Ugly brown sap?

[mainbutter]

We have a weird tree producing the below brown sap.

Anyone know what is going on??

[mainbutter]

Update: A second tap drilled today, opposite side and 2 feet higher, dripping very productively, good regular clear looking sap.

The first tap is still dripping brown sap. We left the bucket on for now, but it sure is kinda weird.

[perchking]

I have never seen that before, is it sweet? Maybe you found a fully refined syrup producing tree:)

[highlife4me]

Are there any wounds on the tree above or below the tap, or maybe a rusty nail or piece of fence grown into the tree?

[Gissert]

Dump that. I had one like that today, though much lighter in color. Dumped it out. Maybe hit a spot of decay as mentioned. I've had some sap some years slightly tan or orange, but still clear. Seems to boil okay though.

[teal50]

I had some like that two years ago, from several trees. Decided to boil it down to see what it was like...produced an oddly flavored syrup that was not good. It was sweet but had an almost metallic, chemical harsh aftertaste.

[mainbutter]

Interesting! We decided to dump the brown stuff and plug the drill hole. We weren't brave enough to try boiling it down just to see.

The other tap was still producing beautiful, normal sap for us. I hope this weekend's cooldown and next week's below-freezing predicted overnights will get it running again because it was a good producer.