Making wine from birch sap at home

The tradition of making birch wine with honey arose in Belarus several centuries ago. With all this, a carbonated drink with unique taste properties was produced, possessing all the healing qualities of birch sap. And at the moment, such wines have not lost their relevance.

They contain a sufficient amount of tannins, various acids, glucose, fructose, and phytoncides. They are also rich in potassium, magnesium, calcium, sodium, manganese, silicon, iron, phosphorus and copper.

Wine purchased from birch sap has almost all the beneficial qualities.

When consumed in moderation, birch sap wine helps to normalize metabolic processes, increase immunity, and cleanse the body of toxic substances.

Rules for extracting birch sap

In order to prepare birch wine at home, you must first stock up on the main raw materials.

When collecting birch sap, there are a number of rules that will allow you to collect the required amount of drink and not harm the trees:

You should not choose young trees to collect sap.
Instead of making cuts in the trunk, it is better to drill shallow holes. It is recommended to build them on the north side, because more juice flows there. Then a tube is inserted into them, which is lowered into the prepared container to collect the juice.
You can simply cut off a piece of a thick branch. After this, wrap the cut with a narrow rope, along which the liquid will be collected, and place it in a bowl.
After collecting the sap is completed, you should seal the holes with plasticine, wax or laundry soap, so as not to cause the death of the birch from trunk rotting.
It is not recommended to collect more than 1 liter of birch sap from one tree.

From 1 tree you can collect no more than 1 liter of juice.

Required components and tools for making wine

To make wine you will need birch sap, sugar, and purified water. Honey, lemons, oranges, raisins, wine and baker's yeast, citric acid, cinnamon and ginger are used as additional ingredients.

From the accessories for the production of an intoxicating drink from birch sap, it is recommended to prepare:

enamel pan;
a glass bottle in which the wort will ferment;
plastic tube for comfortable draining;
water seal;
bottles or cans for the finished drink.

Tips for making wine

In order to correctly make wine from birch sap, you need to follow some tips:

In order to get a good drink, you need to collect birch sap before the buds begin to bloom. It is better to recycle it immediately after collection. If this cannot be created, it can be kept in a cold room in a closed container for a number of days. Sour or fermented juice is unsuitable for making wine.
All containers used for wine production must be thoroughly washed and dried.
The finished drink must be stored in dry rooms with good ventilation and an air temperature of about 15 degrees.

Only freshly collected birch sap is suitable for making wine.

Recipe for traditional wine from birch sap

birch sap – 10 l;
sugar – 2 kg;
honey – 100 g;
raisins – 100 g;
lemon – 5 g.

Production Method:

To make a wine starter, combine raisins with 50 g of sugar and 500 ml of water. The mixture is poured into a glass container, covered with a lid and allowed to brew for 5 days, then it is filtered.
In an enamel pan, combine birch sap with sugar and lemon. The purchased composition is heated over low heat, stirring frequently, until the water reduces to 2 liters.
Sourdough and honey are poured into the cooled juice, stirred thoroughly, poured into a bottle and closed with a water seal. The container is placed in a dark place with an air temperature of about 25 degrees.
Fermentation of the wort lasts about 2 months. During this period of time, sediment should form and the wine should become clearer. After this, it is filtered using a tube into a huge glass container. If the finished drink is sour, you can add sugar to it. Then they let it brew for about another month.
The finished wine is filtered, distributed into prepared containers and sent for storage.

Birch sap wine is prepared with the addition of raisins, water and sugar.

Fundamentally! Wine prepared using this method retains its original taste and smell throughout the year.

Birch wine with citrus scent

birch sap – 10 l;
sugar – 3 kg;
lemons – 10 pieces;
wine yeast – 25 g.

Production Method:

Pour birch sap into a saucepan, combine with sugar and simmer over low heat for about an hour.
Peel the zest from the lemons and squeeze out the juice.
Combine the cooled syrup with the remaining ingredients, pour into a fermentation container, put a water seal on it and send it to a warm space for a month.
After this, the finished wine must be filtered, bottled and sent to the cellar for several months to ripen.

Fundamentally! According to this recipe, you can prepare birch wine with orange , replacing lemon with it.

Spiced birch wine

birch sap – 10 l;
sugar – 3 kg;
honey – 2 l;
snow white wine – 3 l;
ginger – 3 teaspoons;
cinnamon – 5 teaspoons.

