1.25 gal. is a lot considering what we pay for one of those tiny 8 fl oz glass jugs. Of course we didn’t have to put in all that work.
We don’t use any of the fake maple syrup. It tastes like brown sugar water.
I believe the guy I help gets 20. for a quart… and the maple creme is 8 oz for 10.00… which, by the way, put on toast is very comparable to French toast… very tasty stuff!
Sneezles61
like brewing its not about the money. I can get grade A local for $15 a quart. Walking to my trees and bringing in a few buckets is enjoyable work. Its a hobby for me so I only do 30 gallons of sap because i can boil it down to a gallon in 12 hrs. I get my boil going and then do stuff. yesterday while it boiled I drove my wife to work came home painted some baseboard, ripped out some rug to replace went to the dump picked up wife went out to dinner.
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I’m with you all the way… Perhaps I chatter too much…
The hobby that brings you such great results … like brewing, gardening and maple syrup, are the ones that peak my interest… I’ll need to assess my maple trees right here… quite a few are getting about coffee can size… albeit only 8 of them… Many more are are pop can size…
Sneezles61
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Id say about 10" you can use 1 tap per. I have 2 in two and 3 in one. Yields me about 6 gal on a good day. After i collect what i want ilk whittle a live plug to staunch the flow. I’ve been told to leave it open and it seals itself once you take out the tap. If you’re tapping those smaller trees id plug them. The other thing is go around and check sugar content. Any maple will make nice syrup. Ive tapped red maples which im pretty sure are abundant by you
Red pines are abundant… I’ll have to see about the sap from them… AND… we have birch… Haven’t we seen Birch beer soda?.. Well, its not going above freezing yet so I’ll see about getting a few taps and see…
Sneezles61
sorry meant to type red maples. Yes you can tap birch but im not sure of the sugar content
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I was going to question that, BUT…
Well, I got my marching… er snow trampling, tree tapping instructions… Tuesday next week… Now we are looking for more snow shoes… I’ll look for some bear paw style… I think the long ones may not be as maneuverable …
Sneezles61
These are the ones I use
)
You can get tails for them for more flotation. Very maneuverable. Wider and bigger ones are better for deep snow trekking
Well, those won’t be happen now… just put some money into my old Guitar… I might have some 1x6’s… Fencing wire wire for mock bindings… Some stove pipe to fake the curl in the front?
Sneezles61
EDIT: Thursday we start tapping trees… Suppose to be -13F… But next week, days are above 32F… purrfect fer sap to run…
Well did do another round of boiling the other day still getting about 24 to one. Pulled the taps heading to CO tomorrow. Maybe when i get back I’ll tap my northern property. This second but batch the color was lighter
So having some conversations with the maple sap guy… The first bulk tank gets dumped… That is the the gunk in the lines and such… 350 gallons!!!
BUT… as the season turns… the last he collects for the year… is called bud sap… which is sought after by bakers… they seem to feel the syrup is so awesome for baking sweet goodies…
So… as the lines from the trees run down hill, they get to a point they need to get pulled up to the vacuumed lines… and this is called a sap riser…
About 550 taps installed… now, waiting for the sap to start flowing…
Sneezles61
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Boiling starts on Sunday… It takes approximately 350 gallons sap to make a 5 gallons of syrup!! They use just over 3 cord of wood…
Sneezles61
That cant be right that’s 70:1
He uses a RO to remove some of the water…
Went out there yesterday, he was making walnuts and cashews covered in maple syrup… Candied bacon… Very tasty treats!! Sap was running very good…
Sneezles61
A quick internet search provided results indicating that it depends on the species, which can be 40:1 all the way up to 60:1. 
If i collect through the season and mix it and do the boil I’ll get it closeer to 40:1 like ive been trying to explain in this post the earliest running has a higher concentration of sugar so small batch I can boiil alot less. So far I’ve boiled about 50 gallons for 1.5 gallons of syrup. I only tap my Norway maple. The other maples have less sugar content. Ive tapped them before.
Well, I’ll inquire more…
Sneezles61
EDIT: I asked… it seems it went more awry… 500 gallons turns into 5!! I think he’s got a few of them 350 gallon stainless steel tanks he fills, then pulls off, into the RO, then over to the cooker… and volume isn’t much of concern… Seems he said he’s still got 10 gallons processed syrup from last year yet… They only sell by word of mouth…
The probably like the syrup later in the season because it contains more invert sugar due to microbial activity. Chemistry is interesting and in this link http://www.nnyagdev.org/maplefactsheets/CMB%20202%20Chemistry%20of%20Maple%20Syrup1.pdf
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