Eastern Hop Hornbeam Syrup
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.
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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.
CE
44° 41′ 3″ N
2019 -- 44 Red Maples - My home and sugarbush are for sale.
2018 -- 48 Red Maples, 7 gallons
2017 -- 84 Red Maples, 1 Sugar Maple, and 1 Silver Maple , 13 gallons
2016 -- 55 Red Maples, 8 gallons
2015 -- 15 Red Maples, 6 Birches - 3+ gallons maple syrup
An awning over my deck is my sugar shack.
An electrified kitchen sink and an electrified steam table pan are my evaporators.
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?
18x30 sugarshack
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D&G 3 post reverse osmosis w/recirculation
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.Originally Posted by blissville maples
I don't think a bass would give him any sap. When you guys say ironwood do you mean hardack?
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.
About 750 taps on High Vac.
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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.
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.
CE
44° 41′ 3″ N
2019 -- 44 Red Maples - My home and sugarbush are for sale.
2018 -- 48 Red Maples, 7 gallons
2017 -- 84 Red Maples, 1 Sugar Maple, and 1 Silver Maple , 13 gallons
2016 -- 55 Red Maples, 8 gallons
2015 -- 15 Red Maples, 6 Birches - 3+ gallons maple syrup
An awning over my deck is my sugar shack.
An electrified kitchen sink and an electrified steam table pan are my evaporators.
I would be curious what you find and if you could share a leaf once they come out.
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.
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