Reverse Osmosis and Birch syrul

[AdirondackSap]

I have an abundance of black birch (sweetbirch) roughly two thousand. Im wanting to try and make birch syrup. Been doing research for a few years now. Went to the Birch syrup conference at paul smith college. I know birch sap is not as sweet and the ratio is like 100 to 1. I want to concentrate the sap with my reverse osmosis. Can i use the same membrane i use to concentrate maple sap or should i have a different membrane for both maple and birch. Any one have awnsers or experience with this?

[GeneralStark]

I have an abundance of black birch (sweetbirch) roughly two thousand. Im wanting to try and make birch syrup. Been doing research for a few years now. Went to the Birch syrup conference at paul smith college. I know birch sap is not as sweet and the ratio is like 100 to 1. I want to concentrate the sap with my reverse osmosis. Can i use the same membrane i use to concentrate maple sap or should i have a different membrane for both maple and birch. Any one have awnsers or experience with this?

Been doing research? Yes you can use the same membrane...

[blurr95]

If the same membrane can be used for maple and birch, can it be used for sycamore as well?

Jason

[AdirondackSap]

Is that a bad thing that i have been doing my homework? You make it seem like im an idiot because i asked if i should use the same membrane . Like i should have already knew. The research i was doing was evaluating my land seeing how many birch trees i have roughly 2 thousand black birch and atleast another 1000 taps of paper birch. Also i have tasted birch at the birch syrup conference in lake placid. To make good tasting birch syrup you need an RO because the sugar in birch sap is fructose and glucose. So you want to bring it up high as you can brix with the RO to reduce the time your boiling in the evaporator. The longer it boils the stronger the molasses taste and its un appealing

[madmapler]

I have much the same situation as you do with at least a few thousand taps, mostly black Birch so I've been "looking into" it myself. I tested several of my trees last year and they read from.6 to 1.%. I'm going to do it again this year. With those numbers an RO. would be critical. Because the sugars burn quicker than the sucrose in maple, RO'ing to high brix I think would be the ticket, thereby reducing the boil or in the case of birch, simmer time considerably. Interestingly, the largest producer of birch syrup is in Alaska and doesn't have a very large RO the last I knew.(4" membranes) They have videos on youtube. They're called Kahiltna Gold or something like that. I'd be interested in hearing from you regarding your progress. Dr. Abby VanDenburgh is doing research on birch and has been helpful in answering some of my questions. One of which was whether or not the wintergreen flavor in black birch carried through to the syrup. Her answer was a definite no. She posted over the summer regarding finding interest in Birch and welcomed comments. You should look for her post to get the details.

[PACMAN]

I have 2 thousand or so taps of yellow birch. Going to start running lines after sugar season. Does anyone know if a bulk buyer like bascoms buys birch syrup?

[heus]

I always enjoyed this video of birch syrup making in Alaska. No vacuum or tubing but they do use reverse osmosis.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWaSLeLpDyo

[MillbrookMaple]

We were at the first birch conference in 2015 and actually placed 3rd in the taste test of first run syrup. https://www.themaplenews.com/story/first-international-birch-conference-a-success/93/
We will back up what has been stated. Yes you can use the same membrane for both. Just make sure you wash and rinse between the 2 crops. Also if anyone is considering pipeline and does maple, do not use the same pipeline! Our trees are all Yellow birch and we try our best to take it to 10 - 15% before boiling. It in our opinion produces the best results.

AdirondackSap- Research is good and asking for advice is never a bad idea.

Also a note to anyone considering birch, half the maple producers you know are going to think you are nuts. Just a fact of life. Over Half the people that taste late season birch with think it is discusting if they are maple fans. They will try to compare the two. One goes on pancakes (Maple) one is to be used in spoonful quantities in recipes. (Birch) Try a teaspoon of vanilla extract and you will hate it but put that teaspoon in a desert and you will love it. That is how I explain birch to people.

PACMAN
As far as bulk buying I'm not sure if there is anyone that would be buying like Bascoms does maple but you could check with Mike Farrell at cornell. If anyone he would know if there is a bulk buying. The biggest problem is that there is no standards yet. So what brix should finished birch be? Some argue because of the high acidity that it doesn't need to be as high as maple. We decided early on that we would make ours between 67-68. Our idea was if it was good for maple it will be good for birch. We met a guy from Russia at the conference that takes is up into the 80 range and it is literally thick as molasses. Since it doesn't crystallize it can be taken that high. By the way, the viscosity of birch at 67 Brix is way more runny than maple at the same Brix.

We might be interested in buy bulk but I would say I would be very picky about the quality. Again there is no standard so what I'm willing to put my name on is only what fits with what my clients are used to getting from me and what I feel is good.
First run is nice and smooth compared to late run and easier to identify as good tasting vs bad. Over half the people that try it like. Late run is very strong and most maple producers will find it "terrible" but it is actually what I sell the most quantity of to chefs just like Dark Maple. Unfortunately unless you have a baseline for taste you may not distinguish between scorched and late season. For that reason I suggest keeping your batches separated. Comparing each batch to each other within a timeline will allow you to get a sense of how the flavor progresses through the season and if something stands out in the middle you will learn to recognize it.

