Cold St. Patrick’s Day gives Ohio maple syrup makers final boost

One last cold spell is good for syrup production.

CHARDON, Ohio – A cold, snowy St. Patrick’s Day is giving Northeast Ohio maple syrup makers one last hurrah before this year’s sugaring season ends.

Producers expect the sap to run well in this weather. That will contribute to a season already good with sap collection and syrup making.

Making the liquid gold requires a delicate balance of cold nights and warming days. Warm days cause sap to rise through the tree. When nighttime temperatures drop, the sap travels down.

This cycle — known as the “running” of the sap — eases collection for syrup production. As days grow warmer trees start to bud. Then, the sap darkens and becomes stronger flavored until it’s no longer suitable for syrup.

While climate change is affecting the warming and cooling cycles that drive maple syrup production throughout the Northeast United States, 2026 has been a relatively good year.

“I wouldn’t call it a great season,” said Jen Freeman, co-owner of Richard’s Maple Products, a maple grocery store in Chardon and member of the Ohio Maple Producer’s Board. Freeman’s family has been in the maple business since 1910.

Jen Freeman, co-owner of Richards Maple Products, sees the late winter snow as a good thing.

“It’s been a weird season. It’s not been real long, but there’s been some tremendous runs,” she said, noting with the lack of a pronounced freeze-thaw cycle, sap runs have still been good.

However, she pointed out that the warmer weather throughout this winter has meant some darker syrup. While syrup color mattered in the past, it’s not a big deal today for consumers.

“It used to be that light syrup was the best of the best,” she explained. “But everybody likes flavor now. The trend has been toward the darker syrup — for pancakes and for adding into any drinks or bread or baking or cooking — so people can really taste the maple.”

Maple syrup gets darker as the season progresses. While light syrup used to be the goal, consumers now are looking for the fuller flavors of darker syrups.

While sap is still running, the Lake County Metroparks Farmpark in Kirtland has ended its season early. Work there is about demonstrating maple syrup production to the public.

The season, says Farmpark Events Manager Andy McGovern, “is way better than last year. The season started later but production went up from last year. It turned out to be a pretty good year.”

He noted that warmer weather in 2025 made for a “super short” season. The Farmpark taps about 900 trees.

“I know people love those 70 degree days and warm nights, when you’re maple syruping we don’t love them,” he said.

“This year we had a traditional Ohio winter,” he said. “We haven’t had one for a while.”

John Cermak, operator of Sugarbush Creek Farm in Huntsburg, said it’s still too early to assess the final outcome. Cermak taps 2,200 trees

“You really don’t know if it’s going to be a good season or bad season until it’s all over,” he said. “We’re boiling again. We’re hoping it stays cold. We’re around a full crop and this week would put us into a pretty healthy crop.”

Like Freeman, he characterizes 2026 as unusual because it’s been a bit warmer, but the sap runs — albeit darker — have been large.

“With the big swings in temperature, we had our two largest single runs of all time this year,” he said. “Not only has the run been good, everything we’ve made this year has been fantastic.”

That’s important because Sugarbush Creek’s business has been growing since the pandemic. That’s when Cermak began selling maple syrup online and significantly expanded sales.

“It’s going great,” he said. “From last year to this year we’ve doubled in volume of sap. When it was running it was hard and fast.”

“We’re waiting for this cold front to pull more off sap,” he added. Brenkus uses sap to make syrup. He uses both sap and syrup to produce Maple Moonshine.

A small, artisan distillery, he anticipates making 60 to 70 750 ml bottles this year. Maple Moonshine retails for $68 at his distillery. He plans a larger production run next year and to get into retail distribution.

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