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| Welcome to my first go at tapping a Birch tree! The idea here is to obtain sap to make a rather novel white wine. In all, I set up three of these last Thursday lunch time near the workshop. It is very important to do this in such a way so as to avoid harming the trees involved. The rules to achieve this are to take no more than a gallon from any one tree; select trees that are fairly mature; make bore holes no deeper than 1/2 inch and plug them afterwards with wooden dowels to prevent the trees from continuing to bleeding. |
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| Hey presto! In 24 hours I had collected four pints (about half the quantity I need for my recipe) with half this amount coming from just one tree. In the UK (depending upon the weather) the sap rises in the first half of March, but it was interesting to see how quantities varied from one tree to another. Although I was delighted with this result, I had to postpone tapping because the weather was turing very windy, with heavy rain and freezing temperatures overnight. |
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| Birch sap is supposed to be very nutritious, full of minerals, trace elements, antioxidants and natural sugars etc. but it lacks certain essentials for a well balanced wine, especially acids and tannin. So, among other things, the recipe requires the zest and juice of two lemons and two oranges to give the correct amount of citric acid and a cup of strong black tea for the tannin. Birch sap can also go off fairly quickly, so I decided to process this first batch by boiling it for 20 minutes with the zest of one lemon and one orange. Then once it had cooled to room temperature, I put it in the freezer to preserve it for later. So watch this space to see how the whole thing progresses!! |
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| Earlier this week, the weather was even worse with yet more snow and sub-zero temperatures but it enticed this Fieldfare into the garden (they love apples) - no doubt wanting to feed up before flying back to North Scandinavia for the breeding season. |
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| With a wind chill factor reported at minus 11, our daffodils were not very happy ... |
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| but this Robin decided to pose for me - christmas card style. Hopefully next week will give me an opportunity to get the rest of the sap I need!! |
And 6 weeks ago you had the grass showing and flowers sprouting up. Your field fare looks very similar (in size, shape and beak) to our robin...and then I saw the picture of your robin and said...wow. Sap wine? I'm always learning something from your blog. cheers!
ReplyDeleteYes Jude, we have been having a long battle between winter and spring - I'm sure spring will win soon though! It is interesting what you say about the Robins. It's a good comparison between American Robins and Fieldfares as they are very closely related (both thrushes). My understanding is that 'your Robin' is named after 'our Robin'; probably homesick settlers seeing a beautiful bird with a red-breast reminded them of the ones back here. There is a scene in Mary Poppins which makes us smile where Mary Poppins holds up a Robin in her hand but it is an American one not a British one :D
DeleteNice sounding wine. And then there were the frozen birds, the favourite is the Fieldfare, superb.
ReplyDeleteThanks Bob, you are too kind but it is not a patch on your bird photography. I just pointed my compact camera through the telescope.
DeleteI don't think I am quite adventurous enough to try making Birch Sap wine. There is also the small problem of having no birch trees in my garden, and I suspect attending the local park or copse would just involve someone dismantling anything I set up. I am eager to know how this wine turns out.
ReplyDeleteHi Ben, I did toy with the idea of camouflaging the whole set up with logs etc. especially as this copse gets used by segway enthusiasts (who like to strample down the bluebells)! - but I decided to risk it. Yes, I'll try to post updates as to how it progresses.
ReplyDelete"strample"??? Actually I quite like the idea of strample!
Delete'Strample' is a fantastic word, and one I shall try to use in conversation tomorrow. Now all I need is a definition. 'Copse' is another favourite, but that is conventional in that it already has a meaning.
DeleteHi Jerry, my first reaction was to check the date! (I thought this was an April Fool) but since it is still March I'm taking it as read. Certainly not something I have ever heard of before...did you get strange looks from the locals whilst tapping these trees or did you wait til there was nobody about! (laugh). Anyway this sounds like it will be a very interesting Wine and look forward to hearing how this one turns out.
ReplyDeleteAnn I'm used to getting strange looks from locals or otherwise, I just carry on regardless :)!! I think that "interesting" is probably the most positive word to use at this stage - I'm not holding my breath.
DeleteI hope your wine turns out! I never knew you could make wine from birch sap! Your little Robin is adorable!
ReplyDeleteThanks Tammy!
