When to draw off
Your exact maple syrup finishing temperature, from your elevation or today’s barometric pressure.
In the app, on the Boil stageHow do you want to find it?
Draw-off by elevation
| Elevation | Water boils | Draw off at |
|---|---|---|
| Sea level | 212.0°F | 219.1°F |
| 500 ft | 211.1°F | 218.2°F |
| 1,000 ft | 210.2°F | 217.3°F |
| 1,500 ft | 209.3°F | 216.4°F |
| 2,000 ft | 208.4°F | 215.5°F |
| 2,500 ft | 207.5°F | 214.6°F |
| 3,000 ft | 206.6°F | 213.7°F |
Why 7.1°F above boiling?
Finished maple syrup is a sugar solution of 66 to 68.9°Brix, and a solution at that density boils 7.1°F hotter than pure water. That offset holds anywhere. What changes is the boiling point of water itself. It drops about 1.8°F for every 1,000 feet you climb, and it moves day to day with barometric pressure. A cold front rolling through can shift your draw-off point by a full degree while your pan is running.
That's why experienced sugarmakers don't memorize "219." They find water's boiling point at their sugarhouse, with this calculator or by boiling a pot of water, and finish 7.1°F above it. Drawing too early gives thin syrup that can ferment; drawing late gives syrup that's over-density and can crystallize in the jar.
Verify with a hydrometer
Temperature gets you to the draw; a hydrometer or refractometer confirms density (66 to 68.9°Brix, legal minimum 66.0 in most jurisdictions). Use both: the thermometer to run the pan, the hydrometer to check the barrel.
Method sourced from UVM Proctor Maple Research Center and the North American Maple Syrup Producers Manual.
This is one screen of SweetRun.
The full app finds your boiling point by GPS, tracks every batch and Brix reading, scores your sap-run forecast, and works offline in the sugarbush. No account. Your data stays on your phone.
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