2019 Tapping in Western Pennsylvania

[Icefisher]

I agree, and hope we have a nice run sat. Planning to visit a couple Somerset area producers then collect in the afternoon and boil Saturday evening/ Sunday.
We shall see..

[helptheold]

Nice pictures Sugarmaker! My friends have taken more of an interest this year besides the “can i have a bottle”. Had a couple hang out last wkend and showing 2 more tomorrow the whole process. I did offer up a bottle to anyone that comes and hangs out. Free syrup always works.

I’m sitting on 10 gallons of almost syrup. Another 50 gallons of 6% post RO sap and 185 gallons of sap waiting to be collected. Its going to be a busy few days. Thankfully Im off on fridays and can knock a bunch out this wkend. Then it looks to freeze up for a few days.

Im dreading the filtering process...so much syrup and only 2 cone filters. Next years upgrade will be a better filtering process.

HelpTheOld....let me know if u need help. I forget when you said your leaving for a few days. I can boil if you dont get it done.

I managed to get it all boiled or concentrated and in the freezer before we left. I’ll be ready to go when we get back!

[helptheold]

I'm 2/3 of the way to my record syrup year. Here's the proportion of the syrup that I've made so far from each of this year's 4 runs:

1. 11% - Feb. 3-8 (I was tapping during the run.)
2. 20% - Feb. 12-15
3. 57% - Feb. 21-24
4. 12% - Feb. 27-March 2

I'm hoping that the run that starts on Saturday will be as big as the Feb. 21-24 run. If so, I'll set a new record. If not, then, given the forecast, it's because my taps are healing.

We get back from vacation on Saturday at 5:30 and you better believe that I’m going to get all my buckets put out that night! Even if I don’t get much in March, I’ve already got 4.5 gallons of almost syrup in the freezer which is more then I’ve ever gotten.

[HowardR]

Here's my reading of the current forecast: This season is going out with a bang! The sap will run hard starting Saturday, running all night Saturday night. Wednesday will be the last day of the run and, perhaps, the last day of the season.

[sbedilion]

idk.....weather channel site is showing below freezing temps at night all the way out to March 20th. i'm just south of pittsburgh. it's looking like i'm going to be overwhelmed with sap. i'm probably pulling the plug in 2 weeks no matter what....time to get ready for the next hobby

[HowardR]

idk.....weather channel site is showing below freezing temps at night all the way out to March 20th. i'm just south of pittsburgh. it's looking like i'm going to be overwhelmed with sap. i'm probably pulling the plug in 2 weeks no matter what....time to get ready for the next hobby

Getting overwhelmed with sap is a real possibility. This season could end like 2014. The big run of that season was huge. I tried processing the oldest sap first, but I ended up dumping hundreds of gallons that were starting to ferment in the warm weather. I pulled my taps while the sap was still running and built my first RO that summer.

I've started freezing gallon-sap-cubes in my deep freezer (using plastic ice cream containers). I drop them into my sap barrels on warm days to keep the collected-sap cool. I've got 14 sap cubes in my freezer that I plan to drop into Sunday's sap. That day I will refill them for dropping into Wednesday's sap.

[Sugarmaker]

Humm? Last days of the season?? Guess I better look at the forecast for our area! I was planning to make syrup till the first of April! We just finished packing 48 pints of maple peanut butter.

Checked AccuWeather (Albion PA 16401) and if you can believe them we will have a good sugaring season right up till April 1. (No joke there either!) You couldn't dream of a forecast that looked better! If it happens lots of folks will be much tired of making syrup by April fools day! What I dont see is very warm spell like 70 degrees! F! That is usually what kills it for us. Lake Erie is still mostly frozen and should provide a nice cool breeze for us too!
Regards,
Chris

[HowardR]

Humm? Last days of the season?? Guess I better look at the forecast for our area! I was planning to make syrup till the first of April! We just finished packing 48 pints of maple peanut butter.

Chris,

My season could end without yours ending. I tapped the first week of February and the highs in the 50s from Wednesday through Friday, predicted by Accuweather, could cause my tap holes to heal.

[Sugarmaker]

Howard,
Highs in the 50's! Your going to be overloaded with quality sap. Especially if you have a freeze at night in there. Understand your farther south. Next week should be a prime time for you. Our forecast temps are starting to drop off a little. Better that, than going too high too quick! Happy boiling!
Regards,
Chris

[HowardR]

Chris,

If the forecast is correct (a big if!), there won't be a freeze Wednesday, Thursday or Friday night, so the sap would keep coming in Thursday but would tail off sharply on Friday and Saturday. But the forecast keeps changing. A few days ago it wasn't going to freeze on Tuesday night, but now it is supposed to. Long range forecasts are inaccurate!