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Drum weight and syrup conversions

How much syrup is in a drum, from what the scale says, and the same amount in any unit. Heavier syrup weighs more per gallon, so the Brix goes in too.

01 · Inputs

Weigh a drum, or convert an amount of syrup between volume and weight and between density scales.

Calculate

The full drum on the scale.

The empty drum with its bung and cap.

At room temperature. 66.9 is the Vermont and New Hampshire minimum and where most hydrometers are marked.

03How this is calculated

Brix is percent sugar by weight, so a gallon of heavier syrup weighs more: 11.03 lb at 66.0 °Brix and about 11.07 lb at 66.9, against 8.32 lb for water. The calculator reads those weights from the National Bureau of Standards tables for sucrose solutions (Circular C457), which give pounds per US gallon and specific gravity at each degree Brix, at 20 °C (68 °F). Maple syrup is nearly all sucrose, so the tables apply closely.

For a drum, the net weight is the gross less the tare, and the gallons are that weight divided by the weight of a gallon at the syrup’s Brix. A check against the North American Maple Syrup Producers Manual, which says a full 40-gallon barrel of syrup weighs 440 lb: 40 gallons at 66.9 °Brix comes to 443 lb. Volumes are for syrup cooled to 20 °C.

Baumé is converted with the same tables, by the standard relation for liquids heavier than water (°Baumé = 145 − 145 ÷ specific gravity). That gives 36.0 °Baumé at 66.9 °Brix, as the manual pairs them, and about 35.5 at 66.0, where the manual prints 35.6.

Sources

  1. 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
  2. Ch. 8, "Syrup Density Scales—Brix and Baume" and Table 8.2 hydrometer temperature correctionsNAMSPM 3rd ed. (2022)p. 8-13, Table 8.2
  3. Ch. 12, a full 40-gallon barrel of syrup weighs 440 lbNAMSPM 3rd ed. (2022)p. 12-18
  4. Ch. 8, pure maple syrup definition and legal density (66.0 to 68.9 percent soluble solids; 66.9 °Brix minimum in Vermont and New Hampshire, footnote 1)NAMSPM 3rd ed. (2022)p. 8-2

Fill drums by weight in Sapline

Sapline’s barrel tracking takes a fill by measured gallons or by gross weight after filling, with the drum’s tare netted out, and keeps each drum’s volume, grade, and fill history.

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