There was such a song "Birch sap" with the words "... and the Motherland generously gave me birch sap, birch sap." Does anyone remember? This is not for me to sing together, but for urgently starting to harvest birch sap, since nature has such an annual time of generosity.
Recipes, of course (the theme of the site obliges) will be alcoholic, although drinks from birch sap can be obtained in a variety of ways. We will get "with a degree". However, I will give a few “harmless” recipes - “to the heap”. :)
First a few words
about the benefits of birch sap.
It is not without reason that the birch is to some extent a symbol of the Slavs - one can say that the entire East Slavic culture grew right under the birch, drunk with birch sap. Just think about it - they wrote on birch bark, they cut a torch from birch logs, it was impossible to do without birch tar on the farm, they took a steam bath and ground in the house with a birch broom, they were treated with decoctions from birch buds. And they drank birch kvass - a simple drink or low-alcohol and birch - a stronger drink. Everything is made from birch sap. Song! It becomes clear why we have such a touching attitude towards birch.
And indeed - this birch sap is a very, very useful product.
The benefit of birch sap is that it is able to dissolve urinary stones, at the same time removing all kinds of harmful substances from the body - once, it is useful for the prevention and treatment of diseases of the gastrointestinal tract - two, it has proven itself in the fight against pulmonary problems: cough, bronchitis, tuberculosis lungs - three.
In addition, with spring beriberi, what, if not freshly picked birch sap, can be used for the benefit of the body? It stimulates metabolism (a diet drink, by the way), regenerates tissues, has a tonic effect, including when applied externally, so to speak, that is, in cosmetology.
And all why? And because birch sap is rich in various useful substances: potassium, magnesium, calcium, organic acids - glutamic, nicotinic, malic.
Well, we figured out the benefits of birch sap, let's move on to the recipes.
Birch Recipes.
An old alcoholic drink made from birch sap was called "birch". And he was, as I understood, not so much tasty as simply intoxicated, which was what was required of him - to give it to his head. But this is not our way. Therefore, the birch recipes that are given here are somewhat, so to speak, “modernized” and simplified.
The first birch recipe.
The resulting fresh juice in the amount of five liters, a bottle of port wine and a bottle of vodka are poured into a vessel (best of all oak, a barrel, but you can also take a glass container), a kilogram of granulated sugar, a pound of raisins are added. All this is thoroughly mixed until the sugar dissolves. The vessel is tightly sealed and taken out to a cold place. If there is an opportunity to put it on the ice - perfect. Two months later, the finished drink from birch sap is bottled, which are even more carefully sealed (the corks are best fixed to the neck of the bottles with wire, like in champagne), taken out to a cool place, where they are stored lying on their side.
The second recipe for birch.
This method is more laborious, but closer to the historical roots of making a drink from birch sap.
The calculation is again for five liters of juice. We pour it into a basin in which we usually cook jam, pour one and a half kilograms of granulated sugar and begin to heat it, stirring until the sugar is completely dissolved. The foam that forms in this case must be removed. Cook, cook over low heat until about a third of the contents of our basin is boiled down. Then we remove it from the heat, filter the syrup into the container that is intended for further harvesting (again, a barrel is better, but a glass vessel will do). We wait until it cools down to about body temperature. Now it's time to pour in the pre-diluted two tablespoons of yeast and a bottle of vodka, as well as throw in two sliced lemons - with a peel, but without stones. Make sure that the vessel is not filled to the very top - there must be room for fermentation. And the birch will roam in a warm place for about twelve hours, after which it must be taken out into the cold for seven weeks. Then the drink should be filtered, poured into champagne bottles (collected during these seven weeks :)), corked with wire and stored in a cool place.
The third recipe for birch.
Five liters of birch sap, a liter of port wine, one and a half kilograms of sugar and two finely chopped lemons with a peel but without stones are mixed in a vessel that is taken out in a cold place for two months. Then the still not completely ready alcoholic drink is bottled and closed in a way already known to us. The bottles are again taken to a cool room, where the birch tree will “reach” for another three weeks. Bottles should lie on their side, best of all on the sand.
