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Tapped in around Valentines Day.
On Monday, my son made these from our first draw off:
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Hope this warm weather doesn't spoil the 75 gallons of sap I have in the tank.
I'm trying to find a place that sells those big blocks of ice so I can cool down the sap with it.
I'm traveling on business and won't be home to boil it down until this weekend.
Mark
Sap yesterday was pretty slow, but it was 18F in the morning - 30 gal pickup. Today was a lot better with 80 gal, checked the tank, it's 3%. Early start tomorrow -
i think i made 5 gallons from 122 taps today. nothing to do for a week now except scrub the pans and make a few little modifications.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike Van
I got my first draw off tonight and drew everything off the first two pans and going to save the sweet from the back three pans to start again next week.
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Tree's are only running at a scooch over 2% today, they were up around 2.25% a few days ago.
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Been collecting since last weekend. I can't boil until Saturday, so I'm hoping it makes it through the next 3 days of warm weather. For personal use, I think it will be ok. We'll see...
I picked up another 50 today - By Monday I expect to have a bunch of trees stop altogether. I have several that I didn't tap, too far out, etc. so I expect by Tuesday they'll have taps in them-
Got a few sugar ants in my buckets yesterday
I was amazed to find 75 gallons in the tank today. I wasn't expecting it at all, but mother nature throws another surprise my way. I'll have to get it into the pan tomorrow after work
I finished, filtered and bottled my first batch off the new machine. all in all 3.75 gallons (plus a quart i spilled on the kitchen floor :(). all bottled up and ready to go once i get some labels made up with my contact info.
My first batch off the new rig was as much as i did all last year.
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Fantastic to see and hear about everyones experiences this season. The finished bottle pictures are excellent, inspires me to keep going. Like Mike Van, I too have taps that have basically stopped (which for me at this point is ok). I am winding down my season after an incredible year! I'm currently at the back end of a 180 gallon batch, and look to finish that saturday. Tomorrow i am meeting with a beer brewer and a distiller, the plan is to get working on a Maple Porter, and a Cinnamon Maple Liquor by the end of March. So i'm shifting gears to products after making 23 gallons this season...mind blowing to me for my second year! Im looking forward to meeting some of you over the coming weeks, so hopefully the sap continues to run for us after these few warm days.
Thanks. sorry for the double.post.Quote:
Originally Posted by Woodsrover
using phone.
im sitting outside after collscting anotber 205 gallons this am. its 75 in Bristol..wtf.
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wow. im sitting by my brook in the backyard.watching my taps still trickle its 75 here in Bristol.
i collected 205 this am, as i did not get to empty yesterday.
I still have 35 trees I havent tapped. My plan was to tap them next week. I have 60 i tapped 4 weeks ago. they are becoming cloudy and ants and flies showing up. 2 weeks ago i tapped another 70. still flowing clear and high sugar. 3.75%.
So by staggering i may be able to stretch this I am hoping.
i have a nice rythym down with my 2nd year using the 2x6. its actually fun now.
thanks for all tbe helpfull tips and nice pics everyone.
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Sap has been running strong since I tapped out Saturday the 18th (just over 700 gallons from 100 taps). Yesterday the sugar was down to 1.2 and today it was 1%. Hopefully it will bounce back next week after a good freeze?
Paul V
Your right u get a good rythem and it's all good.been boiling since 7 am in my little two pan evaporater.got 28 gallons boiled and another 16-18 gallons to go.bucket had all sorts of critters in them.hopefulluy I will get this sap all done before 7pm. Couldn't ask for a nicer day out!!
It's 71 in Wolcott.piled a whole bunch up of snow to keep the sap cold
Keep it going!!
I took about 30 taps out today, warm [hot] weather really killed them - I did tap some 2 dozen new ones though [lost count] It was 24 here this AM, and at 2 Pm the new trees were running sap onto the ground before I could get a tap in. Another warm spell coming, then cold by the weekend - I'm in it till the cows come home -
trees here are running fair today, but definitely have some tap holes drying up. I'm tempted to run a new line on some new trees for the cold snap at the end of the week, that would mean setting up another tank though, which i don't have at the moment.
Finishing up what I collected this week finishing up what I collected this week. Another 6 gallons bottled 21.5 so will pull taps this week. i have 35 to put in next week if weather warrants.
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It ran today! My 700 worth of collection tanks are going to be overflowing by Friday. Guess I know what i'm doing this weekend!
BTW, bottled 3 gallons yesterday from Sunday's boil. Dark. Has it turned dark so soon?
I only checked a few buckets this morning but I got near nothing on about 7 red maples. Not sure if they're dried up or just hasn't been cold enough. They've been tapped for 3.5 weeks. The two sugars I checked had a couple gallons. Between low yield and poor evaporation rates I'm getting a bit frustrated. We'll see what happens when temps get back to average next week.
I picked up 70 some gals yesterday, mostly from the new ones I tapped. More of the old [Jan] ones dropping every day. Just over 2%, heading up now to light the fire -
I picked up a hundred gallons from mondays and boiled it yesterday. I drew off a gallon and left the rest in the flues of one pan. I'm not expecting anything until the weekend now down here. it's definitely getting darker, still holding at 2% though. I really hope it recovers over the weekend and we can get a decent run in. these small batches are hardly worth firing up for. I'd really love to do a big 500 gallon run on my rig to really test it out.
First post here - I'm a backyard boiler/neighborhood tapper. I have 9 trees on 5 properties in Norwalk that I tap, and then boil on weekend over a firepit (but just converted a file cabinet into a two bay evaporator. I tapped in mid January, and some of the lines are not producing anything anymore. If I pulled them and tapped new trees, would I render more sap? Could you ever re-tap the same tree the same year? Would you ever re-drill the same holes? I have been doing this for 4 years now, and in years past when the sap lines dried, I was done. But this year, I would like a like a bit longer of a season. Thanks in advance.
If you re-tap a tree or try and re-drill the same holes you are causing more damage to the trees. If you have access to new trees go and tap those you will get more sap.
If they were trees big enough 2 taps & you only had one you could drill a new hole on a different face & move the tap. That wouldn't hurt.
Thanks guys! I will look at other trees in the neighborhood.
No sap today, nothing running but my nose -