Who's tapping Birches?

[Ittiz]

So I just finished putting the spiles in my big Black Birches today. These trees are always so satisfying to tap. Not only does the sap smell of wintergreen, but when you drill the hole the sap gushes out. After I got a few trees on the line the sap was literately squirting out of the tube before I could even get it into the barrel. So much so I could drink from it like a water fountain.

So who else here taps birches? Obviously I like to tap Black Birch, but what kinds do other people like to tap?

[TerryEspo]

I may have to tap Birch this year if the darn Maples don't run soon, lol.
I have never done Birch before, but maybe soon I will try it. Usually had enough once Maple sap was done, but this year may be different.

[Cabin]

I am going to give it a try. My son fell in love with birch syrup when we were in Alaska. Not sure how the boiling will go because I have read that birch sap will burn if not handled properly.

[Ittiz]

When I made birch syrup last year I didn't boil it I just simmered it down in the upper 100s. I didn't want to risk burning the sugars. Worked well, but took longer on top of their being 1/2 to 1/3 the sugar in it. Made a nice syrup though, which was even good on pancakes. Had an almost fruity flavor.

[Cabin]

When I made birch syrup last year I didn't boil it I just simmered it down in the upper 100s. I didn't want to risk burning the sugars. Worked well, but took longer on top of their being 1/2 to 1/3 the sugar in it. Made a nice syrup though, which was even good on pancakes. Had an almost fruity flavor.

I have woods red maples so my sugar content is not good to start with but I got 21 gallons of birch sap from 17 trees the first day. This years maple run is done for me. 45 tapes and 4 gallons of syrup. :( But this years syrup is thicker than last thanks to a hydrometer so I guess I am doing better.

[Ittiz]

Yeah, I got more sap from 5 birch trees in one day than I got from 20 maples all season, the difference is ridicules.

[BC Birch Tapper]

I've put lots of info on this site under some different headings. We've written a manual on Birch syrup production & sell numerous copies all over Canada , US & europe and have been tapping since 2006. It is a different tree, different sugars & different end use. That being said, maple doesn't grow everywhere and variety is the spice of life so give it a go. We tap about 300 white birch trees, pull in about 6000 litres of sap and make about 50 litres of syrup that we sell for just under $100/litre.
Birch trees typically flow after maple, although there can be some overlap and this year who knows.
Due to the different sugars you shouldn't heat it over 100 deg C when evaporating and typically most folks finish it on a secondary finishing stove of some sort with a low constant temperature.
We only finish it to 60 deg brix due to the different sugars, PH & water activity.
End use: we recommend it for cooking applications, planked salmon, vinagrettes & several kraft breweries are starting to use it in their products which is a big plus.
Have fun & enjoy!

[Clinkis]

I've always wanted to try tapping a few birches. Does anyone know if the birches a running in southern Ontario yet? Also, where would I found your book on tapping birches?

[Ittiz]

I usually poke one with an ice pick and keep and eye on it throughout the sugaring season.

[BC Birch Tapper]

We sell the Birch Manual from our farm. Check out our website, we charge $40 & Shipping.
We're shipping out a handful this week. I just talked to relatives in New Brunswick & they are still tapping maples. Here in central BC I checked some trees in town today and one is just starting to flow so it will be a little longer yet. Typically birch flows after maple altho there can be some overlap. I tap a couple of test trees & when you are getting a litre or more then go 4 it. If you tap before the flow starts you will never realize the same volume than if you tap during the flow......so tap when the sap is flowing!

[Cabin]

Well did a test run on the Birches last weekend. Not sure if I burned the first batch or if the sap was getting old due to warm nights and lack of snow for storage. Made two amall runs and will have to try and salvage the one and finish the other this week. I have them both in the freezer at the house to get some more water out of them before finishing.

[Ittiz]

Birch syrup is almost always darker than maple. It's also super easy to burn. I've got about 150 gallons of birch sap sitting in the woods right now I need to boil down. I built a small vacuum still to boil it at a low temp. I test boiled my maple sap down to syrup at only about 80F. Made a nice light syrup I'll post on here later. Doing the birch sap is going to be a pain though, the law puts a 1 gallon upper limit on still pot size before you have to register it with the feds. They are afraid if you have a still bigger than that you might make hooch with it. I'm going to start working on the birch sap today. Will let you guys know how it goes, maybe a great product we'll see.

