Champlain Valley Fair -- Oops!

[Andy VT]

I've got a theory now on my "slight metallic" flavor. I have one cheaper stockpot as a backup; most often used for bottling, but might have finished in it once or twice too, that i got at a yard sale and has a worn paper label on it saying "stainless steel" but the handle rivets are very pitted. I think these rivets may not be SS. I won't use it again.

For my density, I think at boiling I rushed too much so temp didn't stabilize on the murphy cup. When I double checked it near room temp before the contest, I used my smaller cup that barely fits the hydrometer. Between being more viscous (cold) combined with some potential capillary action on the hydrometer, I think I got a false reading there.

For my slight sour sap taste, well, I guess I can't necessarily boil only on weekends and Wednesdays! Will have to keep up better! I'm using the last jar of this batch now and it still tastes pretty good but I think I see what they mean. The sap must have fermented just slightly before boiling.

[DrTimPerkins]

Thicker syrups are almost always judged higher for flavour.

Mouth feel (perception of "thickness") and flavor intensity at the range of acceptable syrup densities changes drastically. Syrup at the high end of the acceptable range will almost always be judged better due to that.

When you purchase a hydrometer, it's often a good idea to make sure it has a Vermont inspector stamp on it. This ensures the hydrometer was correctly calibrated during manufacturing. I've heard that on occasion almost entire batches of hydrometers submitted for testing fail (and are destroyed). If your hydrometer wasn't inspected...you're making a leap of faith in the manufacturer that it is good. Quite often those really cheap hydrometers are made in China or other far-off places and not particularly accurate.

Andy (and others)...at the annual VT Maple Conference and at most state maple conferences there is a table where you can get your hydrometer calibration checked. It's worth the membership or conference fee for this service alone.

At Proctor, we generally have used (last 7-8 yrs at least) a Smoky Lake Murphy Float and Gold Series Syrup Hydrometer with Vermont Certification. Typically like to keep at least two on hand for comparison and in case of "accidents."