Birch Cream Ale

gm- · Post by **gm-** » Tue Apr 09, 2013 1:44 pm

Brewing this up tonight. I am using birch sap instead of water, and a very mildly hopped cream ale recipe as a base, so I hope that some of those nice birch flavours come through. I am also planning to use birch syrup to prime it with.

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 7.56 gal
Post Boil Volume: 7.02 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 6.00 gal
Bottling Volume: 5.60 gal
Estimated OG: 1.045 SG
Estimated Color: 4.5 SRM
Estimated IBU: 18.3 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 72.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 81.8 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
7 lbs 8.0 oz Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 75.0 %
2 lbs Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 2 20.0 %
1.00 oz Whitbread Golding Variety (WGV) [6.00 %] Hop 3 18.3 IBUs
3.00 lb Birch twigs (Boil 30.0 mins) Other 4 -
8.0 oz Sugar, Table (Sucrose) [Boil for 30 min] Sugar 5 5.0 %
0.50 oz Willamette [5.50 %] - Aroma Steep 0.0 mi Hop 6 0.0 IBUs
1.0 pkg European Ale (White Labs #WLP011) [35.49 Yeast 7 -

Cheers,
Jon

akr71 · Post by **akr71** » Tue Apr 09, 2013 3:19 pm

If you really want birch flavor, borrow some of Graham's Birch Liqueur (or is it birch flavored vodka?). Imagine drinking a birch tree & that is exactly what it tasted like.

erslar00 · Post by **erslar00** » Tue Apr 09, 2013 3:58 pm

gm- wrote:Brewing this up tonight. I am using birch sap instead of water, and a very mildly hopped cream ale recipe as a base, so I hope that some of those nice birch flavours come through. I am also planning to use birch syrup to prime it with.

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 7.56 gal
Post Boil Volume: 7.02 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 6.00 gal
Bottling Volume: 5.60 gal
Estimated OG: 1.045 SG
Estimated Color: 4.5 SRM
Estimated IBU: 18.3 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 72.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 81.8 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
7 lbs 8.0 oz Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 75.0 %
2 lbs Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 2 20.0 %
1.00 oz Whitbread Golding Variety (WGV) [6.00 %] Hop 3 18.3 IBUs
3.00 lb Birch twigs (Boil 30.0 mins) Other 4 -
8.0 oz Sugar, Table (Sucrose) [Boil for 30 min] Sugar 5 5.0 %
0.50 oz Willamette [5.50 %] - Aroma Steep 0.0 mi Hop 6 0.0 IBUs
1.0 pkg European Ale (White Labs #WLP011) [35.49 Yeast 7 -

Cheers,
Jon

Wow!! How many trees did you tap to get the sap? Sounds interesting. I've tapped my own maples and used the sap but not the birch... maybe I shall give it a go sometime. Have you measured the SG on the birch sap before boiling, I'd be curious how it compared to maple sap... my maple sap came in at around 1.06 to 1.09.

gm- · Post by **gm-** » Tue Apr 09, 2013 4:54 pm

erslar00 wrote: Wow!! How many trees did you tap to get the sap? Sounds interesting. I've tapped my own maples and used the sap but not the birch... maybe I shall give it a go sometime. Have you measured the SG on the birch sap before boiling, I'd be curious how it compared to maple sap... my maple sap came in at around 1.06 to 1.09.

I tapped around 10, 1 ft diameter birch trees, mostly paper birch. The SG is around 1.05, did a similar experiment with maple sap earlier this year and it was around 1.010, so the birch is definitely not as sweet and the taste is somewhat minty/wintergreen.

Araxi · Post by **Araxi** » Tue Apr 09, 2013 7:09 pm

Son of a birch...I'd like to try that.

dean2k · Post by **dean2k** » Tue Apr 09, 2013 10:30 pm

akr71 wrote:If you really want birch flavor, borrow some of Graham's Birch Liqueur ....

Sweet baby Jeebus ..... NO. Do NOT listen to Andy.

Juniper Hill · Post by **Juniper Hill** » Wed Apr 10, 2013 8:50 am

Really neat idea for a brew. Hope it turns out well.

Post by **mr x** » Wed Apr 10, 2013 8:59 am

Yeah, could be really interesting.

pet lion · Post by **pet lion** » Wed Apr 10, 2013 9:05 am

Sounds interesting. Do you happen to know where I could get some birch syrup myself? I was just asking over in the Halifax Brewing Adjuncts Guide thread.

