Tapped in Westfield

[Aaron Stack]

What a week. The 5th - 13th we collected 324 gallons for 6 gallons of everything from Amber Rich to Very (very) dark. 35 or so gallons left to boil today plus anything collected. Thursday I was down to 4 gallons collected so not really expecting much. The forecast shows 2 nights at 30 over the next week so Sunday is likely the end of this fast season.

[berkshires]

Nice! I collected 76 gallons this week. Drew about 1.5 gals of syrup off the evaporator, and then simmered down the rest, and pulled it off the evaporator to store. I pulled all my buckets, but left taps in trees. Hoping to set them out again if the weather shifts back.

GO

[bigschuss]

Yeah, the sap has been flowing gang busters up here in Savoy since last Monday. Our overnight lows have been in the 20's every night. My little 2x4 can hardly keep up. Got to boil the remaining 30 gallons from yesterday's (Saturday) haul and I've still got 50 gallons still sitting out in buckets. My trails to the sugar bush are still 98% snow covered so using the snowmobile makes it easy.

But I suspect it may be winding down quickly. It was 48 here when I got up this AM. With next weeks temps. I think I'll lose all my snow. May think about calling it a season.

[Kmb]

Out of town for a week, but came home to 200 gallons (40 taps, including neighbors 7 which only yeilded 13g, mostly sugars). The sugar content was over 3% (with a refractometer)! Boiled all day yesterday and 1/2 of today to yield about 4.5-5 gal.

Must say the new half pint supreme with home-made blower is intense: 12+ gal per hour when really on it with flue temp over 1200 (and up to 1600).

But I am disappointed in the supreme pan and its ability to form a gradient. Really only hit +6 - +7 deg at the draw off a few times. It behaves, disappointingly, like a big flat pan. Maybe I’m not doing it right? I tried to regulate inflow from warming pan to keep the level at 1/5-2 inches. Warming pan was 140-160 degrees.

Also got super dark syrup which I attribute to the sap sitting for the week (it was a bit cloudy but tasted great) as well as longer boiling (without gradient as noted above).

Overall a success, and big upgrade from steam pans and blocks.

[Aaron Stack]

Out of town for a week, but came home to 200 gallons (40 taps, including neighbors 7 which only yeilded 13g, mostly sugars). The sugar content was over 3% (with a refractometer)! Boiled all day yesterday and 1/2 of today to yield about 4.5-5 gal.

Must say the new half pint supreme with home-made blower is intense: 12+ gal per hour when really on it with flue temp over 1200 (and up to 1600).

But I am disappointed in the supreme pan and its ability to form a gradient. Really only hit +6 - +7 deg at the draw off a few times. It behaves, disappointingly, like a big flat pan. Maybe I’m not doing it right? I tried to regulate inflow from warming pan to keep the level at 1/5-2 inches. Warming pan was 140-160 degrees.

Also got super dark syrup which I attribute to the sap sitting for the week (it was a bit cloudy but tasted great) as well as longer boiling (without gradient as noted above).

Overall a success, and big upgrade from steam pans and blocks.

My last two batches on Saturday and Sunday were black as a Guinness and tastes fantastic. I also expect that was due to sitting. Sap was very cloudy but wasn't slimy and tasted sweet so I boiled everything I could and have about 6 gallons of sweet in the freezer for boiling at home in a couple weeks - after cleanup. Pulled the taps Sunday and got the cleanup started.

Overall not a bad amount of syrup (6-7 gallons) for a three-week season. Might top off at 8 gallons after the sweet is boiled down.