Birch Sap, learning the hard way

[heath]

Well I've discovered for myself that birch sap doesn't keep very well. I had a bottle that I tapped about three or four weeks ago. Tried it last night and it was awful. A bit like spoiled coconut milk, not a nice experience.

[Moff8]

I know nothing about this but I wondered for long term storage could you either

boil it down to a strong syrup like maple syrup or turn it into alcohol?

[dave k]

you probally need to pasturise it (boil it for 5 mins). You can also make beer out of it..

[Gwhtbushcraft]

I’m not sure if this would work for birch but with maple if you boil it to syrup then pour it on ice while it is still hot it ends up like a toffee.

[Scots_Charles_River]

Good tip, toffee !

Nick

[w00dsmoke]

I’m not sure if this would work for birch but with maple if you boil it to syrup then pour it on ice while it is still hot it ends up like a toffee.

For every 100 gallons of sap you will get 1 gallon or less of syrup... :yelrotflm

[Philr]

Well guys I boiled mine then put it in the freezer still tastes ok with my Whisky 3 weeks and counting.

[bushtank]

you probally need to pasturise it (boil it for 5 mins). You can also make beer out of it..
Dave have you a recipe for the birch sap beer :beerchug:

[dave k]

HI,

There are a couple. For an old US one, try this:

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Measure 4 quarts of finely cut twigs of sweet birch into the bottom of a 5 gallon crock.

In a large kettle, stir 1 gallon of honey into 4 gallons birch sap and boil for 10 minutes, then pour over the chopped twigs. When cool, strain to remove the twigs and return to the crock.

Spread 1 cake of soft yeast on a slice of toasted rye bread and float on top of the beer. ( I would omit this step, and just use a good top-floating beer yeast instead)

Cover with a cloth and let ferment until the cloudiness just starts to settle, about a week but it depends somewhat on the temperature.

Bottle the beer and cap tightly. Store in a dark place and serve it cold after the weather gets hot. It should stand in the bottles for about 3 months before using. If opened too soon, it will foam all over and pop worse than champagne.

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Or an old english version, I think the ale addition is to put in some live yeast - if you've got a bit of old yeast ferment left over I'd use that, or just a teaspoon of beer yeast will get you right :

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"To every Gallon of Birch-water put a quart of Honey, well stirr'd together; then boil it almost an hour with a few Cloves, and a little Limon-peel, keeping it well scumm'd. When it is sufficiently boil'd, and become cold, add to it three or four Spoonfuls of good Ale to make it work...and when the Test begins to settle, bottle it up . . . it is gentle, and very harmless in operation within the body, and exceedingly sharpens the Appetite, being drunk ante pastum.
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[dave k]

And for anyone else who fancy's making proper ginger beer, sainsbury's have a lot of jamacian ginger (tast the difference label) for sale - Ideal, as it's a lot more spicy and hot than the other varieties. Think D&G ginger beer verses anything else and you get the idea :)

Apparently if you want a really hot and spicy version, when brewing up with the yeast add one whole scotch bonnet pepper to the brew and leave. I know a lot of sub-par ginger brewers add chilli to make it more hot, but if you're really after the `back of the throat` style that's really cool, give it a try.. :)