2019 Tapping in Western Pennsylvania

[Sugarmaker]

Howard,
Guidelines just guidelines! If you get that freeze your right back in business! Might warm to thaw things here today???
Good luck! Keep boiling!
Regards,
Chris

[Gary R]

Quiet on here. Kind of missing boiling, but works been tough anyway. I visited Dave Yeany on Friday. He hadn't boiled yet because of the cold weather. On Sunday everyone was boiling! We visited my coworker and his 4 burner propane rig. He also built a RO in a bucket. It's quite a contraption. Next was Sugarmaker. Got to taste some great syrup and catch up with my mentor. After was Triple Creek Maple. I needed a spare hydrometer. They have a great high tech operation. Syrup was really coming off and at 80Tc. Good luck to you guys on the taste and tour!

[helptheold]

Ack. I just had to dump a whole bunch of sap and concentrate, everything was ropy and smelled awful when I boiled it. Think I'm going to have to clean like mad if I want to do anything else this week. Any suggestions on how to clean my RO easily? I do have about 30 gallons of the permeate from the RO in a large trash can.

[Icefisher]

Ack. I just had to dump a whole bunch of sap and concentrate, everything was ropy and smelled awful when I boiled it. Think I'm going to have to clean like mad if I want to do anything else this week. Any suggestions on how to clean my RO easily? I do have about 30 gallons of the permeate from the RO in a large trash can.

Wow! Old Sap?

[helptheold]

Wow! Old Sap?

Nope. 100% dirty RO, I forgot to change the filter before we went on vacation *facepalm* I was close to closing up shop anyway as I'm having eye surgery in two weeks and wanted to get everything cleaned up before then. I'll do some more boiling without running the RO but I'm done for the year.

Live and learn.

[Sugarmaker]

Sap today! Should be a couple good runs prior to the Tour. Was great to have Gary R and Laura stop in and keep me straight!
Keep boiling folks! another 2 weeks at least!
You can have any syrup grade you want this year as long as its Amber! Maybe it will go darker later? But the 60 gallons so far is only a couple points different in the mid Amber range.
Regards,
Chris

[HowardR]

I'll do some more boiling without running the RO but I'm done for the year.

I'm planning to pull my taps later this week.

[HowardR]

Nope. 100% dirty RO, I forgot to change the filter before we went on vacation *facepalm*.

Help,

If the new sap you boil today also has a bad smell, then there is another explanation. Your trees may be starting to bud. Budded sap has a dirty socks smell similar to what you describe. Some people call it "stringy" but I have never noticed that. The dirty socks smell of budded sap can contaminate and ruin an entire batch.

At the end of the season, I try to keep my batches separate to avoid mixing bad with good. I'm about 50 miles north of you, and usually about a week or two behind you, but this season is unusual. With the high for tomorrow forecast to be 70, I may just be a day or two behind you this year. So, I'm going to finish making today's sap before I start boiling tomorrow's sap. And I'll be ready to pitch tomorrow's sap if I don't like the smell.

Best wishes for your eye surgery! I hope it goes well and that your vision improves dramatically as a result.

[HowardR]

At about 5pm yesterday, both of my RO filters got clogged with stringy-slimy slightly off-smelling sap. This morning I bottled my last batch. I ended up with 81% as much syrup as my record year.

[sbedilion]

At about 5pm yesterday, both of my RO filters got clogged with stringy-slimy slightly off-smelling sap. This morning I bottled my last batch. I ended up with 81% as much syrup as my record year.

I haven't collected since Sunday evening. It's 73 out now,plus the previous warm days.....I'm assuming I'll be dumping it. Collecting/Boiling tonight if its still good. If I dump it, I most likely will be calling it a season. My goal was 10 gallons and I'm at that now....same as last season but with a much bigger setup and RO. Everything was much more enjoyable this year.