HOw is our pure vermont maple syrup made?
Maple syrup production begins in the beautiful outdoors in the woods of Vermont. We call it a "sugar bush." This is where we set up our sap lines and tap our maple trees to collect the sap that will eventually become the tasty treat you know and love. While the "sugaring season" may only fall in the early spring, here at Severy Family Maple, we are out in the sugar bush year round checking the lines for fallen trees, broken lines, or bite marks. Yes, even the bears and squirrels enjoy that sweet taste!
In late winter/early spring we begin to tap the trees. This is when we put the 12,000 taps, or spouts, into the trees in our sugar bush. Small tubing is connected to the main lines so the sap can make its journey from the tree to our main collection tank by the road. From there, it is then picked up by a truck and brought to the sugar house. We depend on the weather for the sap to run! We need freezing temperatures at night and nice warm sunny days!
Once at the sugar house, the sap is then unloaded into a holding tank and awaits its turn to go through our Reverse Osmosis Machine. This machine removes about 90% of the water in the sap and leaves us with a sap concentrate that helps to speed up the boiling process!
The sap concentrate is then boiled down in our evaporator until enough of the water is gone to make the right density for Pure Vermont Maple Syrup standards and it becomes the delicious maple syrup that you know and love. It is then drawn off the evaporator and makes a trip through the filter press before making its way to the canning room.
