Sugar shack on a boil in early spring
The Maple Hill Sugarbush . . . love at first drop: The Spinler family lives close to the land, in a simple home nestled within the woods of northern Minnesota. Each spring on the homestead, when the weather softens and the snow is not quite so deep, we tap into the surrounding maples, trading hard work for some of nature’s sweetness. Making maple syrup is something we’ve done together for over fifteen years. It’s a rite of springtime passage, when the days grow longer and nature unfolds itself from a winter slumber. It’s a part of our lives and a taste of the north woods we would like to share with you.
From Sap to Syrup. . .
When spring arrives in northern Minnesota (the end of March)...
...we head to the sugar bush to begin tapping. Up here, the start of the season is tough to guage as winter drags on and on, often times, into April.
Most of our sugar bush is a gravity flow tubing system. While tubing takes considerably longer to set up and maintain, it saves time in the end – and with our main sugar bush nearly a half mile from our evaporator – we save bucket hauling arms as well. Of course, a moose wandering through might not think the same thing.
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The Machinery...
Using a wood fired air tight super efficient Waterloo Small (4′x12′) evaporator,
we normally process 10,000 gallons of sap each year. That means six full cords of wood pass through our hands. At full steam, the evaporator boils off 220 gallons of water per hour. At the end of a six or seven hour day, 30-45 gallons of syrup are all that remains.
Tasteable quality...
North Shore maple syrup is consistently of higher quality than nearly anywhere else. Our pristine forests are some of the healthiest in the nation. With little or no acid rain damage or airborne pollutants, you can definitely taste the difference.
To remove, minerals and other ‘sugar sand’, Maple Hill SugarBush’s syrup is filtered through a Diatomeceous Earth filter pump. What’s the end product? The best maple syrup that you’ve ever had your entire life. With a very light color and rich smooth taste, try it for yourself.
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Maple Hill SugarBush Products
Our Maple Syrup from left to right: 500ml basque, 250ml basque, 250ml folia, 250ml leaf, 12oz flask (not pictured 50ml leaf, 8oz flask and quart). Give the gift of Maple Syrup. Please contact us for pricing and availability.