So I have been waiting to make this post because I wanted to see what happened over the course of a month or two, and finally got around to taking some pictures of what I am dealing with today (I apologize they aren't great but I will try and be specific in my explanation). I would love as much feedback as possible, but I also don't need the typical "it's just niter or sugar sand" comments, I promise I know what that is and the 50 million ways I/we can get that in the syrup after filtering.
This is different, and I have discussed with several larger producers here in WV and for the most part, I can't seem to find an answer... so here it goes...
After my 2019 season I was tired of hand filtering and bought a used Siro Filter with a brand new diaphragm pump, o-rings, and tubing. I don't do a ton so I thought it would be a great fit. I read a lot on here, especially one awesome post about different ways of using the Siro, and went at it. It took me the first several bottles to get it down, but it seemed the best way to use it for me was to decant the syrup for a few days, dump into a pot, bring to boil, add about 1 cup of filter aid then run through the system. I would then filter for a few minutes, then transfer to a separate pot over very light heat and bring back to about 185ish and bottle. I was very careful not to bring back too fast, or too high. My glass was stored outside, so there were days that it was pretty cold when I bottled, but I felt positive the temp was still good, as I had to wear welding gloves or I couldn't stand to hold it while I bottled. After figuring out the process that worked for me the best, I ended up with awesome, clear, amazing syrup (at least for a while...) It was the most clear syrup I have ever made, way better than hand filtering for me since I have such fine niter from mostly red maples that is so bad it makes me covet sugar maple stands ha-ha!
Fast forward to about 6 weeks after I bottled my first batches, I started to notice some stuff "appearing" in the syrup that definitely had not been there before. It wasn't the typical niter that is hard to see but then accumulates on the bottom over time. This stuff was "light" and "cloud-like", hovering and suspending in the syrup, unlike anything I had ever seen before in my short 5 years of syrup making. I have made some niter-laced syrup. I have bottled thin syrup. I have done a lot of things that are less-than-ideal when starting out my sugar-making days, but for the life of me I cannot figure out, nor have I been able to talk to anyone that has any idea what is occurring. Taste is good, no off flavor that I notice. If you shake the bottle it pretty much disappears, some stays gone for a while, some will come right back...
There is no consistency to the appearing, other than I bottled a lot of 250 ml gallones this year and NONE of them have turned; not one. All the other glass I did have had some turn, and some not. All batches have some that has turned, and some that haven't. It is not limited to a certain "color" or "flavor", but mixed through it all in different variables.
Please, I would love enlightened. I cannot sell this stuff this way, so I am planning to re-filter by bringing it all back to boil, gravity filter everything through flat filters and use a buddy's steam pan system to bottle. This will be a chore, but well worth getting the stuff back to where it needs to be to sell to customers without the fear of it "turning" on their shelf...
If it were just me and my consumption, I probably wouldn't care as much (being a perfectionist I probably would, who am I kidding), but I HATE the idea of someone buying a gift, setting on their shelf for a Christmas present, and it being "cloudy" when it is ready to be given away.
Please, any and all thoughts welcome, but I know this is not your typical "cloudy" syrup post. This is something different, stemming from something that obviously was happening in some aspect of my finishing process, and took time to manifest by some unknown catalyst. Thanks all, looking forward to the help I know you can give!!!
Kody
20200528_123748.jpg20200528_123420.jpg20200528_123355.jpg20200528_123818.jpg