Is it spoiled

[Moshers Maples]

My sap is clear but might have a little different taste, can it be bad and still clear?

[325abn]

Does it taste buddy? Boil a few cups on your stove, if it's buddy you will know. I think it can be clear and still be buddy. Boiling it you will know for sure!

[Moshers Maples]

That's what I'm doing now. Usually I get cloudy sap first but I haven't yet this year

[supersapper]

What is ropy syrup? I boiled 60gals and the smell was not maple. Sappy smelling. My neighbor said to finish boiling and he would take it. I said don't spend a lot of time with it after tasting it in the morning if it isn't right. He said it tasted alright and was going to finish it. No budding on the trees but the sap sat for two days in the bags and he said some were a little cloudy. I told him to dump any cloudy sap but he said one day shouldn't make a difference. This stuff smelled like dirty laundry to me when boiling. Everything was drained and cleaned tonite. End of season! What is he going to have with this?

[PerryW]

I think ropey pertains to the consistancy. Kinda like a snotty, slimy consistancy that looks like wet ropes when you pour some out of a dipper.

[PerryW]

What is ropy syrup? I boiled 60gals and the smell was not maple. Sappy smelling. My neighbor said to finish boiling and he would take it. I said don't spend a lot of time with it after tasting it in the morning if it isn't right. He said it tasted alright and was going to finish it. No budding on the trees but the sap sat for two days in the bags and he said some were a little cloudy. I told him to dump any cloudy sap but he said one day shouldn't make a difference. This stuff smelled like dirty laundry to me when boiling. Everything was drained and cleaned tonite. End of season! What is he going to have with this?

My experience is that cloudy sap often makes perfectly good syrup and nice clear sap can make lousy tasting (buddy) syrup. The cloudiness seems to come from a warm spell whereas the buddy flavor happens when the chemistry in the tree progresses to a point where there are proteins that make the syrup taste bad.