Recipes for alcoholic drinks from birch sap.
According to these recipes, the use of wine and more sugar is provided, so what is obtained cannot be called birch. What kind of alcoholic drink is this - think for yourself - maybe you will call it birch balm, birch wine or birch liqueur. I like the last option.
The first recipe for a drink made from birch sap.
For four liters of juice, we take half a liter of dry wine, a glass of vodka, a pound of sugar and four hundred grams of raisins, which we pour after the sugar has completely dispersed. We close the vessel tightly and put it on ice - or in a very cold place for about three months. Then we pour what happened into bottles, cork and store in the sand, lying on its side.
The second recipe for a drink made from birch sap.
For the same four liters of birch sap, you need a bottle of dry wine, eight hundred grams of granulated sugar, one crushed lemon. We keep the carefully closed mixture in the cold for two months, then pour it, close it, take the bottles to the cellar or a cold cellar, where they lie on their side for another month. And then you can start tasting.
Beer from birch sap.
Either beer, or low-alcohol kvass is obtained. Rather the second than the first. Simple to primitive recipe.
From a two-liter bottle we pour out (in the sense of drinking) almost all the beer, leaving a glass there, add birch sap to the very cap, twist this cap and take it to a cold place - or to the refrigerator, if there is room - for two months. You will open - carefully, the volume of gases will accumulate enough. By the way, in the summer heat, such kvass can be added to okroshka - tasty, refreshing and unusual.
Harmless birch sap recipes.
1) Syrup from birch sap.
Fresh birch sap is long and persistently evaporated over low heat in a container without a lid until it thickens. At the same time, the sugar concentration in birch syrup is about 60 percent, the color is light yellow, even rather light lemon, and the syrup resembles honey in thickness. Store it in the refrigerator in a glass jar, adding it to various non-alcoholic and alcoholic cocktails. By the way, scientists have found that birch syrup can stop the development of caries! It’s just that it’s prepared for a rather long and expensive time: estimate how much gas you need to burn to evaporate water from birch sap!
2) My personal recipe
It was created according to the principle “I blinded you from what was”, but the result was very much liked by everyone at home. We heat birch sap (it can start to ferment) over low heat together with sugar (a glass of three liters), frozen berries of red (or black, or a mixture of them) currants - half a glass and broken slices of dried apples - about ten. For color, you can throw a little hibiscus. As soon as all the sugar has dissolved - remove from heat, filter, pour into bottles and put them in a cold place.
To prepare such birch kvass, you can use anything, in my opinion: something for sweetness (sugar, syrup, jam), something for sourness (citrus, lemon, sour berry), something for color (karkade , black tea, again a bright berry). And, most importantly, your imagination!
And as a “snack” for these recipes, I can’t help but bring to your attention another well-known soulful song and no less touching slideshow.
Do you like birch sap? This drink after the winter is just super-essential for all of us! It removes salts, all sorts of filth from the body. It saturates it with vitamins, etc., and if you cook it according to the recipes below, then in general, goodbye to the pharmacy!, because kvass from birch sap is simply incomparable. You will need fresh birch sap and one of the following recipes:
Recipe number 1. For 10 liters of birch sap, you need 50 grams of yeast. Next: Boil the birch sap so that part of the water evaporates and the liquid becomes thicker. Cool, add yeast, let ferment. Then pour into bottles and refrigerate. Kvass is ready. Then pour birch kvass into bottles, cork and store in a cool place.
Recipe number 2. For 5 liters of birch sap, fry half a loaf of black bread in the oven, 5 tbsp. fry wheat or barley in a pan until dark brown, burn 1 cup of sugar until dark brown, bring the juice to a boil, then turn it off, mix all the ingredients, add three sprigs of black currant and leave in the room for three to four days, after kvass is ready , strain and drink or put in the refrigerator or cellar.
