We made 73 gallons of syrup this season, but only bottled 71 gallons because 2 gallons went to the floor on March 20. With 410 taps the statistical average would be 75 gallons based on a yield of 1.5 pints/tap. The sugar content was down to 1 Brix on the last two runs of 265 and 475 gallons of sap otherwise we would have made more syrup.
Into the woods by 7:45 AM. The first batch bottled was actually from the last boil. The syrup was dark amber, but not grade B. Happy about that. The next batch was slightly lighter in color.
The new order of filter papers for the filter press has a slightly different composition causing them to filter differently. More syrup was trapped in the filter press. We were concerned the syrup could be cloudy because it didn’t seem like the filter paper removed all of the filter aid. Fortunately, the syrup was clear. We’ll need to monitor this next season.
Remaining work: bring in the buckets and covers; clean evaporator pans and firebox; bring back R/O and other equipment.
Back to the farmhouse by 1:00 PM.