Bryan & Laura's Backyard Maple Syrup

What started as a trip with our local cub scout pack to see how Maple Syrup is made, has now become a hobby with sweet rewards.  We started making syrup in 2018 and have grown more and more each year.  Our first year we tapped 10 trees and used a turkey cooker as an evaporator.  The next year we built a small 8' x 12' Sugar Shack and barrel evaporator with a hobby sized Reverse Osmosis setup and tapped 75 trees. We managed to produce 11 gallons of syrup that year.  Since then, we added a couple more additions to the sugar shack and have increased our trees to 600 taps.

While watching a few youtube videos and doing a little research, we found we could extend our season of making syrup by tapping birch trees to make birch syrup. We personally don't use our birch syrup for our pancakes, but it sure makes a great marinade for salmon, pork chops, chicken and vegetables.  We have perfected our process on making birch syrup and have averaged 3-5 gallons of birch syrup per year.

Due to the nature of our business, we have obtained our Cottage Food License through the State of Minnesota and our Syrup in not subject to state inspections.