D*Bo

Recipes 

Anybody have a recipe for a homemade birch beer?

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PrimaryBaltica 9
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Conditioning Decoction maddness, FlyingJess Ale
Drinking Oatmeal Chocolate Stout, Oaked Bourbon Chocolate Stout, Dry Mead)
Up NextScottish ale and Dopple Bock

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david_42

Recipes 

If you are talking soda, there are extracts on the market that work well.

I did try using a birch beer extract to make an alcoholic version, based it on a Mild recipe. The wort tasted great, but once the sugar fermented out, I couldn't taste the birch at all. There was a slight aroma. I suspect back-sweetening would have helped.

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D*Bo

Recipes 

I know there are some good extracts out there, but I'd prefer to do one from scratch.

Haven't found anything that good on the internet yet.

__________________
PrimaryBaltica 9
Secondary British all Amarillo IPA, Calypso
Conditioning Decoction maddness, FlyingJess Ale
Drinking Oatmeal Chocolate Stout, Oaked Bourbon Chocolate Stout, Dry Mead)
Up NextScottish ale and Dopple Bock

Always ready for the wack snack attack, I carry sandwiches around in a straight edge style JanSports backpack.

Support your local businesses

david_42

Recipes 

Sweet Birch (Betula lenta) Sweet Birch was used commercially in the past for production of oil of wintergreen to flavor medicines and candy before modern industrial synthesis; the tree's name reflects this scent of the shoots.

That should get you started.

__________________
Remember one unassailable statistic, as explained by the late, great George Carlin: "Just think of how stupid the average person is, and then realize half of them are even stupider!"

"I would like to die on Mars, just not on impact." Elon Musk

grieserpm

Recipes 

Measure 4 quarts of finely cut twigs of sweet birch into the bottom of a 5 gallon crock.

In a large kettle, stir 1 gallon of honey into 4 gallons birch sap and boil for 10 minutes, then pour over the chopped twigs. When cool, strain to remove the twigs and return to the crock.

Spread 1 cake of soft yeast on a slice of toasted rye bread and float on top of the beer. Cover with a cloth and let ferment until the cloudiness just starts to settle, about a week but it depends somewhat on the temperature.

Bottle the beer and cap tightly. Store in a dark place and serve it cold after the weather gets hot. It should stand in the bottles for about 3 months before using. If opened too soon, it will foam all over and pop worse than champagne.

THIS IS NOT A DRINK FOR CHILDREN:

SWEET BIRCH (Betula lenta) also called Black birch, Sweet birch or Cherry birch has fragrant bark and twigs that smells of wintergreen. The sap flows about a month later than maple and much faster than maple. You tap the trees the same as maple but must gather about 3 times as often.

The sap also can be boiled the same as maple but the syrup is much stronger, more like molasses.

Reverend74

Recipes 

BIRCH BEER SODA

Boil 6 quarts water
Add 3 lbs honey,
1/2 inch brewers licorice,
1 cinnamon stick,
2 split vanilla bean,
1/4 teaspoon salt,
1 oz. chopped, Black Birch bark,
1 oz. Birch twigs,
1/2 cup molasses,
6 cups sugar,
1/8 tsp nutmeg,
Let boil for 1-1 1/2 hours. Turn off heat.
Add 1 oz. dried wintergreen,
10 quarts cold water (1-2 ratio)
Let cool to room temp. (60-95 degrees)
Sift through seive

Carbonation method 1: Add 1/2 teaspoon dry yeast
Bottle into 4, 1 gallon plastic containers
Let stand at room temp for 3-5 days
Refridgerate for 5-7 days

Carbonation method 2: Bottle in 12 oz. glass bottles
Add 7 pieces of dry yeast
Cap and let stand at room temp for 3-5 days
Refridgerate for 5-7 days