By Doug La Rocque
One could only be talking about Kent’s Sugar House at 2529 Plank Road in Berlin. Kent Goodermote and his partner Todd Hewitt have been producing some of the best maple syrup to be found for 40 years. The Sugar House and its maple products were on display for all to see this past Saturday and Sunday, March 24 and 25, as part of the state’s annual Maple Weekend.
There were good crowds both days, as Kent explained the process from tapping Sugar and Black Maple trees, to the boiling down of the sap in his wood fired evaporator. It takes about 43 gallons of sap to make one gallon of maple syrup. The finished product is then bottled and placed on the shelf for sale, as well as at Todd’s business, Hewitt’s Market, at the corner of Elm and Community Streets in Berlin.
The work begins in early spring/late winter, when the sap starts to run, and continues for several weeks, until the weather turns warmer. When all the snow is gone, is usually a good indicator that the maple season is drawing to a close. Kent and Todd have their own wood lots, but also rent others to collect enough sap. This year, they also had some sap brought to them by a sugar house that stopped boiling.
Their maple syrup is also showcased each year at the yearly pancake breakfast held the last two weekends of March at the Berlin United Methodist Church. The pancakes are always great, made from time tested home recipes, but the hit is always Kent and Todd’s maple syrup. A note about the weekend and a big thank you from the church are contained in our Churches section. Our thank you as well to Kent and Todd, for opening up their Sugar House to The Eastwick Press.