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Ben Law's Birch Sap Wine

added by HughFW 8th March 2010
at 09:38

I made Birch Sap Wine - or rather watched coppicer and all-round woodsman make it - on a chilly March day at the beginning of the second series. We went on to taste the previous year’s vintage, along with a selection of Ben’s other country wines.   All were interesting, and some were excellent, but the Birch Sap was the best of the lot.  

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Ingredients

You’ll need:  
Four litres (or just under a gallon) of Birch Sap
 150ml (quarter of a pint) of water
 Three tablespoons runny honey
 Yeast 
Juice of a lemon

march, birch, wine

Directions

The best time to collect sap is usually during the middle two weeks of March, but it can be later if Spring is a slow starter. You need a plastic tube (the kind used for racking your wine is perfect) and a large container (such as demijohn). Bore a hole (the width of your tube) into the bark of the tree, about 45-60cm/18 inches to two feet off the ground, at a slight upwards angle. It need be no deeper than a centimetre or two/half an inch, and the sap should start coming out immediately. If it doesn’t, or if it’s very slow, try again a few days later.   Insert the tube so that the sap trickles out, and place the other end into a demijohn. Seal the neck around the tube with a wad of cotton wool, to keep out insects. If the sap is flowing well, two trees, tapped overnight, or one, left for two or three days, should give you four litres to a gallon or so if you need. After collecting the sap, plug the hole with a bit of mud, clay or soft wax, and the tree will make a full recovery.   Heat a little water with three tablespoons of honey so that it dissolves. Let it cool down to blood temperature. Add some yeast and leave to start. Add to the Birch Sap with the lemon juice.   Put in a bung and an airlock and leave to ferment. Complete as for fruit wines above. If it seems very dry on bottling, you can add a little light sugar syrup.   * Ben Law’s Birch Sap Wine is taken from Hugh’s book ‘A Cook On The Wild Side’, available in the River Cottage Online Shop.     

3 replies

andycros...

Replied on 10th March 2011 11.48

Diong this for the first time and wondering how much yeast much yeast do you use?

James

Replied on 23rd March 2010 18.00

Yes please, Fieldbar, to the Sherry recipe, here or offline.

Thanks.

fieldbar...

Replied on 19th March 2010 18.32

You can make a good Birch Sap Sherry too. I'll copy the address if anyone is interested.
I was worried I'd missed the season so will be out tomorrow tree tapping.

Thanks for the recipe and all the brew tips...River Cottage inspired me to start my own business and 8 months later, we're licensed and selling our fruit wines at markets and shows. www.fieldbarwine.co.uk

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