GRASSY MEADOWS, WV (WOAY) – The owner of Daniels Maple Syrup, Brandon Daniels, began making maple syrup when he was 14 years old and has continued to expand and build the farm for more than 25 years.
“We have taps on about twenty-five hundred trees on eight different properties,” said Owner of Daniels Maple Syrup Brandon Daniels. “They are all within a mile or less, right around the sugar house here. We collect it in the woods, haul it in here, and process it here in the sugar house.”
Once the sap is brought into the sugar house it is pumped through a reverse osmosis machine to remove nearly ninety percent of the water. From there the sap is moved into an evaporator to remove the rest of the water before filtering.
“Just like when you boil water in a pot, when you boil sap the minerals will sometimes precipitate or turn to a solid form,” Daniels said. “Like if you ever boil a pot dry you’ll sometimes have minerals or a white film on the bottom. So you’ll get that gritty minerals and you want to filter all of that out. It doesn’t hurt anything it’s just your going to have a layer of like white minerals in the bottom of the container, most people think it’s turning to sugar when it’s actually minerals. So you filter that out and any other debris or anything in there before it’s bottled.”
During the course of the two month season the farm processes fifty thousand gallons of sap to make six to eight hundred gallons of syrup.
While the farm only produces the original maple syrup flavor, the time of year they harvest the sap will change the natural flavor.
“Earlier in the season the PH of the sap is a little bit different. The trees haven’t started towards budding yet so the sap will be a little lighter, clearer, and milder flavor,” said Daniels. “During the middle of the season you get more of the amber or the medium grade of syrup as the trees start preparing more towards budding. As the invert sugars get a little bit higher later in the season you’ll have a darker and stronger syrup.”
When you visit the farm not only can you purchase this West Virginia made syrup, but you can also make an appointment to get a tour of the process.
To schedule a tour give them a call at 340-575-7266. You can also visit their website for more information and to purchase their syrup.
