Eastern Hop Hornbeam Syrup

[dhwaldhorn]

I decided to throw one tap in an eastern hop Hornbeam last week and have about 6 gallons of sap reduced to about a quart right now. Has anyone here ever tried Hornbeam syrup? They are in the birch family so I expect it may taste similar. I haven’t found any mention of anyone actually making syrup out of it.

18575

[Cedar Eater]

I had to look that one up. I haven't seen an ironwood big enough to tap around here (MI) and I've never heard of anyone making syrup from it.

[blissville maples]

Are you sure it's a hornbeam?? The pic gets distorted when I zoom in but it seems to have a more truly round trunk and most ironwood/hornbeam has a very irregular trunk that has high and low spots all the way around, and they usually don't grow straight or get larger than 4-6 or 7 inches. Of course different areas could have different characteristics but that's what I know of them.

Did u taste it? How's it smell when boiling?

[GraniteStateJoe]

Are you sure it's a hornbeam?? The pic gets distorted when I zoom in but it seems to have a more truly round trunk and most ironwood/hornbeam has a very irregular trunk that has high and low spots all the way around, and they usually don't grow straight or get larger than 4-6 or 7 inches. Of course different areas could have different characteristics but that's what I know of them.

Did u taste it? How's it smell when boiling?

I agree it looks like maybe a basswood tree or maybe a large steelwood tree. Although I also did not know you could tap ironwood.

[hogisland42]

I don't think a bass would give him any sap. When you guys say ironwood do you mean hardack?

[GeneralStark]

The picture is pretty bad so hard to tell for sure, but looks like we could be talking about a Hop Hornbeam or Ostrya Virginiana. Lots of common names for this one, including Hard Ack if you are from Northwestern VT.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ostrya_virginiana

I have not heard of syrup being made from it.

[GraniteStateJoe]

I don't think a bass would give him any sap. When you guys say ironwood do you mean hardack?

When I think of ironwood or muscle wood I am of the same thought as blissville and have never seen a large trunk like the one in the picture or rough bark.

[Cedar Eater]

Apparently there are at least two kinds of ironwoods in the northeastern US; American Hornbeam (Carpinus caroliniana, blue-beech, musclewood) and Eastern Hophornbeam (Ostrya virginiana). Now I'm confused about which I have or if what I was told was ironwood might be something else. Now I've got another darn quest to add to my list.

[GraniteStateJoe]

I would be curious what you find and if you could share a leaf once they come out.

[cjf12]

Carpinus (Ironwood) has smooth bark and wood often looks muscled like a bodybuilder. Ostrya (hophornbeam) has a gray bark also but looks more like a cat scratched it up. Both are very dense wood and here in central pa never get much bigger than 12" or so.

[blissville maples]

Muscled like a body builder is a good description. I am not sure about basswood, I have heard of box elder and butternut trees producing sweet sap. Never heard of anyone trying to boil it but from experience cutting a large vine that grows up into the trees that you can swing on will create a waterfall when cut!

[karl evans]

My American hornbeam never exceed 10" in diameter. The hophornbeam(ironwood) get a little bigger. I have cut several for firewood about 15" give or take a little. Very hard,heavy, & wet feeling. Great for the outside woodburner. Please tell us how the syrup taste.

[Michael Greer]

Fascinating! Please keep us informed. It's very prolific in far northern New York.

[Michael Greer]

This is one of those times when we should rely on the Latin name. Ironwood means something different wherever you go, and Hard-hack refers to at least two trees in my woods alone.

[GeneralStark]

This is one of those times when we should rely on the Latin name. Ironwood means something different wherever you go, and Hard-hack refers to at least two trees in my woods alone.

I agree. Common names vary regionally. The OP referenced the tree being in the Birch family which implies it is Ostrya Virginiana.

[Cedar Eater]

Carpinus (Ironwood) has smooth bark and wood often looks muscled like a bodybuilder. Ostrya (hophornbeam) has a gray bark also but looks more like a cat scratched it up. Both are very dense wood and here in central pa never get much bigger than 12" or so.

Thanks very much. I may have seen both on my hunting land, but if so, I don't think any are larger than 6" diameter. One of the most prominent species that I have on that land is speckled alder, which rarely gets above 3", but I've just learned that they are a member of the birch family so may be eligible for tapping. I smoke meat with alder, so I may have to give syrup a try. If I kill one tree with every tap, I wouldn't kill enough to make a difference in 100 years.

[dhwaldhorn]

Hey, sorry for the confusion, I tapped Ostrya Virginiana, this one was maybe 14" dbh. The sap was low in sugar content, I boiled one full 5 gallon bucket down to 1 ounce, so about a 600 to 1 ratio of sap to syrup. The syrup tasted similar to birch syrup I boiled from Sweet Birch (Betula Lenta), but with a stronger spicy flavor. Since I am boiling about 5 times more Hornbeam sap per unit of syrup than birch, I figure it must include a higher proportion of the other constituents of the sap. I think that it would be best used to glaze food in cooking, or maybe included in a cocktail like a bitters. I don't think I will do it again with the boil ratio being so high, and I think i prefer the taste of birch syrup anyway, but it was an interesting experiment and appreciate the privilege of being one of the few people to taste Eastern Hop Hornbeam Syrup.