Post by **mr x** » Wed Apr 10, 2013 9:06 am

http://www.birchsyrup.ca/Home.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.yukonbirch.ca/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.wildfoods.ca/products-syrups-birchsyrup.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Graham.C · Post by **Graham.C** » Wed Apr 10, 2013 10:22 am

dean2k wrote:
akr71 wrote:If you really want birch flavor, borrow some of Graham's Birch Liqueur ....
Sweet baby Jeebus ..... NO. Do NOT listen to Andy.

good thing we didn't get into the Icelandic lichen liqueur...

gm- · Post by **gm-** » Wed Apr 10, 2013 11:19 am

pet lion wrote:Sounds interesting. Do you happen to know where I could get some birch syrup myself? I was just asking over in the Halifax Brewing Adjuncts Guide thread.

I have some leftover sap if you want it, I have never seen it in stores, but a friend of mine has some he got in Nfld, maybe the newfoundlanders on here could help you?

Graham.C wrote:
dean2k wrote:
akr71 wrote:If you really want birch flavor, borrow some of Graham's Birch Liqueur ....
Sweet baby Jeebus ..... NO. Do NOT listen to Andy.
good thing we didn't get into the Icelandic lichen liqueur...

Hah, I actually have some of the Icelandic lichen stuff, pretty potent, it is like having a sip of the forest floor. Have you tried Icelandic schnapps called Opal? Been thinking about ways to incorporate it into a beer, even my Canadian friends tell me it tastes like Buckleys mixed with menthol cigarettes.

Graham.C · Post by **Graham.C** » Wed Apr 10, 2013 11:25 am

gm- wrote:
pet lion wrote:Sounds interesting. Do you happen to know where I could get some birch syrup myself? I was just asking over in the Halifax Brewing Adjuncts Guide thread.
I have some leftover sap if you want it, I have never seen it in stores, but a friend of mine has some he got in Nfld, maybe the newfoundlanders on here could help you?
Graham.C wrote:
dean2k wrote: Sweet baby Jeebus ..... NO. Do NOT listen to Andy.
good thing we didn't get into the Icelandic lichen liqueur...
Hah, I actually have some of the Icelandic lichen stuff, pretty potent, it is like having a sip of the forest floor. Have you tried Icelandic schnapps called Opal? Been thinking about ways to incorporate it into a beer, even my Canadian friends tell me it tastes like Buckleys mixed with menthol cigarettes.

I have. That's a great description of it.

gm- · Post by **gm-** » Thu Apr 11, 2013 2:02 pm

OG ended at 1.060, quite a bit higher than the estimated 1.046, guess the sap and those twigs added something

pet lion · Post by **pet lion** » Sun Apr 14, 2013 3:15 pm

gm- wrote:
pet lion wrote:Sounds interesting. Do you happen to know where I could get some birch syrup myself? I was just asking over in the Halifax Brewing Adjuncts Guide thread.
I have some leftover sap if you want it, I have never seen it in stores, but a friend of mine has some he got in Nfld, maybe the newfoundlanders on here could help you?

The beer I want to use it in won't be brewed for a couple of months. I don't know if I'd be able to keep the sap hanging around that long. Thanks though.

gm- · Post by **gm-** » Sat May 04, 2013 1:10 pm

Few pictures of the whole process.

Collecting the sap

Boiling the sap

Some new growth added to the wort

After fermentation

Birch syrup used for priming

and all bottled up

Post by **mr x** » Sat May 04, 2013 5:15 pm

Very cool!

Sent from my Nexus S using Tapatalk 2

pet lion · Post by **pet lion** » Sat May 04, 2013 6:50 pm

Nice. The labels rock.

GasMD30 · Post by **GasMD30** » Mon May 19, 2014 7:32 pm

gm- wrote:Few pictures of the whole process.

Collecting the sap

Boiling the sap

Some new growth added to the wort

After fermentation

Birch syrup used for priming

and all bottled up

Looks tasty!

Ladd · Post by **Ladd** » Tue May 20, 2014 12:29 pm

How did this turnout?

Birch Cream Ale

Birch Cream Ale

Re: Birch Cream Ale

Re: Birch Cream Ale

Re: Birch Cream Ale

Re: Birch Cream Ale

Re: Birch Cream Ale

Re: Birch Cream Ale

Re: Birch Cream Ale

Re: Birch Cream Ale

Re: Birch Cream Ale

Re: Birch Cream Ale

Re: Birch Cream Ale

Re: Birch Cream Ale

Re: Birch Cream Ale

Re: Birch Cream Ale

Re: Birch Cream Ale

Re: Birch Cream Ale

Re: Birch Cream Ale

Re: Birch Cream Ale

Re: Birch Cream Ale

Who is online