Everyone knows that birch sap is not only tasty, but also very healthy. In spring, many gourmets and lovers of this wonderful natural drink start collecting it. Fresh juice is the most fortified, and, accordingly, healthy, but the conservation of juice allows you to use this drink throughout the year.
Fresh juice and slightly fermented juice can be used to prepare a variety of homemade alcoholic products. Many people are interested in the question: how to make moonshine from birch sap? This is due to the fact that the alcoholic beverages market is currently far from perfect, and alcohol prepared by oneself is not only cheap, but also safe.
Birch sap is undoubtedly a very healthy drink. It contains vitamins B12 and B6, and the sugar content is reduced to only 2%, which is important for people with diabetes. It is also worth noting that the juice contains more than a dozen organic acids.
Due to the enormous benefits and availability of this natural drink, a huge number of recipes have been invented based on it. The most popular recipes for moonshine from birch sap. This is due to the fact that it has a special mild taste, but the most important thing is that a person receives a quality guarantee, because this product is prepared with his own hands. Flavoring shades can be modified by adding various additives. How to make moonshine from birch sap correctly? This requires strict adherence to technology and desire.
The drink, which is based on fermented birch nectar, is very ancient. Moonshine made from fermented birch sap is called birch, birch or birch.
The recipe for fermented birch sap moonshine is quite simple. You only need fresh birch nectar - 30 l, and kefir or milk - 25 g. How to make moonshine from birch sap that has been fermented to make it tasty. Just like moonshine, which is made without yeast. The finished product will be transparent, clean and free of any impurities.
In the event that there is no moonshine still, you can make birch vodka. To do this, add 2 kg of sugar to 10 liters of birch sap and cook it all over low heat until the volume of the liquid is 2 times less. Then cool and pass the liquid through cheesecloth, which must be folded several times. Next, 1 liter of vodka is poured and 100 g of softened yeast are added. All this must be thoroughly mixed until completely dissolved. It remains to cut the lemon into small slices and add to the alcohol. The resulting liquid is placed in a warm place for half a day, then put into a refrigerator or cellar. Birch sap vodka is ready.
Champagne bottles work well for storing this alcohol. The plug must be secured well with wire. This alcohol will be strong, smelling of zest and birch.
An exquisite natural wine product can be prepared from birch nectar. It will turn out to be light and pleasant to the taste. The recipe is very simple, it can be used even by those who have never encountered winemaking.
Alcoholic drinks made from birch nectar can differ in strength, taste, softness. Consumer reviews of birch sap moonshine are leading in a larger number of better indicators than other alcoholic beverages made from birch nectar.
Home brew made from birch sap has a standard preparation process. The only difference is that ordinary water is traditionally used, and in this case undiluted birch sap is taken. First, mash is prepared. Ingredients:
The fermentation process will take place through the decomposition of sugar. This is because yeast interacts with ethyl alcohol, carbon dioxide, and juice. This process must take place in a certain temperature regime.
Strain the birch sap with cheesecloth folded several times. After which the juice is heated, but it cannot be boiled. It is important that the liquid has oxygen. It can be heated up to a maximum of 30 ° C. While the juice is warming up, sugar is added to it. If the juice is nevertheless warmed up to a higher temperature, then it can then simply be cooled to the desired one. The mash dishes should be large to avoid splashing the liquid.
Then yeast is taken, knead them to a state of crumb with a fork. They are also added to the container where the mash is being prepared. After that, kefir or sour milk is added, they reduce the foaming process in the product.
The container with the blanks for the wash must be placed in a warm place and placed under a water seal. After that, the process of bubbling of the mash will take place. It will end in about 10-14 days. An ordinary rubber medical glove, or rather its fall, can serve as an indicator of the end of this process.
Next, it is worth visually assessing the mash. It should brighten and become almost transparent. The yeast should have settled to the bottom by this time. It will taste bitter and sour, without the aftertaste of sweetness. The presence of these signs indicates that the brew is ready. Now it remains to overtake it into moonshine.
An interesting recipe for moonshine made from birch sap without yeast and sugar. In this case, it is important that the fermentation of raw materials occurs only due to natural glucose, which contains birch sap. If everything is done correctly, then such one made from birch sap will be much tastier than with yeast. The cooking process itself is more complicated, but the result is worth it.
How to make moonshine from birch sap after the mash is ready? It remains to distill the mash into moonshine. The finished product, which is guaranteed of the highest quality, can be tried without fear of negative consequences.
The classic process of home brewing includes the following steps:
Distillation should be done slowly. In order to make moonshine, the mash must be poured into the distillation cube of the moonshine still. Then heat under a tight lid. As for the heating rate, it is different. Initially, the heating process is fast. Then, when the mash is heated above 70 ° C, the rate of temperature increase must be reduced.
In April, nature is just waking up, no gifts have really grown yet, but the birch sap is already pouring in. This is a unique opportunity to supply home brew from natural raw materials containing sugar. Whether the resulting distillate has medicinal properties is a secondary issue, but its quality and excellent taste speak for themselves.
Below we will look at two approaches to making moonshine: using sugar and yeast (you can replace them with raisins), and a completely yeast-free method. The second method, even if it is considered extremely low in efficiency, but the quality of the final product will not raise questions even among professional moonshiners. The first one is designed for classic double distillation with separation of fractions.
Birch sap contains about 1.5% sugar, which can be converted into alcohol through fermentation
The first method is considered simple and quite effective. Sometimes it is called "Princely". To make the mash, we need ingredients in the following proportions:
As an alternative to yeast, you can use 100 grams of unwashed raisins... Wild yeast from the surface of dry grapes will start the fermentation process, however, it will take a little longer.