[Cabin]

This summer I will start working on a 150 GPD RO set up. Looking for a 12 volt pump that has high preasure and low amp draw. Not asking for too much am I? :)

[MillbrookMaple]

We put in 250 taps yesterday. Should have a boil tomorrow night before we get 3-5 inches of snow :) :( . Took sap from a tap that gave over 5 gallons over the last 24 hours and it tested 1% We almost lost it right there. Last year we generally had sugar content between .3%-.5% either we missed the beginning last year or this is an isolated tree or just a better run. More testing needed but we are excited. Either way we should have a good 500-700 gallons I would guess to concentrate and boil. We haven't run into any burning issues yet over the last 2 seasons. We take it to about 50 brix on the evaporator running a mild boil and then put it in the finisher on low and simmer it til it gets to syrup. Our plan is to add another 150 -250 taps by the end of the week. What a lot more work for us. We have 2000 maple taps on vac that run into 2 collection tanks that are 1/4 mile from my house. Birch we will have mostly buckets spread out over 20 miles in 4 sites to get to 500. It is fun to collect buckets but it eats up a ton of time.

[BC Birch Tapper]

Game on: we put in around 100 taps today and will do another 100 + tomorrow. The temps are just warming up so the sap is starting to flow. it will be a short season for us this year due to family commitments later next week , but that's how it goes. We' ve been seling a fair bit to some local micro breweries and it appears to be going over well which is a good fit for all concerned.

[Ittiz]

500 birch taps on buckets? That must be a back breaker. I've gotten about 150 gallons of sap from half a dozen trees this week. I'm using 55 gallon barrels and it's hard to keep them from overflowing.

I ought to try making some "birch beer" this year, sounds like a good idea.

[MillbrookMaple]

We are half and half right now 150 taps on buckets 150 on gravity lines. We only can expand the buckets right now. Just too spread out to effectively use tubing for most of it. Yes it is a pain. Our 150 buckets gave us around 400 gallons of sap today. 2 days of collecting. Our new marcland refractometer says .9 sugar our sap hydrometer says .5 don't know who to believe.

[PACMAN]

Can you tap yellow birches? I have a bunch of them,they are all about 8 to 10 inches

[MillbrookMaple]

almost 1/3 of our trees are yellow a few black but mostly silver and white.

[Cabin]

Can you tap yellow birches? I have a bunch of them,they are all about 8 to 10 inches

I tapped black birch the smallest was under 6 inches the largest over 24. The small trees produced more sap than the larger ones they were also closer to the arch!

[Ittiz]

Yeah I've got a cluster of 20 or so black birches growing right next to my house. None of those are large enough to tap yet, it'll be nice when they are. At the moment I have half a dozen old large trees in the woods going into barrels. I'm then pulling the sap directly out of the barrels into my vacuum evaporator using a 500 foot 5/16th tube. The flow rate into the vacuum chamber is low since I'm on higher ground, but it doesn't matter much since it exceeds the evaporation rate. I need to automate my evaporator because work keeps me so busy I don't have time to baby sit the thing.

[BC Birch Tapper]

I find the larger trees typically produce better yields as a general rule. We typically don't tap under about 8 inches diameter. Trees are as individual as you and I, some are olympic athletes and will overflow the buckets and some are like your second cousin Darryl on your mother's side and never amount to much. They are useful however......they get made into firewood!

[WindyPoplars]

We have well over 30 birches tapped, and sap started to flow yesterday. We are in South central Alaska.

[Ittiz]

Man these trees are massive producers. It's been just under two weeks and I've got just under 300 gallons of sap from half a dozen trees. Each tree is putting out about 25 gallons a day I can't keep up and I'm about to run out of room!

[Clinkis]

Do birches require a freeze the night before to run? Will they run 24 hours a day?

[Ittiz]

From what I've observed they run 24 hours a day sunshine or not. Although temp has a big effect on how much they run, and the sun still has an effect on sugar content I think. Probably no studies done on that for birches though.

[BC Birch Tapper]

We find that heroine has to thaw1st before it will flow and will continue to flow when temps are above freezing. We've had one years when the temp dropped to - 17 deg C and it took several days for it to start flowing again as temps had to exceed10 deg C. Once flowing and above freezing it will go for about 2 weeks or so, but the killer is the warm temps as the sap will start to ferment. It is important to collect and evaporate everyday. In the early stages you can skip a day when you're just starting as the temps are typically quite cool.

[Ittiz]

Once flowing and above freezing it will go for about 2 weeks or so, but the killer is the warm temps as the sap will start to ferment. It is important to collect and evaporate everyday. In the early stages you can skip a day when you're just starting as the temps are typically quite cool.

Yep I had to dump about 250 gallons yesterday. It went bad. What surprised me was the newer barrels went bad first and fermented faster. I think the sugar content in the trees are rising as the season goes on. Since the first barrel was good, but at the same exact time the second and third barrels went bad.

