Skip to the calculator

Density blending

Bring two liquids to a target Brix: syrup and syrup, or syrup and water, sap, or concentrate. Proportioned by weight, since Brix is percent sugar by weight.

01 · Inputs

Pick what you know, then enter the Brix of each liquid, the target, and the volume.

Calculate

Read at room temperature, or correct a hot hydrometer reading first.

Enter 0 for water; sap or concentrate works too. For syrup that won’t be boiled again, use only potable water.

66.0 is the US and Canadian minimum; Vermont and New Hampshire require 66.9.

03How this is calculated

Brix is percent sugar by weight, so a blend has to balance by weight. The calculator turns each liquid into pounds using the weight of a sugar solution at its Brix, splits the blend so the sugar from A plus the sugar from B equals the sugar the blend needs, and turns each part back into volume.

The North American Maple Syrup Producers Manual says liquids of different density, like syrup and water or syrup and sap, have to be proportioned by weight, not volume. A straight volume split short-changes the lighter liquid: cutting 70 °Brix syrup to 66.9 with water by volume leaves the blend near 67.7 °Brix. Done by weight it lands at 66.9, and the same arithmetic matches the manual’s water-dilution table and its worked example (3.8 fl oz takes 1 gallon from 68.5 to 67.0 °Brix).

Weights are for cold syrup at 20 °C (68 °F), from the National Bureau of Standards tables for sucrose solutions; maple syrup is nearly all sucrose, so they apply closely. Mix thoroughly, reheat to packing temperature, and check the density again before packing, since reheating can raise it. If the blend won’t be boiled again, use only potable water: raw sap or concentrate can spoil finished syrup.

Sources

  1. Ch. 9, "Blending for optimal invert levels" (rule of allegation; proportions by weight)NAMSPM 3rd ed. (2022)pp. 9-7 to 9-8
  2. Ch. 8, "Adjusting Syrup Density" and Table 8.3 water to add per gallon to lower densityNAMSPM 3rd ed. (2022)pp. 8-18 to 8-19, Table 8.3
  3. Weights per United States Gallon and Weights per Cubic Foot of Sugar SolutionsSnyder, C.F., Hammond, L.D. (1946). National Bureau of Standards Circular C457Table 1, pp. 3–34: true specific gravity 20 °C/20 °C and pounds per US gallon in air at 20 °C, by tenth degree Brix; Table 2 for water

Keep the blend on the record

Sapline records which barrels go into each bottling run, draws them down when the run is committed, and stamps a lot code, so a blend traces back to the syrup in it.

Start free