[Bruce L]

My wife bought me a small bottle of birch syrup two years ago,cost 40 bucks!!! Thought she was nuts,after reading these posts I would take an uneducated guess and say you do need to ro it,this bottle must have simmered away,it is just like molasses,in smell and probably taste,I haven't even tried it,my nose was a big thumbs down on it.

[madmapler]

We were at the first birch conference in 2015 and actually placed 3rd in the taste test of first run syrup. https://www.themaplenews.com/story/first-international-birch-conference-a-success/93/
We will back up what has been stated. Yes you can use the same membrane for both. Just make sure you wash and rinse between the 2 crops. Also if anyone is considering pipeline and does maple, do not use the same pipeline! Our trees are all Yellow birch and we try our best to take it to 10 - 15% before boiling. It in our opinion produces the best results.

AdirondackSap- Research is good and asking for advice is never a bad idea.

Also a note to anyone considering birch, half the maple producers you know are going to think you are nuts. Just a fact of life. Over Half the people that taste late season birch with think it is discusting if they are maple fans. They will try to compare the two. One goes on pancakes (Maple) one is to be used in spoonful quantities in recipes. (Birch) Try a teaspoon of vanilla extract and you will hate it but put that teaspoon in a desert and you will love it. That is how I explain birch to people.

PACMAN
As far as bulk buying I'm not sure if there is anyone that would be buying like Bascoms does maple but you could check with Mike Farrell at cornell. If anyone he would know if there is a bulk buying. The biggest problem is that there is no standards yet. So what brix should finished birch be? Some argue because of the high acidity that it doesn't need to be as high as maple. We decided early on that we would make ours between 67-68. Our idea was if it was good for maple it will be good for birch. We met a guy from Russia at the conference that takes is up into the 80 range and it is literally thick as molasses. Since it doesn't crystallize it can be taken that high. By the way, the viscosity of birch at 67 Brix is way more runny than maple at the same Brix.

We might be interested in buy bulk but I would say I would be very picky about the quality. Again there is no standard so what I'm willing to put my name on is only what fits with what my clients are used to getting from me and what I feel is good.
First run is nice and smooth compared to late run and easier to identify as good tasting vs bad. Over half the people that try it like. Late run is very strong and most maple producers will find it "terrible" but it is actually what I sell the most quantity of to chefs just like Dark Maple. Unfortunately unless you have a baseline for taste you may not distinguish between scorched and late season. For that reason I suggest keeping your batches separated. Comparing each batch to each other within a timeline will allow you to get a sense of how the flavor progresses through the season and if something stands out in the middle you will learn to recognize it.
Great info. What do your trees typically test at? How many taps? I'm guessing you made it to the Cornell seminar a few years ago. We couldn't make. I hope they do it again.

[jake1]

There's a lot of great info on this thread, just thought I'd weigh in on the topic. I tap around 1000 birch in Alaska and have been running my business, Bridge creek birch syrup for 6 years now. I agree totally that there is some terrible birch syrup out there and it really gives it a bad name. It is a difficult product to produce with many fickle traits, but with the correct processing it truly is a great product but it does take years to figure out. Our trees run around .75 to 1% sugar so right around 100-1. But I've seen it as high as 150-1 on a bad year. There are so many sides of birch it makes it even more convoluted to market. We stick with the three runs. Early, mid, and late run. All of which are tasty and pleasant, but with very different nuances all together. We use 5 gal jugs for every day made so usually all syrup in the first week is considered early run, second week mid run, and third weeke late run. I disagree with one thing said here. You CAN make good birch syrup without an Ro. This will be the first year with an Ro for us mostly to curb the firewood consumption and save time. But we have been very pleased with our product for the past 6 years with no Ro. My Evaporator is a 2x6 that does 50 gph. And our syrup has been great. The only major difference is that we tap exclusively kenai birch but the sugar test similar but maybe the flavor is different from other birch. I'm not sure because this is all we have and we are the only producers to tap 100% kenai birch. We took first place in the late run category at the Paul Smiths birch syrup conference in 2015 and second in a Russian competition the same year. No Ro needed. I think finishing is the real crucial element. I draw off pretty far from syrup, maybe 35- 40 brix At most then finish in a square finishing pan over propane. You can take it to nearly syrup in the evaporator but its way too risky and you loose your efficiency because you have to let the evaporator mellow out or you'll scorch for sure. I finish to 67 brix and run through a filter press. The syrup is very shelf stable and I honestly have never seen it mold or go bad in a bottle. Well this is getting long winded I just thought I'd try to share a little of the secret life of birch. It is hands down the best thing you'll ever taste with vanilla icecream!

[madmapler]

Thanks for the info Jake. I wouldn't mind trying some of your syrup. Do you sell samplers? One for each run maybe?

[MillbrookMaple]

Great info. What do your trees typically test at? How many taps? I'm guessing you made it to the Cornell seminar a few years ago. We couldn't make. I hope they do it again.

We tap about 500 trees. Our syrup tests anywhere from .7 all the way down to .3 We talked about having a conference every couple of years but it was also discussed moving it around so I might expect that It may be in Canada or Alaska next time.