At the correct time of year birch tree sap can be extracted and drunk directly from the birch tree; it is a refreshing liquid possessing a taste and texture akin to slightly sweet, slightly syrupy water. Used as a tonic in countries such as Finland, Poland and Russia, it also can be used for making wine. Unusual, perhaps, but simple, cheap and tasty.
Tapping the Birch Tree Sap for the Home Wine Making Supply
Birch tree sap should normally be extracted, or ‘tapped’, in the first two weeks of March when the sap is rising through the birch tree (regional and seasonal variations can occur). It is important to select mature, larger birch trees as tapping a young tree can be damaging.
You can tap trees of approximately 10 inches in diameter for 2 days without doing them any harm. If you collect sap from a number of trees, you will further avoid damaging or killing an individual.
Birch Sap Wine Tapping Method for Unusual Wine Making at Home
To extract 1 gallon of birch tree sap it is best to tap 3-4 trees. Firstly, select a point on the tree a few feet from the ground. Using a knife or small hand drill bore a small hole into the tree large enough to insert a plastic tube. Penetrate just through the bark (normally a few centimetres) slanting slightly upwards as you go.
Tree sap will often start to flow straight away; if not then perhaps it is the wrong time of year. The birch sap should also be clear, as a particularly cloudy liquid is not good for wine making.
Fix one end of a plastic tube into the hole and let the sap flow into a container placed below. Repeat this process with the other trees and then leave the containers to fill for 1-2 nights.
Remove the tubes once the tree sap has been collected. The holes will heal naturally, but you can aid the healing process by plugging them with cork or placing a piece of birch tree bark over the hole.
Birch sap perishes and turns sour very quickly. Prepare the wine as soon as you have collected enough sap.
Birch Sap Wine Making Ingredients
You now have your one gallon of birch sap. You will also need:
- 2.5lbs sugar (3lbs for a sweeter wine)
- 8oz of raisins, chopped
- Peel and juice of 1-2 lemons
- A general purpose fermenting yeast
Other ingredients can be used, largely to influence the eventual sweetness of the wine. On the website birchsapwine.com the following is recommended: “Left dry it can taste like a German wine while, if liked sweeter, add the juice of two oranges as well as the juice of one lemon that should be added in both cases.”
Birch Sap Wine Preparation
- Bring the tree sap to the boil in a large pan, and then reduce the heat.
- Add the sugar and stir well.
- Leave to simmer for 12 minutes, then remove from heat.
- Place the raisins in a suitable plastic fermenting bucket and then pour in the liquid.
- Allow the liquid to cool then add the lemon peel/juice and the yeast.
- Cover the bucket, then leave to ferment for 5 days in a warm place (this article gives some extra information about ideal wine making temperature ranges).
- After 5 days strain the liquid into a glass demijohn and seal with an airlock.
- Leave to ferment, usually for 2-3 months. Then pour into a clean container and allow the sediment to settle.
- Finally, bottle the wine and leave for another 2-3 months before drinking.
Birch sap wine can be served at room temperature or slightly chilled. This unusual wine making process, from birch tree to bottle to glass, should take around 6 months, if you can wait that long!
Tony Dunnell - Tony Dunnell is a freelance writer and a specialist in South American travel. He has two Peru blogs, howtoperu.com and tarapotolife.com