Also, this recipe can be used in a simpler version FOR THE LAZY: do not boil the juice, do not fry the bread, but put the crusts more roasted, do not burn the sugar, and put rice instead of wheat and 30 grams of yeast or do not put yeast, it will also work out - all options are very good, you can also add raisins, rose hips and any of the ingredients from the recipes below - it all depends on your preferences.
Recipe number 3. The collected juice is poured into polyethylene bottles, put raisins, rose hips, sugar, and close it in the cellar for 1-2 months, if it takes longer to check the bottles, because. burst under pressure. 2 rose hips, 2 tablespoons of sugar, 5-10 grains of raisins and a slice of lemon are placed on a 1.5 liter bottle.
And you can limit yourself to one raisin or add some wheat grains to it. Screw on tightly with a lid and put in a cool place. After a couple of days, kvass is ready.
Recipe number 4. From birch sap you can make such a yummy. A 3-liter jar is filled with 2.5 liters of juice, half a glass of granulated sugar, a bunch of raisins, a bunch of roasted coffee beans and rye bread fried in a toaster. Yeast is not needed! They put on a rubber glove from above and wait until it shows "HELLO!!!", this usually happens on the second day, after that the juice needs to be filtered, poured into plastic bottles and into a cellar or refrigerator, after 2 days it's ready, you can drink it! Bon appetit!
Recipe number 5. Very tasty kvass can be made from birch sap with honey and raisins.
To 10 liters of birch sap add the juice of 3 lemons, diluted in water 50 g of yeast, 200 g of honey. You can put 2-3 raisins in a bottle, then pour kvass into it. Cork bottles and store kvass from birch sap for several days in a cool place.
Recipe #6. Another very tasty version of honey kvass. For 10 liters of juice 200-300 grams of honey and 200-300 grams of barley fried to dark brown, close, let stand for 3-5 days at room temperature, bottle and store in the cellar. Kvass is ready.
Recipe number 7. Add well-fried bread crusts and dark raisins to birch sap. Leave to ferment, hold for 1-2 days, strain, pour into plastic bottles to the very top, and into the basement. Do not add sugar to kvass, it will stretch. If raisins are not at hand, then you can also do without it). Bon appetit!!!
Recipe number 8. For 20 liters of juice - fried crackers 0.5 loaves of black bread are poured with boiled juice - 2.5 liters and infused for 5-6 hours. Dilute 20 grams of yeast with juice, add 20 tablespoons of kvass wort (sold in stores). Pour 1 kg of sugar into the juice and mix all the other ingredients (until the sugar dissolves), insist for a day, bottle or close the jars and put it in the cellar in the cold. We drink all summer!
Recipe number 9. Add to birch sap: crusts of well-fried bread and dark raisins; Leave for fermentation, after fermentation, pour into bottles. Do not add sugar to kvass, it will stretch.
Recipe number 10. YOU HAVE NOT TRIED THIS! SO WE PREPARE THE JUICE, AT THE SAME TIME WE CHOOSE THE FEMALE (DARK) BIRCH - THE JUICE IS SWEETER. THEN IN P / E BOTTLE 2-LITRE FILL 250 GR BEER, FILL TO THE BOTTOM WITH JUICE AND THIS IS IN THE BASEMENT. AFTER 2 MONTHS WE GET LIGHT HOPY KVASS WITH BEER FLAVOR AND A LOT OF GAS. AND DRINK JUST SO AND IT IS SUITABLE FOR OKROSHKA. Keep in the basement for a year or more.
Rolled Juice:
- The collected juice is heated to a boil, added to a 3-liter jar 4 tbsp. l. sugar, on the tip of a spoon citric acid. Closed under an iron lid.
- For 3l. juice, 3-4 cups of orange, a pinch of raisins, 0.5 tsp lemons, sugar to taste, roll up. A scalded sprig of blackcurrant is also placed in the jar.
- For 3 liters of juice, 5 tablespoons of sugar and 1 teaspoon of lemon without a slide - to a boil and add 1 Mint or Duchesse caramel to the jar. Fill up, roll up.
