Can you calculate the Brix of raw by taste ?
Just wonder if anyone is a Sap Sommelier.
Sap Brix taste test ?
Can you calculate the Brix of raw by taste ?
Just wonder if anyone is a Sap Sommelier.
2010 40 buckets- 4 gals finished
2011 80 buckets- 14 gals finished
2012 105 buckets- 8 gals finished
2013 maxed at 130 buckets- 24 gals finished
2014 new max at 240 buckets- 18 gals finished
2015 newest max 240 buckets-+48 taps on 3/16 gravity- 22.5 gals finished
2016 150 taps on 3/16 gravity- 23 gals finished
2020 250 taps on 3/16 gravity- 22 gals finished
2021 385 taps on 3/16 gravity 25 gals finished
2022 385 taps on 3/16 gravity- 26 gals finished
Not exactly what you are looking for but I have a sense by taste of when I'm around the 12-15 Brix mark which is when I send it down to the Saphouse. More importantly when I flush the RO I capture the beginning of the rinse until I feel it tastes like 1% sap and then let the rest go to waste. To differentiate between 1.5 and 1.7% I'm not that skilled.
Millbrook Maple
Catskill Mountains
Saphouse - Somewhere in witness protection area.
2.5 X 8 Smoky Lake pans on grimm oil fired arch
RO - Ecochem with 2 codeline vessels and 2 MES vessels.
2000-3000 Taps depends on the season.
Always looking for more sap!
In season, I feel like I can taste raw sap to within a couple tenths, and concentrate to a couple percent. I don't have any experience tasting concentrate greater than about 10% though.
This is very thumb-in-the-wind..., of course it is best to use the sap hydrometer.
Boulder Trail Sugaring
150 Taps on Vacuum
Homemade 20"x40" Hybrid Pan - 15 gph
Homemade Steamaway - 10 gph
Waterguys single-post RO
totally get the need for the hydrometer.
Our bush in 1 mile back from the road- we have 600+ taps and twenty ( 55 Gallon ) barrel collection spots.
Just seems some barrels "taste" sweeter....
we boiled down some weak sap earlier- and that set the stage for the need to check the sugar of sap.
too much work getting it out for a low yield
But carrying a hydrometer cup and bulb out is a nuisance but maybe necessary now
2010 40 buckets- 4 gals finished
2011 80 buckets- 14 gals finished
2012 105 buckets- 8 gals finished
2013 maxed at 130 buckets- 24 gals finished
2014 new max at 240 buckets- 18 gals finished
2015 newest max 240 buckets-+48 taps on 3/16 gravity- 22.5 gals finished
2016 150 taps on 3/16 gravity- 23 gals finished
2020 250 taps on 3/16 gravity- 22 gals finished
2021 385 taps on 3/16 gravity 25 gals finished
2022 385 taps on 3/16 gravity- 26 gals finished
Better bet for you would be a sap refractometer. More compact and less likely to break. It only takes a drop to get a reading, you can even test the brix of individual trees if you want to go that crazy. I had a tree once by the stream that I found I pretty much sucking the stream right up.
https://www.amazon.com/Refractometer...01196371&psc=1
I don't know if this one is reliable but cheap enough to try out and it comes with a holster in case you are challenged to duel with another producer
Last edited by MillbrookMaple; 03-27-2022 at 03:35 PM.
Millbrook Maple
Catskill Mountains
Saphouse - Somewhere in witness protection area.
2.5 X 8 Smoky Lake pans on grimm oil fired arch
RO - Ecochem with 2 codeline vessels and 2 MES vessels.
2000-3000 Taps depends on the season.
Always looking for more sap!
Excellent suggestion thanks
2010 40 buckets- 4 gals finished
2011 80 buckets- 14 gals finished
2012 105 buckets- 8 gals finished
2013 maxed at 130 buckets- 24 gals finished
2014 new max at 240 buckets- 18 gals finished
2015 newest max 240 buckets-+48 taps on 3/16 gravity- 22.5 gals finished
2016 150 taps on 3/16 gravity- 23 gals finished
2020 250 taps on 3/16 gravity- 22 gals finished
2021 385 taps on 3/16 gravity 25 gals finished
2022 385 taps on 3/16 gravity- 26 gals finished
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