Day 39: Last Day for 2008

Boiled down the final 9-10 gallons of sap to get 24 oz. of syrup. A little stronger flavored, really nice...medium in flavor/color. In hindsight, the weather changed very abruptly. Most of the days barely hit 40, and then, all of a sudden, it was 60 deg. outside with 40 deg. nights. The sap totally stopped. It's been a lot of fun...and a lot of work.

Lessons learned:
1. Making maple syrup is a rewarding hobby - try it!
2. Start small. Worry about mass production later.
3. Never, ever complain about the cost of maple syrup!

Day 37: No more sap

Yep, that was the end of the sap. I've kept it cool with snow this week, planning on boiling this weekend.

Day 35: 4/9/08 Still running

I've collected 8 gallons of sap in the last two days. The temperatures have dipped to the upper 20s at night. Same last night. This will probably be the last day because the forecast is for very warm temperatures. The buds on the trees haven't changed yet up here, but with the 50s and low 60s coming, I'm sure they will soon.

Day 31: 4/5/08 The Longest Day

Boiled today. 15 1/2 gallons of sap into 1 3/4 quarts. That's a pretty good ratio. It was a long day - 14 hours total. I modified the boiling setup a little to try to capture all of the heat. Sheet metal on the right side stopped most of the heat from escaping, as did the bricks. I need a new plan for next year. This way is too slow. If I had more sap, I would have been boiling endlessly.

This might have been the last day. We'll see. It did get down to 29 degrees last night. That doesn't mean all the trees were that cold, though.

Day 29: 4/3/08 Two warm days...

Some of the taps are producing a lot...overflowing the milk jugs. I had to replace two half-gallon containers with gallons. Since some of the taps seem to have nearly dried up, I moved four of them to trees without taps. The sap poured out, literally. I'll have to empty them tonight. I have about 13 gallons now, hoping to get 20 by this weekend...probably will miss that mark by a little.

It looks like the south-western taps are doing really well. A couple of trees had taps on the eastern side because that faced a clearing. The cold mornings plus sun weren't that good compared to the trees with western or southern taps. I'll make this change for next year.

Day 25: 3/30/08 Nothing but cold.

No sap this weekend at all. We did make it to Valley View Maple Farm in Springfield, NH. They said their syrup was running dark amber now and that they thought the season was almost over. I hope it isn't up here. The weather is showing very high temperatures next week. Sixty degrees on Tuesday. The nights are borderline, just around freezing. So, it could be all done or an excellent week of sap. We'll see.

Day 23: 3/28/08 Snowstorm?

4-8 inches of snow last night and today. School was cancelled...go figure. Happy Spring.

Day 22: 3/27/08 A little more...

Two gallons of sap yesterday and 2.5 today. It really is not that warm yet. My elevation is 1250 ft. and the sun only hits a couple trees. One possibility is for the taps to dry out. I read somewhere they last 4-6 weeks, or maybe that was the length of the season. I have plenty of other trees to tap, though, if that happens.

Day 18: 3/23/08 Boiling day...

11AM - I'm boiling today. The grill setup still has a hard time maintaining a boil. It's about 25 degrees outside now, but was about 15 degrees when I started at 8:30am. Nine gallons of sap in all.

5PM - syrup is done. A long day, but it was extended by one low propane tank. I lost the boil for quite a while, but got it back after switching tanks. In all, just over one quart of syrup. This sap-to-syrup ratio is a lot better than last time. I know the sugar maples (vs. red) were producing more. The sugar content may have changed also. I filtered a lot more during the process and am curious to see how much sugar sand settles out.

Day 15: 3/20/08

Well, the weather stinks. Rain, freezing rain, snow. The sap is trickling. Some friends have trees in the sun that are producing a lot. So, I'm optimistic. Probably will boil to make a quart or so this weekend.

I made another Grantham, NH web site. http://granthamnh.googlepages.com

Day 11: 3/16/08 A little more...

Another gallon and a half. Boiled a cup on the stove to taste the quality - made a tablespoon and tasted good. Looks like another up and down week. Hopefully I can get ten gallons to boil this time. That would make a quart - enough for Easter and our visitors in two weeks.

Day 10: 3/15/08 Got some sap

2 1/4 gallons of sap flowed overnight on ten taps. A trickle for some, but a lot for me. With 200 taps, that would be around 45 gallons - a decent night for a larger producer. Into the freezer to keep it fresh. Four gallons are in the freezer.

Day 9: 3/14/08 Sap's runnin'

Warm day, sap's coming out. Not terribly fast yet, but it looks like the start of something. Warmer weather is coming next week. For now, I'm freezing the sap.

Day 8: 3/13/08

Still hovering around 37 degrees. Must be colder in the woods. No sap to speak of. The syrup has a little sugar sand settling out. Will have to figure that out. Forecast is for low-mid 40s for the next week or so. The weatherman keeps lying.

Day 7: 3/12/08

One quart of sap in the last three days. Pretty much nothing due to cold weather. Waiting...

Day 4: 3/9/08

Boiling day - first attempt. Thought it made sense to do a small batch (alpha test) and see if it comes out OK.

11am - It didn't take long to get the 3.5 gallons boiling on the gas grill with the grate removed. The grill is in rough shape, but it works. The smoke from the years of grilling is strong and I hope it doesn't affect the syrup flavor.

12pm - Sap is turning darker already and smells sweet. The wind picked up and when it gusts, the sap stops boiling. The heat plate is disintegrating.

1pm - Brought sap inside 10" pot. After about an hour in the large pot, I transfered to a small pot (2 qt. or so). Syrup is now about 2" deep and temperature is rising.

2:30pm - Really tastes like syrup, but it's very thin. It foams up quickly and I have to lower the heat.

3pm - DONE! Just as every how-to warns, the temperature rises fast. Filtering was slow because we did it a little at a time and it cooled/thickened. The end result was two 1/4 pint jars full of syrup. Light amber, but good tasting. A nice ending to the small batch. About 5 hours of work, 4 hours of boiling - something I hope to reduce if I can keep the boil going longer outside.

Day 3: 3/8/08

Collected 1.5 gallons of sap this morning and put in the other 4 taps, giving us 10 total. It rained in the night - might have some rain water in there. Later on, looking out the window, it looked like buds were forming. I think I've found the red maples vs. sugar maples based on the bud shapes, but we'll see. No one can remember the leaves even though we looked at them for this purpose.

Day 2: 3/7/08

1 gallon of sap from the 6 taps: into a milk jug and into the freezer. Earlier in the day, bought a full-sized steam table tray, which measures about 12"x20" (6" deep) and is stainless steel. I returned an outdoor burner and decided to use the larger pan on the gas grill. Also picked up a new propane bottle and had it filled.

Day 1: 3/6/08

Two thumbs up. After reading a lot of materials about making syrup and driving/calling all over town, we're ready to tap the trees. I bought a drill bit, taps, and filters locally. For "pails", we're using milk and soda bottles. They do the trick, but are a little harder to hang securely on the tap. 6 taps in, ran out of bottles.