I did manage to make my first vacuum evaporated birch syrup though. Not going to bother posting a pic of it since it was a bit of a failure due to a minor flaw in my vacuum evaporator design. There was an area near the heat inside the vacuum chamber where the sugar was able to collect condense and burn. Also since I don't have a hydrometer inside the chamber I think I way over did on the evaporation since I was gauging by eye. This syrup acts way different as it thickens. At the point that it appears the same as maple syrup as it boils it actually has the consistency of slime. I suspect that maybe the sugars were polymerizing. I'll have to look up the details. Some of it condensed all the way to candy. Pretty yummy candy actually.

[BC Birch Tapper]

Maple is primarily sucrose and birch is fructose and glucose with a bit of sucrose at the start of the season. Fructose has a lower boiling temp than sucrose (birch is 100 deg c) As the sugars concentrate the temp is more critical. In the initial stages there is some leeway and you can go over with little to no impact on flavour. You're not a true syrup maker until you've burn some syrup and I' m a syrup maker.

[Ittiz]

You're not a true syrup maker until you've burn some syrup and I' m a syrup maker.

Lol then I'm a syrup maker several times over. Even though I haven't made much syrup ;)

My whole point of this is trying to make a light birch syrup. The first time I did birch the traditional way it came our grade C dark. The flavor was nice, but dark. The failed batch was was probably grade A medium on the maple scale, but a portion had been burnt and changed the flavor. It also had a consistency similar to congealed snot. I don't know what the brix level was, but it had to be 70+. It tasted great though and my kids loved the candy part that hardened. I'm vacuum evaporating more now after altering the design of my evaporator. We'll see how it goes. The biggest issue with vacuum evaporation seems to be the low temps. It doesn't kill microbes. I'm hoping the lack of oxygen inhibits growth, but I let it get up to 150F occasionally just in case.

[Cabin]

80 gallons of sap one half pint syrup. Not the best use of firewood in my case. Maybe if I gat a RO running I will try again.

[Ittiz]

Wow that's horrible sugar content. I thought mine was bad at about half a pint in about 10 gallons of sap. With the my current run it's looking like it will be better though.

[Cabin]

Wow that's horrible sugar content. I thought mine was bad at about half a pint in about 10 gallons of sap. With the my current run it's looking like it will be better though.

It may be the black birches I am working with. I burned it a bit too boot!:( Too much work for too little given a small one man opperation.

[happy thoughts]

I'm hoping the lack of oxygen inhibits growth, but I let it get up to 150F occasionally just in case.

Just be aware that lack of oxygen can accelerate growth of some nasty anaerobic bacteria, including the one that causes botulism,.It's also a spore former. Anaerobes only grow under low oxygen levels. 150F isn't high enough to kill bacteria, may encourage spore formation, and some molds may survive that temp as well. You might want to bring your syrup to a boil for at least 10-15 minutes for safer keeping. It will also help develop the maple flavor.

[Cabin]

Lol then I'm a syrup maker several times over. Even though I haven't made much syrup ;)

My whole point of this is trying to make a light birch syrup. The first time I did birch the traditional way it came our grade C dark. The flavor was nice, but dark. The failed batch was was probably grade A medium on the maple scale, but a portion had been burnt and changed the flavor. It also had a consistency similar to congealed snot. I don't know what the brix level was, but it had to be 70+. It tasted great though and my kids loved the candy part that hardened. I'm vacuum evaporating more now after altering the design of my evaporator. We'll see how it goes. The biggest issue with vacuum evaporation seems to be the low temps. It doesn't kill microbes. I'm hoping the lack of oxygen inhibits growth, but I let it get up to 150F occasionally just in case.

Maybe if you bring the sap to a boil first when the sugar content is low then use the vacuum evaporator?? Bring it to 212 and let it cool but remain air tight in some way??

[happy thoughts]

Maybe if you bring the sap to a boil first when the sugar content is low then use the vacuum evaporator?? Bring it to 212 and let it cool but remain air tight in some way??

An excellent idea :) It will help kill any organisms before they can grow and reproduce under what is likely near optimum growth temps for some organisms in the vacuum set up.

[Ittiz]

I thought about that, but it will be difficult to implement. Maybe taking a apart one of those small drip coffee machines and having the sap flow through the heating element. Maybe UV sterilizing using UV LEDs or something. I don't know. For now what I'm doing is finishing it on the stove at a regular temp.

[Ittiz]

So you guys were dead on correct. When I got back to boiling today, my concentrate had spoiled in less than a day. Just a big vacuum pot of bacterial swill.:( Guess it's back to the drawing board. Don't think I'll have the time before the season is over to correct the issue, which is sad. Hopefully it'll be ready by next season. I guess I'll make batches of sugar water to test with. That might work, but I need something to continuously sterilize the contents of the evaporator.

