Sap starts to drip from area maple trees

DULUTH - The sap is starting to drip from Minnesota’s maple trees.

It’s a spring hobby for Doug Hoffbauer of Midway Township.  "Who wouldn't want to be outside on a day like today?"   Hoffbauer tapped his maple trees about 10 days ago and is hoping for the sap to move from a drip to a flow.  "Now it just started running this weekend and so we've only gotten about 60 gallons of sap yesterday and today out of everything so far so it's been a real slow start," said Hoffbauer.

Hoffbauer is hoping for some sap–running weather.  "We need those mid 20 nights and mid 40 days, a freeze to bring the sap down and bring it backup again in the morning and we kind of went right by that so far this year."  But the season is just getting underway.  He fired up the evaporator Wednesday to cook his first batch of sap.  "You have to boil anywhere from 35–40 gallons of sap down to 1 gallon of syrup," said Hoffbauer.  "We can get anywhere from a pint a day to a gallon a day per tap."

25 years ago Hoffbauer decided to start with 30 taps on his backyard maples.  "And eventually it just started to creep up, a little bigger, a little bigger, and a little bigger."  Now he has 250 taps and produces about 40 gallons of syrup every season.  "It’s a hobby that's gotten a little bit out of hand but it only usually lasts 3–4 weeks," said Hoffbauer.

On a good day, these sap sacks will be half–full.  "These 2 trees have always done very well, that's why we have quite a few bags on them," said Hoffbauer.  "If you have a good stand and a good operation you should get a quart of finished syrup per tap."  It’s then bottled and sold at the Duluth Farmer's Market.  "It’s my Sunday breakfast, it's very good," said Hoffbauer.

The maple season typically runs from mid March to mid April.  For more information about maple syruping log onto www.mnmaple.org