DeleteBirch Tree Wine that's a new one on me. Just wondering what it is going to taste like. Funny coincidence though as I'm thinking of painting birch trees soon. They must be 'flavour' of the month. Pun totally intended... lol :-)
ReplyDeleteLaura, I'm wondering the same! Hope the painting goes well; my kids would think you've got your sense of humour from me - very good then of course!
DeleteWhat an interesting post Jerry, never heard about birch tapping to make wine ! Must be very good if you go to this length of making it :-) I'll keep an eye of the development :-)
ReplyDeleteJane, most people seem never to have heard of it - perhaps there is a reason for that!!
DeleteDear Jerry I like it when you do the alchemist!
ReplyDeleteThen I try to think that flavor may have your preparations ... and here just drink them would give me the answer.
But the enthusiasm with which you describe the preparation so demanding, I think they are very very special to drink!
( I love your pictures of winter,here it's snowing!)
Rita, I think that the process is much of the appeal to me and even if I didn't drink wine I might still be tempted to make it. But yes, of course I'm intrigued to see how it will turn out. I'll keep updating my blog with progress from time to time. Sorry it is still snowy where you are too.
Deletewow! tapping birch! good luck with the wine!
ReplyDeletethe flickers are one of our woodpeckers, but not nearly as prevalent as the downy and red-bellied ones we have around. always a treat for me to see them up close.
Cheers TWG, thanks for the info - I'm now going to look them all up.
DeleteWhat a great post, Jerry!! First of all, I've never heard of making wine this way! Maybe we can get a picture of you drinking this wine??!! LOL It will be interesting to hear about how it tastes... and of course, I love the photos of these birds.. (Please give us an update on the wine!!!)
ReplyDeleteWill do, Hilda. Lunch time today I set up to tap the rest of the sap I need.
DeleteSounds an unusual wine and rather tasty Jerry. Look forward to hearing of progress. I haven't made wine for years but used to enjoy the making and sampling :) My father used to make the most lovely wines - he was always out foraging for dandelions, elderflowers and berries etc. His wines always tasted an awful lot better than mine :)
ReplyDeleteHi Ragged Robin, I'd love to have tried some of the wines you mention - certainly not had dandelion!
DeleteHola Jerry, estaba esperando este post con mucha curiosidad. Me gusta el cuidado que tienes con los arces al obtener la savia, es un líguido bastante transparente. Desconocía que el tanino se pudiera obtener del te negro, es muy interesante todo el proceso.
ReplyDeleteLas fotos de los dos pájaros son hermosas, no conocía al fieldfire; me gustan mucho los petirrojos, son tan lindos!
Un abrazo. Sonia.
Hola Sonia, I'm glad you enjoyed reading about the tree tapping. I expected the sap to be a little bit sticky but instead it is very similar to water in texture. Britain is right on the edge of the breeding range of the Fieldfare but we get plenty of them visit us in Winter. They mostly feed in fields with Redwings, another winter thrush. They only seem to visit our gardens when it snows.
DeleteHola Jerry, muy interesante esa manera de obtener la savia de los abedules. No sabía que producían tanta. Por otra parte, coincido con Sonia en que las fotos del zorzal y el petirrojo son muy hermosas. Me encanta cómo cantan los petirrojos en las mañanas frías de invierno. Es uno de los sonidos más deliciosos que se pueden escuchar en el bosque. Un abrazo.
ReplyDeleteHola Francesc - I too was very pleased with 4 pints (2.2 litres) of sap. But after setting up tapping again yesterday, imagine my surprise today when I had 8 pints (4.5 litres)!! I now have more than enough for my recipe :) - I'll start brewing tomorrow evening. We share similar tastes in music and that inclues the music of the Robin!
DeleteHello Jerry:) I didn't get your Easter greeting until our return from holiday.Thank you, we did have a lovely Easter with the whole family in the Algarve.I hope you also had a happy Easter.
ReplyDeleteThe tapping of Birch trees was new to me until about two or maybe three weeks ago when I watched a programme on television, and actually saw it being done. I was amazed at how quickly the sap flowed into the container.You did the tapping and plugging in exactly the same way.I was just as intrigued then as now. I am going to visit your other posts now to catch up with your progress.
Love your Fieldfare and Robin photos:)
Thanks Sonjia and I'm glad you had a lovely break - I bet it was a bit warmer in the Algarve than we've had here. I'm glad too that my technique was endorsed by the programme that you saw - now time will tell...
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