Birches Tapped

[rschoo]

I put out 30 taps on Birches yesterday and collected about 30 Gals of .7 Brix sap this morning which boiled down to enough to sugar the pan. I tapped 14 more today and they are all running pretty good.

[Fred Henderson]

Thats sounds interesting. Please keep us informed as to how things and making birch syrup goes.

[rschoo]

I just got in from the sugar house. I boiled off about 50 gals of sap to get enough of a draw off to finish 1 quart of birch syrup. The sugar house really smells different when you boil birch sap. The stuff is pretty dark and it definitely has a birch tang to it. It's really different from maple. When I was boiling it really liked to bubble up quite a bit even when it wasn't close to floating the hydrometer. When I was finishing it in the pot over the burner it didn't foam up like maple it just bubbled up as much as when it was in the evaporator.

If any of you guys would like to try some of this stuff send me a PM and if I get enough response I'll get some nipper bottles and send you some. With shipping it should only cost about $3 or $4 I think. If no one's interested I'm going to save the rest of my wood because the temperature is supposed to drop next week and I still have about 2 dozen sugar taps out. Let me know. Bob.

[HanginAround]

Interesting! I've tasted birch syrup a couple times, very different.

I heard that you can't finish birch syrup conventionally because it scorches so easily, did you have to do anything different to prevent that? Just finish on the stove without much heat?

[rschoo]

I finished it just like maple. I don't think it's scorched. It's pretty dark and has quite a tang to it. But the taste was like that from the start of the boil. It didn't foam up like maple either.

[325abn]

What kind of Birch trees do you tap? White, Yellow, Black or all?

[rschoo]

They are all white birches. I have quite a few of them but only 50 or so are big enough to tap.

[rschoo]

My Birch experiment is over. I don't know if the syrup I made is burnt or not but it is pretty dark. It has a real sour birch tang to it that I don't care for. I have had a couple other people try it and they don't like it either. It doesn't taste burnt. The sour taste is like the beechwood taste in Budweiser as compared to other beers. I definitely think you should have an R.O. to make this stuff.

By the way the birches are still running, so are a few of my sugar maples.

[HanginAround]

The birch syrup I tasted was the same, so I guess it's normal. I've heard it's better as a meat glaze or something like that rather than as a table syrup.

[MaplePancakeMan]

I experimented with some birches i have. I tapped a few just to boil once, i got about 8oz, but it tasted great during the boil and as it got close. However, with in a matter of seconds it changed to a bitter taste aswell. Not really sure how its suposed to taste but i def. wouldn't put it on pancakes or ice cream, i'd take buddy syrup anyday over that, unless mine was bad birch syrup

[Maple Hill Sugarhouse]

post edited.

[rschoo]

I treated it just like maple. I don't check the temps. I use a hydrometer and draw off when it starts to float and then finish in the turkey fryer. The taste and smell never changed from sap through syrup, it just got stronger and sweeter.