It takes forty gallons of sap to make one.
That's the whole trick of maple syrup. Everything else is patience. Here's what happens between the first warm day in February and the bottle on your table.
- 1
Tapping the Trees
When the freeze-thaw cycle begins, we tap our Sugar Maples right here in Brooten.
Late February · 5/16" spiles, two per tree
- 2
Collecting the Sap
Fresh sap is gathered by hand in small batches to preserve quality and flavor.
Daily through March · buckets, not pipelines
- 3
Boiling & Bottling
We boil the sap down over a wood fire until it's syrup — then bottle every batch by hand while it's still hot.
7 gallons in, 1 quart out · hot-packed above 185°F
Why it matters: every shortcut in this process — reverse osmosis, vacuum lines, buying in bulk — makes more syrup at a lower cost. We skip all of them, which is why we run out most springs.
Maple season has an ending. That's the point.
Sap only runs when it freezes at night and thaws by day. In Brooten that window opens in late February and slams shut in April when the buds break — and budded sap tastes different, so we stop.
Everything we make, we make in that window. When the cellar is empty, it's empty until next spring.
Late Feb
First taps go in
March
Peak run, daily boils
Early April
Last boil of the year
May
Bottles cured, cellar filled