stuff to by 2 new ss barrels.

I had never experienced buddy sap until this year. The smell started like wet cardboard and continued to get worse. After smelling it once I will never worry about forgetting the smell again. At the first hint of it I will be pulling taps from now on. The aftertaste left in my mouth from it almost ruined the taste of syrup for me. Ended up with 6-8 gallons that will be fed to the bears when it warms up. The biggest runs of the spring were all buddy.

I have made some good tasting dark syrup at the beginning (1 boil) of the wet cardboard smell in the past. Not sure if I have ever tasted "buddy" syrup. My trees just seem to turn off before that point.