Hop Kiln Road 2019

[Russell Lampron]

After 6pm or more like 7:30ish my concentrate gets really warm for some reason.

[Hop Kiln Road]

Same weather pattern and another .5 gpt. A lot of ice in the tanks. Ground completely frozen. So far I've been able to bottle 12's as fast as the system produces syrup, but, doubt I have the stamina to keep it up because I can hear a rumbling in the distance, could just be the wind and standing by the field tanks there is a trembling beneath my feet. I think there is something coming.....

Got my new RO pressure gauge installed. Get this. After the PO wouldn't deliver, they farmed it out to a subcontractor. The postage for the small package was $7. Guess they are too busy with all the mass mailings from the 237 presidential primary candidates.

[Russell Lampron]

I'm not getting .5 gpt but am getting something. It's 16* here this morning and I suspect it will be another ho hum run today. I need a large quantity of sap for the weekend and after that I'd like a large enough quantity to see how sweet I can actually get my concentrate to with my souped up RO. These 1 hour boils are fun but I'd like to boil a longer too.

[Hop Kiln Road]

Long heavy flow yesterday. Into the evening. Won't know the stats until I pump this AM. Tuesday's .5 gpt+ sap averaged 2.7% with two orchards over 3.5%. Bottle cappers grim and turning over.

[Hop Kiln Road]

Oh my goodness, over a gpt of 2.7% which two passed to 12% and boiled smoothly with the grade shooting up 30 points. Canner heating element crapped but was a surprisingly easy fix. Pump line cracked at the barb, easy fix. Got extra permeate to power spray all over the palace. Don't think this morning's pump will be quite as good. Still plenty of frost in the ground and the forecast looks okay. Have to walk the lines between Saturday's wind and Sunday's run. Maybe I'll try Uber.

[Hop Kiln Road]

Gorgeous Sap. Sweet and easy to handle. Grade up to 70%. And another first. Pumping parked on the side of the road when suddenly pickup and pump trailer is efficiently pinned in by the Fire Chief's huge SUV and a police cruiser! Apparently the chief mistook me for "a landscaper dumping liquid waste into a wetland."

[Russell Lampron]

My grade is hanging in there at Amber too. It kept getting lighter as the day went on and I was afraid it would go up to Golden but it's still Amber. "Dumping liquid waste into a wetland"! It must have been fun talking your way out of that one.

[Parker]

The overlords in Bow are something, really on top of it...i remember the first time i tried logging on a sunday in Bow...2 squad cars where at my landing 15 minutes after i fired up and they were pretty excited when they got there..when i was leaving i got caught up in a bike race..what a place

[Hop Kiln Road]

Well, Red Roof, believe it or not, being 7:30 AM it took me a couple of seconds to gather my thoughts. Meanwhile, to the F-C's credit, his training quickly deduced that while the clear, odorous liquid was being pumped into the trailer tank despite there being no visible contents id plaque for the trailer. However the cop sensed the gig was up and said, "who call this in?" The F-C said, "I did. But I think its okay." In retrospect, with 8 tanks alongside town roads and sap coming out my ears, I got a pretty good idea exactly what's being pumped where.

[Hop Kiln Road]

Didn't boil this weekend, made sugar on snow instead, so have a super clean system, good gradient and a TON of beautiful sap. Red Roof, I'm at 58 gal plus a concentrate spill. (Investigation concluded operator fired up the RO with a drain valve open.) My grade dipped at first this season then went way up. The dip was plugging the filter press quickly too but then cleaned up. Still heavy frost in the ground and ice in some tanks. Oh, and the syrup tasting was a hit again. Still had some Salisbury Sugarworks Very Dark from 2(?) years ago. Still had its takers.