Wow, those trenches are a lot of work. Had to go take a couple IBU just after seeing those pics... Impressive doing all that with a shovel.
Didn't yet Dennis, this forcast really is a bummer. Did get some more tubing put up this morning. I'm close to 600 taps this year mostly sugar maples, some on vacuum , some gravity and the rest on bags and buckets. I tap red's and a few silvers in my yard. Good producers. I know many producers who tap reds and make award wining syrup. Tap what you got and enjoy ! I also tap walnuts ( close to 100) and boil that seperately . Walnut syrup has a real nice nutty, almost buttery flavor . Last year I had some walnut sap that was close to 6% , almost tasted like diluted kool aid !
WoW that's a lot! I'm just doing sugar maples for now, at least until I have a big evaporator. I was thinking about tapping some black birch this year - I hear the season for that begins right about the time maple season is ending.
Shawn, Birch season does start after maple. You will get alot more sap from birch trees but the sugar content is low , 1% or so. If you never have had birch syrup I would suggest tasting it first , can be strong molasses tasting due to length of time it takes to boil. If you can find someone who makes birch syrup and uses a reverse osmosis( removes large quanities of water before boiling) than birch is much better.
I was just going to ask which birch was tapped for birch syrup. Only black birch? I only have white (paper). If you can use reverse osmosis to remove most of the water from birch sap, can you use it for maple also? If so, how (if) does it affect taste? How do you test for the sugar content of the sap? I know my trees make good syrup, because the syrup from this property is what I grew up on. Interesting observation about rocky soil producing better syrup. I wonder why? And whether the type of rock/soil matters, or just the depth? I'm on limestone bedrock. When my trees blow over, they can have massive root systems that only go a few inches deep but spread way out. Makes you wonder how the trees withstand the winds they do. Interesting thread...a lot learned, a lot of questions and thoughts.
Yes , you can tap white birch. I have a reverse osmosis for my maple. I take on average 3% sap and run it thru the ro and boil 10-12% sap. Going just from 3%-6% removes half of the water . Studies have shown ( Proctor Research Center in Vermont) that unless you ro really high , over 20% , than its possible taste could be affected. Any syrup you buy from large producers or packagers have most likely been thru an ro. The energy savings is huge. You need a hydrometer and cup to test your syrup. A Vermont certified hydrometer is about $20 and a cup aroind the same . You use a "sap " hydrometer to test tou sugar from the tree but it is not something thats needed. Get the syrup hydrometer so you know when you have the brix right when boiling . Low brix will cause mold when you bottle it and too high a brix will cause sugar crystals. Another thing you can do is freeze syrup and it will have an idefinate shelf life. Correct density syrup will just get thick and not freeze solid so glass jars can be frozen as well. Treat sap like you would milk, keep it cool ! My storage tanks ( milk dairy tanks) are on the north side of the sugarhouse to keep out of sunlite. Boil sap as soon as you can and have fun!
Lunchtime progress update! 7 more taps so far so I'm a little behind schedule. I didn't have this section tapped last year, but its by far my highest concentration of sugar maples. I'm basically running the lines N-S, about 4-5 trees per section, with the collection point close to the edge of the woods, by the road. Here's a tip for telling the difference between sugar and soft maples in the winter. Once you become familiar with them, you be able to spot them just by the bark. But the best way is to look at the winter buds. Soft maple tend to be rounder at the end, while sugar are pointy. The first 2 pics are red maple, the second are sugar. Sugar maples will often still have a few leaves clinging to them as well.
Wishlist has a dairy tank and many folks here in MI do the same. I know of one party who uses both the SS tanks and also a couple plastic tanks. The sap will keep longer in the SS than in the plastic. No, I don't know why. Perhaps it has something to do with light; sort of like beer usually is bottled in dark glass. I do know you can keep sap a week with no problems so long as the weather cooperates. When it stops freezing nights and gets into the 50's daytime, well, the run is about done anyway.
Shawn, What's the diameter of the maple you are tapping? My sugar maple, which never keep their leaves, don't branch until at least 30 feet up. Can't really see the buds. Only beech and some oak in my woods keep leaves...beech keep a lot. They rustle in the wind all winter.
Most are 18" and up, but there's some in the new section as small as 8". They're close enough together in there where I can link them in N-S rows, so I'm hitting some smaller ones just for convenience sake. Few more pics - 13 taps total now. Warming up for a minute then were gonna work on a couple of the easier sections.
I got the woods tapped today, ran the vacuum pump and was suprised I did see a tiny bit of sap in the lines but it was frozen solid . Looks like this weekend things will improve . Dennis, I'm up to 4 dairy tanks. I love those things, easy to clean, drain completely , and do indeed keep the sap cool.
20 taps in so far - not as many as i planned for this weekend but its double what I had last year. My girlfriend and her daughter were a great help today. Here's the rest of the pics - enjoy!
Does the vacuum pump get more syrup total than gravity, or just more quickly? Do you have to use one when you are using the tubing? How do you clean the tubing at the end of the season?
I'm on gravity feed - i try to keep everything running downhill. At the end of the season ill go around with my air compressor and try to blow some air through the lines. To clean them at the end of the season I put them in the bathtub with some hot water and bleach, and blow more air through to dry them out. I'm interested to hear about how the larger systems work too though.
I got 6 taps in today 3 by the barn another 3 backyard have quite a few red maples.Not sure how many I am going to do yet .
Looks good Shawn, one thing I noticed is you tapped really high with a long drop into the container. When running tubing especially on flat ground I tap high at my farthest tree but only enough to get a decent slope , 2% is good and have the last tree's tap just above the collection container. Think of a maple tree like a straw full of water, If I put a hole half way up the straw it will drain down to the hole and no more. Put a hole lower in the straw and get more water ! With vacuum you get 150% more sap at 15" hg and 5-7% more for every inch of vacuum over 15" . Huge gains in volumes and no harm to the trees. Some guys with smaller setups use Shurflo pumps like whats used on rv's for water supply. Inxepensive , and can be run on 120 volt or 12 volt. Cleaning tubing is really pointless. Some still do it but using bleach is a no, no! The salt residue will attract those tree rats and you'll be fixing a bunch of leaks . Leave the tubing open and just let it drain for a bit , couple days. Any left over sap will turn to vinegar. No harm done.
We did 50 taps on gravity last year, with plans to scale up slowly. No sugar house yet, and two daughters in college, so emphasis on the "slow" part. A lot of my firewood cutting is planned around improving the sugar bush. Last winter I built my own RO from plans online using household water system parts. Worked well, took the sap up over 8%, so a lot of water removed. I have done one bucket in the house, on the woodstove, several years. Best to have a leaky farmhouse and only one bucket if you are going to try that. Made almost half a gallon of syrup from that tree (fenceline tree in the full sun, tested around 4,5% a couple of times). Glad to know there are others here, of all sizes!
