On our long quest (2.5 hours away from Williamsport) for maple syrup, we finally arrived in Ulysses (not before we got lost and had to stop by a general store for directions). Alas, Ulysses was nothing more than a strip of houses and a few stores here and there, so we decided to visit the Kountry Mart to see if we could find any of the renowned Ulysses maple syrup.
Among the isle of generic brand maple syrup we came across "Hamilton's Maple Syrup." After asking the check-out girl where perchance we could find more of the maple syrup, she directed us down multiple paved and dirt roads, through farms, and finally to the Hamilton Construction Company, Farm, House, and ultimately--Maple Syrup Store.
After accidentally knocking on the Hamilton's house door, Phyllis Hamilton kindly directed us to her store a few yards down (but obscured by trees).
Inside the store held a barrel of goodies: maple syrup, maple candy, maple nuts, maple cream, maple sugar, etc. After buying a significant load of maple products Phyllis was kind enough to show us around her and her husband's factory located behind the store.
How do you ask is tree sap transformed into the wonderful, tasty, syrup? Well it starts with the trees. Phyllis and her husband have over 6,000 taps running to the trees on her land. The trees are hooked up to vacuum system (white lines) and drop lines (blue lines). The vacuum system, which some claim harm the trees, facilitates the flow of sap because the trees produce sap very slowly. For sap to form it must freeze overnight, thaw in the morning, and finally flow through the vacuum lines. These lines must be constantly checked, maintained, and repaired when squirrels and other natural forces destroy them. Phyllis's husband begins tapping the tress anywhere from mid February to late April until the trees begin to bud because then the sap does not taste good. Unfortunately, this year, due to the warm winter and cold spring the trees did not produce a good turn out of sap.
As the sap is collected from the trees and through the vacuum lines it eventually is stored in this white holding tank, located right outside the factory.
The sap is then funneled into the reverse osmosis machine which takes out some of the water (making sugar water aprox. 6% sugar)
After it funnels through the reverse osmosis machine it travels to the piggy bank pan where the pan begins to heat the sap.
Eventually the sugar begins to boil and goes through a white tube (the evaporator). Lighter syrup floats to the top as the heavier syrup remains in the bottom. This system is heated with natural gas, which although is more expensive provides a more even heat, keeps a constant boil, and runs independently. The syrup must be boiled down to 67 bricks, which means that that the syrup contains the entire 2% sugar it originally had (out of 98% water). This labor of love is especially painstaking because 40 gallons of sap = 1 gallon of syrup.
Hamilton's Maple Syrup Products
19 Bunnell Road
Ulysses, PA 16948
Telephone: 814.848.9853.
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