Every spring, when the sap flow of trees begins, we can use the gifts of the forest for free, namely the sap of birches. Transparent, slightly sweet birch sap, not only perfectly quenches thirst, but also has a cleansing effect on our slagged body.
Useful properties of birch sap.
It would seem that this simple forest drink at first glance, but how much is useful in it: it is rich in useful trace elements, organic acids, enzymes, salts of magnesium, calcium, iron and essential sugars. Effectively removes toxins and excess fluid from the body, positively affects the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract, has a beneficial effect on cardiac activity, cleanses and strengthens the walls of blood vessels. For therapeutic and prophylactic purposes, birch sap is used for beriberi, peptic ulcers of the gastrointestinal tract, liver and gallbladder diseases, colds, bronchitis and tonsillitis. It is noted that it has an effective effect on rheumatism, arthritis, sciatica and even tuberculosis. So is it worth refusing this truly wonderful nectar of the Gods. Birch sap is used, as in its natural form, it is also harvested for future use. You can imagine how on a hot day you can quench your thirst not with anything from store-bought drinks containing only dyes and flavors, but with delicious and healthy kvass made from birch sap. I propose now to start harvesting various kvass. Moreover, from all the recipes collected on the Internet, you can choose the most acceptable.
And so, what recipes for making kvass from birch sap are offered:
Kvass with dried apples and pears.
10 liters of birch sap, 1-2 handfuls of dried apples and pears. Put in a dark place for 20-30 days at a temperature of +18. The fermentation time depends on the temperature. Cover all dishes with future kvass with clean gauze or linen so that the kvass can breathe. If the neck of the dishes is narrow, then fermentation takes longer. When the kvass has fermented, it must be filtered through clean gauze (note that a film of mold may form on top of the kvass, carefully remove it), pour it into bottles and jars. Do not twist the dishes with lids, but only tie them with gauze. Put in a cold place -8-10 degrees for storage. In this state, kvass can be stored for a very long time. Before use, sweeter lovers can add honey to taste.
Kvass with raisins.
For 10 liters of birch sap, add sugar-0.5 kg, pour washed and dried raisins-50 pieces. We mix the drink until the sugar dissolves and put it on fermentation for 3 days in a warm place. We filter, pour into bottles and close the lids. The drink is stored in a dark place, about 4 months.
For 3 liters of birch sap, 20 pieces of dark raisins are added, covered with a lid and taken to the cellar until summer.
Birch sap brought from the forest, strain through cheesecloth, from debris. Add raisins and sugar and leave to ferment. It is recommended to forget about it for a while. Then strain, pour into bottles. Cork well and take it to the cellar for storage. They promise excellent kvass, which you can drink and even cook excellent okroshka on it. I think it's really tasty and healthy.
Kvass with yeast.
3 liters of birch sap, 45-60 grams of yeast. The juice is heated to 35 degrees, yeast is added and left to ferment for 3 days. Ready kvass is poured into bottles and closed with lids. They store such kvass in the cellar.
Kvass with wild rose.
3 liters of birch sap, a handful of rose hips, 4 tablespoons of sugar, 120 pieces of raisins and a slice of lemon.
Kvass with currant branch.
3 liters of birch sap, 4 tablespoons of sugar, a handful of raisins, a little citric acid and a few sprigs of currants.
Kvass with lemon and orange slices.
3 liters of birch sap, half a glass of sugar, 2-3 slices of lemon and 2-3 slices of orange with peel, here 1/4 of a teaspoon of citric acid.
Kvass with Borodino bread.
20 liters of birch sap, 0.5 loaves of fried crackers of Borodino bread, bring to a boil. Add a glass of sugar and leave to ferment. Pour the finished kvass into bottles and store in a cold place.
Put crusts of well-fried bread and a handful of raisins in a jar of birch sap.
Hoppy kvass with beer aroma.
Pour 250 grams of beer into a one and a half liter bottle of beer or sparkling water, fill it with birch sap up to the shoulders of the bottle. All! We clean it in a cool place and after 2 months we get a light intoxicating drink with the aroma of beer. Kvass is drunk to remove thirst, or okroshka is cooked on it.