Honey, cinnamon and ginger will give a pleasant spicy taste to the wine.

Production Method:

Heat birch sap in a saucepan until it boils and dissolve sugar in it.
After the syrup has cooled slightly, combine it with honey, wine, ginger and cinnamon.
Pour the purchased composition into a bottle and send it to a cold room for two weeks.
Filter the finished wine, distribute it into storage containers and let it brew for a month. During this period of time, the drink will acquire a unique taste and smell.

This simple recipe allows you to get a very pleasant and fragrant drink.

Wine made from birch sap and fruit and berry raw materials

birch sap – 5 l;
sugar – 3 kg;
pears – 1 kg;
blueberries – 2 kg;
wine yeast – 25 g.

Production process:

Birch sap is combined with sugar and heated briefly over low heat without boiling.
The pears are washed and cut into small pieces.
Blueberries are crushed and the juice is squeezed out.
All ingredients are combined, the purchased wort is poured into a fermentation container and sent to a darkened room with an air temperature of about 25 degrees for a month.
After this, the finished wine is filtered, poured into prepared containers and transferred to the basement, where it is allowed to brew for 3 months.

Sparkling birch wine

birch sap – 5 l;
sugar – 100 g;
lemons – 3 pieces;
raisins – 50g.

If you add lemon to birch sap, you can get a delicious, sparkling wine.

Birch wine with herbs

birch sap – 5 l;
sugar – 2 kg;
baker's yeast – 150 g;
drink – 1 tbsp. spoon;
spicy herbs - to taste.

Production Method:

The freshest birch sap is filtered, slightly heated in a saucepan and sugar is dissolved in it.
The yeast is perfectly crushed and added together with kefir to the cooled syrup. Dry herbs of lemongrass, thyme and oregano are ground and poured into the wort.
The purchased composition is poured into a prepared fermentation container, closed with a water seal and moved to a dark, warm room for approximately one month.
After the release of carbon dioxide is completed, the finished wine is filtered, distributed into bottles and sent to the cellar for three months.

You can add dried herbs to homemade birch sap wine: oregano and thyme.

Fundamentally! Spiced birch wine is a soft drink with a very unique taste and smell. At the same time, it is very transparent and virtually does not produce sediment during storage.

Birch sap wine, prepared according to any recipe, has a mild and sweetish taste. If you follow the recommended measures for its consumption, it has a beneficial effect on the condition of the body. But it is contraindicated for those who suffer from urolithiasis, hypertension, diseases of the gastrointestinal tract and allergies to birch pollen.

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Homemade wine from birch sap

Even 100 years ago, in Belarusian villages, birch wine was prepared in barrels, using honey instead of sugar. The drink came out low-alcohol and slightly carbonated. But later they forgot about the recipe. Not so long ago, winemakers revived this ancient tradition, greatly adapting the technology to modern abilities. The result was homemade wine with an unusual, memorable taste.

All containers used should be sterilized with boiling water, then wiped dry with a clean cloth (A collection of different and interacting tissues form organs) , otherwise infection by pathogenic microbes may occur.

Ingredients:

birch sap – 25 l.;
sugar – 5 kg;
citric acid – 8-10 g;
raisins – 200 g (can be replaced with wine yeast);
watery honey – 200 g (optional).

Only unsoured birch sap is suitable for making wine, otherwise it will curdle during the cooking process. Adding sugar increases the strength and sweetness; without it, the wine will turn out very weak and tasteless. Citric acid will balance the acidity, which will have a positive effect on the taste and shelf life.

Raisins are needed for fermentation - activation of wild yeast located on the surface of the grapes. I advise you to take large black raisins with a snow-white coating (this is wild wine yeast), these berries ferment better than other types. Honey neutralizes the slight bitterness. If the honey is crystallized, it must be melted in a water bath before adding to the wort.

Birch wine recipe

1. 3-4 days before working with juice, create a starter for wine from raisins (owners of wine yeast skip this step).

2. Mix juice, sugar and citric acid in a large enamel saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil, then simmer over low heat, skimming foam from the surface, until approximately 20 liters remain in the pan. wort.

