submitted by Rensselaer County Tourism
As the sun climbs higher and higher in the sky warming up the days and the night time temperature dips below freezing, the maple sap starts flowing. It’s that critical time of year when maple producers head out to the sugar bush to tap sugar maple trees. This happens in February or March depending on Mother Nature. Alternate temperatures of freezing and thawing are necessary for the sap to start flowing and that only happens about fifteen to thirty days a year.
Kent Goodermote operates a maple syrup business with his friend, Todd Hewitt, in the rural town of Berlin, located on the eastern border of Rensselaer County. The sheer beauty of the area beckons travelers to this hometown community. Kent and Todd started the business when they were kids and have been tapping trees now for thirty-four years. “It’s a spring ritual and a hobby we enjoy. Once you smell that aroma of maple syrup it gets in your blood and you never forget that smell,” said Kent.
The maple trees are tapped by drilling a small hole in the tree and inserting a spile or spout in the tap hole. The spiles attach to an intricate network of tubing that eventually flow into several large tanks along the road where the sap is collected and transported to the sugar house. Kent’s father, Douglas, is the chief sap collector. He gathers as many as five loads a day, that amounts to 1,200 gallons of sap, to bring to the sugar house to be made into maple syrup.
Once enough sap is gathered and transported to the sugarhouse, Kent fires up the wood evaporator and starts the process of boiling down the sap. The evaporator also includes a steamaway that Kent added a few years ago to reduce the amount of time to boil down the sap. About 40 gallons of water has to be evaporated to produce one gallon of maple syrup. Once the sap reaches the desired consistency, it is collected from the evaporator, filtered and bottled for sale. Kent and Todd sell the maple syrup right in town at Hewitt’s Market, so it’s available all year round to the local community and visitors who stop by.
This year Kent and Todd are opening the sugar house for visitors during New York Maple Weekend, March 28 and 29. They will be open from 10 am to 4 pm both days and are located off of Route 22 on County Route 40. Visitors can visit Kent’s Sugar House at 2529 Plank Road to see the boiling process and learn what’s involved in making maple syrup. Please call 658-2801 or 658-2134 for more information.
You can also buy maple syrup from the following producers in Rensselaer County (please call ahead for more information):
• Hoffman’s Sugar House, 89 Staples Road, Stephentown, 733-6417.
• Matt’s Maple Madness, 551 Otter Creek Road, Johnsonville, 753-4352.
• Mort’s Maple, 112 Bittig Road, Sand Lake, 674-1500.
• Running Brook Sugar Shack, 231 Johnson Hill Road, Hoosick Falls, 686-1653.
• Van Acker’s Sugar House, 401 Bloomingrove Drive, Troy, 441-5582.
• Wells’ Maple Farm, 550 Hoags Corners Road, Nassau, 766-2375.