From generation to generation, lovers of home winemaking have been producing alcoholic drinks from birch sap, the recipes for which have been improved over time. The technology and recipe are changing, but the fundamental methods of obtaining remain the same.
Birch sap is obtained in early spring during the swelling of the buds until the leaves are fully blooming. This natural liquid is created by nature, being cleansed through the roots and trunk of the tree. Therefore, it is very useful for the human body.
When combining alcohol-containing components and natural vitamin nectar, quite interesting home-made alcohol of different strengths is obtained. The most common drinks are braga, moonshine, wine.
Berezovitsa
The most ancient drink, created from fermented birch nectar, is called birch, birch, birch.
It includes the following components:
- fresh juice - 30 l;
- milk or kefir - 26 g.
Homemade alcohol can be prepared as follows:
- Strain the freshly picked juice through several layers of gauze.
- Pour off a small portion of the liquid separately. The rest must be evaporated over low heat until the volume is reduced by a third.
- After that, mix everything by adding milk or kefir.
- Sterilize a large bottle first, then pour the made birch.
- Put on a thin medical glove on the container, put it in a dark room with room temperature for fermentation. The process should last until the glove falls off.
This method is considered classic. Braga at the exit becomes transparent, clean, without impurities.
Prince's Braga
As a result of processing and further distillation of natural nectar, you can get a large amount of high-grade alcoholic beverages, one of which is princely mash. It is characterized by high strength, softness and taste. That's why it's called that.
Ingredients:
- juice - 10 l;
- granulated sugar - 3 kg;
- baker's yeast - 250 g;
- milk - 1 tbsp.
The cooking method is as follows:
- After filtering through a gauze cloth, heat the liquid in a large bowl to 30ºС over low heat.
- Prepare a bottle, wash it well.
- Mix the added sugar thoroughly. It needs to be completely dissolved.
- Soften the yeast mass with a fork and dilute with milk.
- Pour the warm mixture into a bowl, put under a rubber glove. The fermentation process is approximately half a month. There should be sediment at the bottom.
- After that, it is necessary to overtake the resulting product several times through the moonshine still.
- If desired, moonshine can be cleaned with activated charcoal tablets.
Birch vodka
How to make an alcoholic drink from juice if there is no moonshine at hand? For such a case, an easy recipe for obtaining birch vodka is useful:
- Boil 10 liters of juice over low heat with the addition of 2 kg of granulated sugar until the liquid decreases in volume.
- Cool, pass through gauze, pour a liter of vodka and softened yeast in an amount of 100 g. All ingredients are added in turn, mixed well until completely dissolved.
- Cut the lemon into small slices and add to the alcohol.
- Place the resulting mixture for 12 hours in a warm room, then in a cellar or refrigerator.
- Alcohol is ready to drink.
It is better to store this product in champagne bottles. The cork must be secured with wire. Homemade alcohol comes out very strong, smells like birch and zest.
birch wine
An excellent, refined wine product is prepared from "birch tears". It is light and pleasant in taste, and the recipe is so simple that even a novice winemaker can use it:
- Prepare and mix the following ingredients: 3 liters of birch sap, a bottle of dry white wine, 700 g of sugar, lemon slices.
- Take a barrel and pour the mixture into it.
- Put it in a cool place for several months.
- At the end of the period, strain the contents, remove from the sediment, pour into bottles, cork.
- In a few months the drink will be ready.
- Experts recommend adding raisins, dried apricots, honey, port wine, even cognac.
Alcoholic drinks made from birch sap differ in strength, softness, and taste. Much depends on the desire and preferences of the amateur winemaker.