Explanation. It is necessary to evaporate a third of the water from birch sap, increasing the concentration of dry substances, which will have a positive effect on the taste of the finished wine. Be sure to consider the amount of sugar added. 1 liter is equal to 1000 cm3, the density of dry sugar is 1.6 g/cm3, as follows, 1 kg takes 0.625 liters in a pan (1/1.6 = 0.625).

3. Cool the wort to 25°C, stirring occasionally so that a crust does not form on the surface (remove if it does).

4. Add starter (dilute wine yeast), watery honey (optional), mix well. Pour the wort into the fermentation container, filling it to a maximum of 75% of the size.

5. Place a water seal on the neck or a honey glove with a small hole in one of the fingers (pierce it with a needle). Seal the connection, then transfer the fermentation tank to a black room with a temperature of 18-25°C.

Water seal designs for wine, mash and beer

6. After 3-5 weeks, active fermentation will end (the glove will deflate, the water seal will not release bubbles, sediment will form on the day, and the wine will become lighter). It's time to drain the wine from the sediment through a straw into another clean container.

Taste it. If desired, add more sugar or fix with alcohol (vodka) - 2-15% of the size.

7. Fill storage containers up to the neck with wine (preferably to minimize contact with oxygen), then seal them tightly with a stopper and place them in a black, cold space (5-16°C) for 14-20 days to age.

8. Remove the finished birch sap wine from the sediment again and pour it into bottles for storage (optional). The shelf life if stored in the refrigerator or basement is up to a year, but it is better to drink right away. Strength – 10-12%.

Birch sap wine

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It may seem that birch sap is completely unsuitable for wine production. After all, its sugar content barely reaches 2 – 2.5%. But almost all distillers neglect this individuality and use it with pleasure in home winemaking. Birch sap wine has a pleasant, fresh aftertaste and a subtle aroma. And, in order to give it a suitable strength, additional size and not drown out the natural notes, lemons, raisins and sugar are added to it. Birch wine can be drunk neat or used as a base for blending.

A little about evaporation

Evaporating wine is a very long process. Depending on the original size of the wine material, this can take from 1 to 3 hours.

The only, but very significant, drawback of this procedure is the increase in air humidity in the room. After all, you need to boil the juice until its size reduces by 1/3. Therefore, before you start evaporation, take care of arranging good ventilation.

There is really no need to skip this step. This simple manipulation will significantly increase the concentration of solids in the juice and its density. This means that the taste of the finished wine will be much brighter and more expressive.

The evaporation process can be improved. It's very easy to create. All you need for this is an ordinary moonshine still. Just pour the juice into the cube and set it to distill. Once the required amount of distilled water has collected in the receiving container, the evaporation process can be considered successfully completed.

Traditional recipe

Those who have ever tasted natural birch sap know very well that it has very average taste properties. Low sugar content, low acidity and the complete absence of wild yeast in its composition do not allow making strong, fragrant birch wine from it. That is why sweet sand, citric acid and raisins/wine yeast are indispensable components when making wort.

Direct your attention . If you prefer not to use yeast, then a few days before making wine, start the starter by combining sweet sand, water and raisins in a proportional ratio of 1: 2: 1.

Birch sap – 7l;
Black raisins – 100 g;
Sweet sand – 1 kg;
Citric acid – 5 g;
Watery honey – 100 g;
Wine yeast.

Manufacturing

1. Pour birch sap into a saucepan with a wide bottom. Add sweet sand and let it evaporate. Remove any foam that accumulates on the surface with a slotted spoon.

2. Dilute wine yeast according to the instructions on the package.

3. Cool the juice to 25 C. To speed up this process, use a chiller.

4. Pour into a fermentation container. Add honey + raisins + diluted wine yeast + citric acid.

5. Install an aqua seal and leave for fermentation for 1 month (t – 20 – 23 C).

6. During this period of time, the wort will ferment one hundred percent, the raisins will swell and gather on the surface in the form of a dense cap. Carefully, trying not to disturb the yeast sediment, remove it with a slotted spoon.

7. Pour the young wine through a silicone hose into a clean container.

8. At this step, the drink has a bright yellow color, due to the addition of dark raisins, and retains insignificant turbidity. To let it completely lighten, seal the container hermetically and put it in a cold room (t – 15 C) for 3 weeks.

9. Remove the sediment again and bottle it.

10. If you like sweet wines, add a little fructose or sugar (1 teaspoon per liter), and to prevent re-fermentation from starting, pour in 50 ml of vodka or cognac.

