Time for Medo's 2nd Annual Birch Sap Beer Brewing

Ahoy hoy,
Well, breakup up here in interior Alaska is running a bit behind, and the birch trees, which i tapped a couple weeks ago, just started bearing their sweet nectar on friday. ill have the 10 gallons ill need for the brew
in no time( I do 2qts per lb). This year, I have decided to brew the Cascade Orange Ale for my birch sap brew. I think it will work just fine with it. Last year i did a porter, and though the porter recipe itself left a bit to be desired, the birch sap worked just great. So, this year, Im going to try it with one of my all time favorites. And since I use both the sweet and bitter orange, I think it will click with one of them. I dont know if it will be noticable this time or not. You couldnt tell with the porter, but it was alot stronger then this ale. But it was one of those on a whim at that moment or not things, so I gave it a shot. This year, I am in control of the variables, instead of they controlling me, so we will see what happens. Ill let you know how the brew goes once it goes. Up here in interior Alaska, birch is a hard wood (no, really) thats very dense, and is the firewood of choice (again, no, really) and is nothing like the birch we had in Michigan when I was growin up. Looks the same but this is some badass birch up here. I respect it, and therefore thought its sap should be the base of one of my beers.
Im hoping to be close to my target of 10 gallons tonight when I get home...
Ill post with updates as it progresses...
Adios....

 

Does the birch add any flavor to the beer or just gravity? I brewed an Oatmeal Stout with Maple Sap instead of water, but there's no maple flavor there, just about 10 gravity points and a nice, relatively dry oatmeal stout (I knew there'd be no flavor going in....)

Oh yeah, and I stayed with a friend in North Pole for a few weeks back in the 90's, mid-winter, just before going on a winter long 'sit' at a remote hunting cabin 100 miles north, and narrowly averting death when my cabin burned down. it was not "The alaska experiment"...it was the real deal. I grew up in Juneau, BTW, so I was not romanticizing Alaska, just doing something with a friend.

 

I can't wait to see this!

 

Ahoy hoy,
well I have 5 gallons of sap now, in a carboy in my beer fridge, since the temps have shot up here like a rocket. I figure ill have the other 5 i need by this evening, so ill brew tonight if i can.
The birch sap was, as far as flavor, undetectable last year, in the porter, and since im not condensing it in any way, it will be more of a novelty, I think. Since my orange cascade tastes pretty consistently the same, if theres a flavor change, I should be able to notice it. Ill keep you all apprised of the situation as it deteriorates

 

Are you reducing the syrup or using it as is?

 

Pretty cool Medo, thanks for sharing this with us. I never realized you could take the sap from birch.

 

Answered before asked:
"The birch sap was, as far as flavor, undetectable last year, in the porter, and since im not condensing it in any way, it will be more of a novelty....."

 

Ah, totally missed that.

 

I will let you off with a warning.... this time. Next time, 16 lashes with a wet noodle!

 

... hehe

 

Ahoy hoy,
Well, just got in from the brew fest. I had to start asap after work to get done by bedtime. I started with 9.5 gallons of sweet Alaskan Birch Sap. I brewed my Cascade Orange as usual, and overall it didnt go too bad. Birch sap boils real easy and real volatile so you have to really watch it and the flames. I had good 70 degree weather. Its 10 pm now, and the sun is just setting. Were gaining 8 minutes a day i think, more or less at this time of year. Anyways, when all was said and done I had just 5 gallons in the carboy misus the hydro sample. This stuff went 1.080! I usually get about 1.062-1.066 with this same recipe with the same amount of water. I didnt vary anything. Hmm...so, all that is left is to aerate yeast it, and set it up for a while. Its copper color. Im wondering what I have let forth on the planet. Ill let you all know whats going on as it happens....
Goodnight and good news....

 

Dammit. I just read this...sitting in a hotel room not 10 miles from North Pole. Lived here for a few years. Back visiting. No time left on this trip. Wish you'd posted this a few weeks ago (or I wish I'd read another of your threads before just now). We could have at least met up at Silver Gulch for a few pints!

...sucks to be leaving just as summer approaches!

 

Yuri,
dude its 70 degrees! It was 75 yesterday! Summer is here, were enjoy both weeks of it!
Well the brew is bubbling away. Very nice activity. Should turn out to be an ok beer if I didnt hose anything during the process. All in all everything seemed to go just fine. Sure nice to brew outside again. Propane is definetely faster then the stove. And garden hose rinsing is the bomb!. Since this stuff peaked at 1.082 or so, i used my last 2 packs of S-05 on it. If its under 1.075 I use one pack, anything over and I use 2 to simulate a starter (yeah I know thats a lame description but it works.) just to be safe.

 

So how did this brew turn out?