[Cabin]

So you guys were dead on correct. When I got back to boiling today, my concentrate had spoiled in less than a day. Just a big vacuum pot of bacterial swill.:( Guess it's back to the drawing board. Don't think I'll have the time before the season is over to correct the issue, which is sad. Hopefully it'll be ready by next season. I guess I'll make batches of sugar water to test with. That might work, but I need something to continuously sterilize the contents of the evaporator.

Sorry to hear that. Maybe if it is too hard to heat up could you chill it between runs?? Or don't have 'between runs!:lol:

[Ittiz]

Sorry to hear that. Maybe if it is too hard to heat up could you chill it between runs?? Or don't have 'between runs!:lol:

Heating it up over 200 is way too cumbersome and time consuming. Also it gets cold at night so not much difference than putting it in the fridge. I think the best solution at the moment would be the "don't have 'between runs'" but I have a life beyond sugaring so that's not an option. I need a lot more automation and a way to continuously sterilize the concentrate as it's boiling. I think I'll just have to go back to the drawing board and try again next year.

[Cabin]

Heating it up over 200 is way too cumbersome and time consuming. Also it gets cold at night so not much difference than putting it in the fridge. I think the best solution at the moment would be the "don't have 'between runs'" but I have a life beyond sugaring so that's not an option. I need a lot more automation and a way to continuously sterilize the concentrate as it's boiling. I think I'll just have to go back to the drawing board and try again next year.

I wonder if this would work?? http://www.wateranywhere.com/index.php?cPath=409_451

[Ittiz]

Yeah I was thinking of those, but I don't know how they'd perform once things started to get syrupy. Though that's usually the last few minutes so maybe once the brix got over a certain level I could just stop circulating through it.

[Cabin]

Yeah I was thinking of those, but I don't know how they'd perform once things started to get syrupy. Though that's usually the last few minutes so maybe once the brix got over a certain level I could just stop circulating through it.

I wonder if you would only have to use it on incoming sap. In theory if you kill everything before it enters the vacuum chamber you should see no growth at all.

[Ittiz]

The vacuum chamber would need to be presterilized. I also thought of putting the UV lamp directly in the chamber. Lots of options, and considering the price of the lamps I don't want to choose the wrong one. If it were a part that just cost a few bucks I'd go with all the options, and keep swapping till one worked.

[MillbrookMaple]

The last several years we did birch it got really warm so it would just spoil so fast we called the season done. This week looks to be pretty much maple weather. high 20s/ low 30s at night 40s to 50s day time temps. How do you tell when the season is over. I can tell pretty much by the smell of maple that it is a day or 2 away and start checking small tests of sap but I have no frame of reference for birch. Anyone have any ideas!

[Cabin]

The last several years we did birch it got really warm so it would just spoil so fast we called the season done. This week looks to be pretty much maple weather. high 20s/ low 30s at night 40s to 50s day time temps. How do you tell when the season is over. I can tell pretty much by the smell of maple that it is a day or 2 away and start checking small tests of sap but I have no frame of reference for birch. Anyone have any ideas!

I think that is one of the things we have to figure out. The more people who try something and compare their findings the more information we all will get on the subject. Plus it is sort of fun learning something new.

[Ittiz]

So I was taking down my lines today and notice the sap was spoiling in the tube before it ever got to the barrel. Oh well, we'll see what happens next year.

[BC Birch Tapper]

the season is over when the temperatures rise, and the sap starts to ferment. You will get some bacteria forming (orange bits in the bottom of a pail, and smells yeasty.) Typically warm temps will bring this on. We filter our sap when collecting and it will take longer to go through the filter at this point as well. We have noticed that sometimes the sugar content may drop off as well.

[WindyPoplars]

We are all done. Spring "sprang" a good two weeks early, so that meant about half the usual amount of syrup for us. :(
We ran two stoves, and burned almost all the scrap wood we had brought in.
We were more careful about finishing it in the house, and so this years syrup turned out particularly nice.
The first two quarts ended up smoky, while we fussed with stove quirks, and we will use them for making BBQ sauce.

[WindyPoplars]

We have been able to detect a slight bitterness when the sugar drops and even before the sap begins to ferment.
I noticed that the bit of foam that hangs out where the drip lands, will be different too.

[Ittiz]

Spring was two weeks early for you guys? We were two weeks late on the east coast. I guess we know where all our warm weather was going ;)

[BC Birch Tapper]

spring was 2 weeks late here on the west coast as well. Not great returns this year, as the temps were quite cool, and we had moderate flows. We had to cut our season short for family reasons. There is always next year though.