Wine with added citrus

Birch wine is an impeccable base for making champagne. Foamy, sparkling, with a gentle, fresh taste and a long-lasting, citrus aftertaste, this drink will be a worthy competitor to factory champagne.

Birch sap – 18 l;
Sweet sand – 2.5 kg;
Light raisins – 250 g;
Lemons – 500 g (3 pcs.);
Wine yeast.

Manufacturing

1. Pour birch sap into a saucepan with a wide bottom. Add sweet sand and let it evaporate. Remove any foam that accumulates on the surface with a slotted spoon.

2. Remove the zest from the lemon. To do this, carefully scrape off the thin yellowish layer from the skin, trying not to touch the snow-white areas. Peel the lemons and cut into rings 7–10 mm wide.

3. Add chopped lemons and zest to the evaporating juice.

4. Dissolve wine yeast.

5. Cool the juice to 22 C. Remove the lemon pieces with a slotted spoon. Pour into a fermentation container, add the prepared yeast + raisins, mix thoroughly and install a water seal.

6. A month after the end of fermentation, use a slotted spoon to remove the raisins that float to the surface.

7. Remove coarse sediment by pouring through a rubber hose into a clean container.

8. Leave for another month to lighten. And then remove from the narrow sediment.

Now the young birch wine is ready and can be champagneized. To do this, you will need to prepare a batch liqueur according to the usual recipe.

Ingredients for edition liqueur (for 10 liters of wine - 14 bottles):

Sweet sand – 220 g;
Wine tannin – 0.5 g;
Chitosan – 15 g;
Yeast for sparkling wines – 4 g;
Dextrose – 50 ml;
Water – 400 ml.

Wash the bottles thoroughly, sterilize and disinfect with potassium pyrosulfite.

Making a yeast starter. Combine dextrose + water and simmer over low heat for 15 minutes. Cool to 21 C, add yeast and leave for 12 hours.

Production of mass-produced liqueur. Select 1 liter of birch wine and dissolve in it 220 g of sweet sand + wine tannin + chitosan (for lightening and the best rumage).

1. Pour batch liqueur + yeast mixture into birch wine and mix thoroughly.

2. Pour the future birch champagne into bottles, not filling 6 - 7 cm to the top. Seal with plastic caps and secure with muselet.

3. Place the bottles in the box, interspersing them with cardboard spacers. This will allow you to maintain the integrity of the others if one of the bottles breaks. Transfer to a cellar or basement for at least 3 months.

4. After this time, place the bottles in a special music stand or an ordinary beer box (necks down). Leave for another 6 months, from time to time turn them clockwise, thus driving the sediment into the cork (rumage).

5. All that remains is to carry out disgorgement (remove sediment from the cork). Place the bottles (horizontally or with their necks down) in the freezer for 1.5 - 2 hours. This will slightly reduce the pressure inside the containers. Later, remove the muzzle, carefully pull out the cork and quickly close the neck with your finger, preventing the drink from spilling out of the bottle. The loss of champagne in this case should be from 50 to 100 ml.

6. Add expedition liqueur to the bottles. Cork, set the muselet and leave to rest for a couple of months.

Making expedition liqueur . Combine 250 g sugar + 325 ml wine in a saucepan and heat. Add 1 crushed Campden pill. Cool, pour in 25 ml of cognac, and then filter through a cotton pad.

Direct your attention . When stocking up on containers, remember that only thick-walled bottles weighing 900–1000 g, with a concave bottom, are suitable for producing champagne at home. It is strictly not recommended to use ordinary bottles made of narrow glass. The pressure growing to 7 - 9 atmospheres simply bursts such containers from the inside.

It is best to take champagne bottles:

Artemovskoe (Ukraine);
Arbau – Durso (Novorossiysk);
Newest World (Crimea).

It is at these enterprises that champagne is made using French technology - the method of champagne in bottles. This means that all the containers they use are able to withstand the highest pressure.

Birch sap wine with cinnamon

Birch sap – 7l;
Black raisins – 100 g;
Sweet sand – 1 kg;
Citric acid – 5 g;
Cinnamon – 1 sticks;
Watery honey – 300 g.

Birch sap wine: 4 recipes at home

Birch sap has long gone beyond the culinary world. It is often used in cosmetology, because the presence of tannins in it perfectly brightens and disinfects the skin.

