Checking what VT sugar makers are doing

[DrTimPerkins]

Dr. Tim. It looks like you will hit your .6 for the season. I wish I could hit those numbers but my sugar content is to low for a season average. How many GPT of sap did you get?

Yes, we'll definitely hit 0.6 gal/tap sometime today before we put the season to bed. Sap ran pretty well overnight (until about 2am), and is starting to run again today (we had a good freeze overnight). Syrup we made yesterday was quite nice....with a strong caramel flavor. I haven't crunched all the numbers yet, but it looks like we're right around 29-30+ gal sap per/tap for most of our woods overall. Our sugar content hasn't been real bad. We dropped down to 1.5 Brix at one point, but that's about the lowest. Most of the time it's been right around 1.8-2.0 Brix (a little lower than normal, but not a lot).

[spud]

I am going to pull the plug today. It was a very good season for me. I came up short on hitting my .5GPT once again this season. My sugar average for the season was 1.6%. Kids are on vacation this coming week so it's a great time to pull spouts and clean up. My apple trees come next friday and my bees shortly after that. Good luck to all those still running.

Spud

[Scribner's Mountain Maple]

Sap ran good yesterday once the sun cam out. Collected almost a gpt. I plan to boil today and clean out the evaporator tomorrow. Hoping for another 100 gal of syrup. The syrup has no off flavor that I can detect. This has been a great season for the high hill producers. Certainly my best ever as I may double the production from my previous "best" year. Some of the increase is due to increased efficiency. But most of it I attribute to the weather. It was really perfect up in the hills. Never too hot, and a lot of frozen nights.

Best of luck to anyone still producing.

Ben

[DrTimPerkins]

We finished boiling incoming sap and then boiling out the pans around 8pm last night. Total of 2,612 gal, 6.75 lbs/tap, or 0.61 gal/tap, which for us is just a little above average. Sap was decent quality right to the end, about 1.6 Brix.

[rhwells2003]

I pulled the plug Saturday too. Started pulling taps Saturday afternoon. Finished up sunday, and got the tank all cleaned up. Been a good season. I got a little over 20gal/tap this year.

[wiam]

We stopped Saturday also. Emptied back pan into front pan yesterday and ended with 838 gallons for the season.

[levasse12]

Dr Perkins, when are we going to release the result of this year test? Tapping below the lateral or hybrid vacuum system(3/16 vs 5/16) etc...

[DrTimPerkins]

Dr Perkins, when are we going to release the result of this year test? Tapping below the lateral or hybrid vacuum system(3/16 vs 5/16) etc...

I'll be speaking at the Leader Evaporator Co. Open House this Friday and Saturday about our two years of "Tapping Below the Lateral" research and about our work with Cornell (Steve Childs) on "Tubing/Spout Cleaning or Replacement?" I'll also be presenting those two talks at Bascom the following weekend. The tapping below the lateral will be presented at the NAMSC meeting in Burlington in October, at LEME in November, and at the VT January Conferences in Jan 2017....and in other places where I'm invited and am able to attend over the summer and fall. It'll likely be published in the "Maple Digest" within about a year.

The 3/16" vs 5/16" on high vacuum will come out a bit later probably. Still have to pull spouts and inspect out in that section of the woods before we can finalize the story on that one.

[levasse12]

Maybe you could tell us if its similar to last years result or not.(for those who could not come to any open house)

[DrTimPerkins]

Maybe you could tell us if its similar to last years result or not.(for those who could not come to any open house)

That would just spoil the fun wouldn't it? Seriously though, while we do present it at meetings, if it is a NAMSC sponsored study, we will publish it (put it down in writing) in the Maple Digest first.....not online.