BEEREZKA (birch tripel)(Russia)
This is a new author's variety from the contract brewery "LaBEERint Brewery", which is headed by Vyacheslav Vetelev, well-known in the Russian beer world. As you understand, they do not yet have their own equipment, but they have the knowledge and desire to brew beers that differ from what is sold in the mass market. Moreover, there is already a decent experience. Before the variety considered today, they brewed at different breweries: Champagne beer Beryozka, Watermelon Blanche, Shadow Porter, Cutty Sark IPA, as well as several trial and collaborationist varieties. The most powerful spread was "Shadow Porter" in several versions, which was brewed according to the recipes of "LaBEERint Brewery" several times already.
Birch beer, as you noticed, is brewed for the second time. I will retell a brief history of the creation of today's "BEER-cut", which some of you may have already seen somewhere. Last year, the collected birch sap was taken to St. Petersburg, and beer was made there. Several round-trip trips to the cultural capital, as well as botched filtration, then made the experimental beer prohibitively expensive. Therefore, they decided to make a new version somewhere nearby. The choice fell on a private brewery "" in the village of Krasnaya Pakhra, Moscow Region, a report on a visit to which.
The guys in the spring collected more than a ton of birch sap. Part of it went to birch kvass, which was successfully and quickly sold out. And the rest was left for storage in a forfat at a brewery at a low temperature. It was not possible to immediately brew the beer due to the constant employment of the brewery equipment for the fulfillment of regular orders for the main types of beer. The opportunity appeared only on July 5, on this day Vyacheslav and Antonina Vetelevs ("LaBEERint Brewery"), brewers and owners of "Stamm Beer", and some brewer Mikhail from an unknown "secret brewery" gathered at the "Stamm Beer" brewery :) Let's recalculate on the fingers of brewers known to us with the name Mikhail, and some of us will understand who we are talking about, and whose name cannot be named for ethical reasons.
So, it turned out that by the time of cooking the birch sap was sour, despite the low storage temperatures. However, it was decided to still use it. Beer was brewed from wheat malt with the addition of birch sap. After boiling and filtering the must, along with hops, birch buds ground in a hand mill were added for aroma. Why in manual? Because the kidneys contain a large amount of resin, and the automatic malt mill could not grind them, completely clogged with resin. A few days after the start of fermentation, meadow honey was also added to the beer. As a result, the beer turned out to be just over one ton, and the total fermentation and maturation time was about 35 days.
TTX - 8% alcohol at 22% initial density.
Ingredients: water, birch sap, wheat malt, Pilsner barley malt, meadow honey, hops, birch buds, Belgian yeast.
It is poured with a chestnut color, cloudy, light brown in the light. When pouring from the tank, the foam was actively formed. When I poured it at home from a bottle, I apparently got a little breathless due to loose capping, and I got the foam with difficulty. However, it is dense, fine-grained, and settled rather quickly, but this is normal for this alcohol content. And it does not interfere with the full enjoyment of the aroma.
The scent is sweet and refreshing at the same time. There is something confidently honey in it, rather chords of Suzdal mead mixed with birch sap (kvass), as well as the freshness of a birch grove. In addition, there is the aroma of wheat beer with its cloves and other spices. There is also a certain woodiness and resinousness - this, for sure, is the effect of crushed birch buds. The body is average. You can feel the high gravity, but at 22% beer initial gravity, it doesn't look like much. I think that the indicated 22% is the extract, taking into account the added honey. According to the oily and velvety sensations in the mouth, it looks like 17-18%, which is also drop dead. Carbonation is average, looks like mead.
The taste is sweet, wheat-malt, honey. At first, overripe banana and clove spices feel "wheat". But it is well flavored with oily woodiness, as if chewed on these birch buds and washed them down with wheat beer. I think it will be similar if you take some rich wheat beer and throw birch buds crushed in a garlic press right into the glass. But here, in the middle of the sip, birch kvass is also felt, it is he who gives a refreshing effect when drinking. At the finish, honey sweetness goes to the palate, and remains for a long aftertaste. There is also a light hop bitterness.
A very interesting product to find and try.
UPD.
While writing this text, Slava Vetelev confirmed in personal correspondence that the initial density of the wort without honey was 18%, and honey caught up with it up to 22%. You won't drink receptors :))