Also, this product has long been popular in folk medicine. Our forefathers also took it to increase immunity, renew and cleanse the body. And now experienced and amateur winemakers use birch sap to make homemade wine.

Find out how to create a tincture of birch buds.

1 Secrets of impeccable birch sap wine
2 Traditional recipe for wine from birch sap
3 Birch sap wine with citrus notes
4 The usual recipe for wine from birch sap with honey and cinnamon
5 Wine from birch sap with fruit emphasis

Secrets of impeccable birch sap wine

Only the freshest juice is suitable for wine, otherwise it may curdle during the heat treatment.

Sugar in homemade birch sap wine gives the drink flavor and strength, which is important for such a drink.

All containers must be sterilized with boiling water and then wiped dry with a clean towel. This helps get rid of possible infection by pathogenic microbes.

Traditional recipe for wine made from birch sap

Ingredients

Fresh birch sap – 25 l

Sweet sand – 5 kg

Watery honey – 200 g

Citric acid – 10 g

Wine yeast (can be replaced with raisin starter)

Preparation method

In an enamel container of a suitable size, mix birch sap, citric acid and sugar. Bring the mixture to a boil and then simmer the liquid over low heat until we have approximately 20 liters. wort. With all this, be sure to remove the snow-white foam from the surface.

Now cool the wort to 25 degrees. Don’t forget to stir from time to time so that a film does not form.

Then add watery honey and wine yeast to the container (according to the instructions on the package).

Having thoroughly mixed, pour the wort into the fermentation container, filling it to a maximum of 75%.

We install a water seal on the neck and transfer the container to a black, warm space for 3-5 weeks.

After fermentation is complete, drain the wine from the sediment and pour into a clean container.

At this step, the wine can be further sweetened or fortified with vodka/alcohol - 2-15% of the total wine size.

Now we are transferring the young wine to a black room with a temperature of 5–16 degrees for 3–5 weeks.

We drain the finished drink from the sediment again, and then bottle it.

You can start tasting right away. Birch sap wine should be stored in a cool place for no more than 1 year.

Birch sap wine with citrus notes

This recipe is much simpler than the previous one and in the end you will get a slightly carbonated snow-white wine with a pleasant lemon taste and smell.

Ingredients

Birch sap – 12 l

Sweet sand – 5 kg

Light raisins – 200 g

Zest of 10 lemons

Preparation method

Pour 5 liters into the pan. juice, add 2 kg of sugar and cook over low heat for about 1 hour.

After cooling, mix the wort with the remaining ingredients and transfer it to a warm space without direct sunlight for 5 days.

After 5 days, drain the wine from the sediment and strain through a gauze filter.

Then we bottle the drink and leave it for 30 days in a room with a temperature no higher than 15 degrees to stabilize the taste.

The usual recipe for wine from birch sap with honey and cinnamon

Ingredients

Birch sap – 6 l

Strong snow-white wine – 2 l

Cinnamon stick – 2 pcs.

Preparation method

Pour the birch sap into the pan and heat it well over low heat, but do not bring it to a boil.

Then we dissolve sweet sand in warm water, and after the temperature drops below 60 degrees, add honey.

After cooling, add fortified snow-white wine and cinnamon to the birch sap.

Infuse the drink for 10 days in a cool, black place.

After the designated time has passed, carefully drain the wine and then pass it through the filter.

We bottle the finished product and let it rest for about 1 month in a cold place before tasting.

Birch sap wine with fruit emphasis

For this recipe, you can take fruit and berry raw materials according to your taste preferences (apples, pears, citrus fruits or any berries).

The end result is a beautiful wine with a light fruity aroma. It will perfectly complement fruit desserts or fragrant berry pies.

Ingredients

Birch sap – 10 l

Black raisins – 200 g

Preparation method

Heat the birch sap with sugar over low heat until all the crystals are one hundred percent dissolved.

Pears need to be washed, cored and cut into small pieces.

In a fermentation container, mix the syrup, cooked pears and unwashed raisins.

Cover the neck with gauze and leave for three days in a warm place without access to light.

Then we install a water seal and leave the container for approximately one month in a black room at a temperature of at least 25 degrees.

After fermentation is complete, carefully drain the wine and then pour it into glass bottles.

Before enjoying a glass of homemade wine, you should let it rest in a cold place for about 2-3 months.

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