Usually, water is still added to the fermentation tank, but since birch sap is 99% of it anyway, there is no point in this. We pass immediately to the technology of making moonshine:
Good mash consistency
Be sure to dilute the moonshine with water, not birch sap, otherwise it will react with alcohol, a precipitate and a film in the form of jelly will appear. Drinking such a drink will already be unpleasant.
An excellent video was prepared by the author of the Youtube channel New world... The guy shows the technology of collecting birch sap, as well as all the stages of his own production. From 20 liters of mash, 3 liters of excellent distillate turned out, which was decided in the end. You can see all this in more detail in the video below.
If you decide to make a truly elite moonshine, then you will not need anything but birch sap. The only ingredient will be myself juice (30 liters), which, as a result of natural fermentation, will release the necessary alcohol.
The technology is much more complex here, despite the lack of other components, so study it very carefully.
Birch sap fermentation activation
It is very important not to miss the moment of the beginning of fermentation, since its long absence will lead to souring of the product. It will be a shame to lose so much liquid that has been evaporated so intensively for such a long time.
The authors of the channel tell in detail about the subtleties of using birch drink in distilling. Antonich and Alexey Podolyak... Awesome information that will be useful for both moonshiners and ordinary people for self-development. We highly recommend watching.
In the period from the beginning of the first thaws of spring until mid-April, birch sap is extracted. The drink, which has a sweetish-sour taste, is aromatic and unique. True, at home it has to be preserved or frozen in order to preserve its beneficial properties. After all, the shelf life of birch sap is short - no more than 2 days.
It was customary in Russia to make kvass, wine, lemonade and moonshine from the sap of a birch tree. They also drank the drink in its pure form, it is still popular today. In addition, such a woody liquid is used in cosmetology and folk medicine. The juice of birches is effective in treating high blood pressure, overweight, increased fatigue and low immunity, poor skin condition.
But for beginners it is better to pay attention to more the traditional method of making moonshine from birch sapwhich uses yeast and sugar. The fact is that the wild yeast contained in the birch liquid can die without ensuring the fermentation of the juice. Therefore, it is best to keep baker's or spirit yeast ready so that the sugar is most likely processed into alcohol.
The resulting strong is diluted only with clean water (for example, spring water). When birch sap is added in order to reduce the strength of the distillate, you can get a cloudy moonshine, on the surface of which a slimy film will float. It is advisable to distill the resulting moonshine twice to get a clean drink without an unpleasant fusel smell.
Store moonshine from birch sap in glass containers (cylinders, cans or bottles). Another suitable container is stainless steel containers. But it is better to refuse plastic bottles. It is important that the container is sealed, otherwise the alcohol will evaporate. The strength of the drink will be reduced. Store the drink in a dark place where the temperature does not rise above 15 degrees, for example, in a basement or cellar. The shelf life of homemade birch moonshine is at least 3 years.
Spring for a moonshiner is a special season, because it is during this period that the collection of birch sap for mash begins. The correct approach to business will allow you to prepare a solid supply of woody liquid and prepare an unusual moonshine that will pleasantly surprise guests.
Recipes for homemade moonshine made from birch sap contain no more than 5 technologies, but only 2 of them turned out to be the most successful - with and without added sugar. Moreover, the quality of the moonshine in both cases is excellent. The drink according to the classic recipe has a unique taste with a delicate birch aroma, and the rich amount of trace elements contributes to excellent fermentation.
Juice harvesting begins in early March or mid-April, depending on the region. For example, in northern latitudes, the harvest begins only in early May. Therefore, we focus primarily on the weather. It is advisable to collect birch trees during the day, since in the daytime the tree gives off all the juices much more intensively. Try to choose birches with a trunk diameter of at least 40 cm. The larger the tree, the less harm our event will bring to it.
The daily juice rate for a medium-sized birch is 2-3 liters. Strong and large trees can give up to 7 liters of drink. Choose locations as far away from the city highway as possible to reduce the amount of toxins in the finished product. The collection instructions fit into several steps:
Sugar mash made with birch sap is especially useful if you collect the sap from the top of the tree. The liquid, making its way along the trunk from the very roots to the top, contains more glucose and trace elements. A liter of birch sap collected by technology will accumulate 2% of sugars, organic acids and vitamins.
The first traditional recipe will give a drink that is high in calories, but at the same time moderately sweet and pleasant to the taste. Braga made from birch sap and sugar at home is easy to prepare: despite its originality, it does not require much experience in home brewing. We will tell you in detail how to make moonshine from the healing juice of birch trees.
Birch sap moonshine for home preparation will require a few simple ingredients. The main one is freshly harvested juice. The factory version of the drink is completely excluded. We will need:
The technology with the use of sugar and yeast provokes an especially fast fermentation, so the result is excellent for most moonshiners. By the way, it is not recommended to change the amount of sugar in order to preserve the strength of the drink.
In time, it will take almost a whole day, so be sure to stock up on your strength and follow the instructions. Let's get started:
Birch moonshine is perfectly preserved both in the cellar and in a regular refrigerator. The main rule is to use well-washed glass containers, since storage in plastic provokes chemical reactions of alcohol with the bottle material.
Moonshine on birch sap without the use of a yeast base will require a safety net. Be sure to keep a bag of dry yeast in stock in case the fermentation is poor. Braga, cooked in birch juice according to a recipe without sugar, gets the bulk of the sweetness from glucose. However, if you wish, you can expand the list of ingredients and add a little sugar to taste.
We need the same amount of yeast and sugar in case of an "emergency" situation as in the previous recipe. And now you need:
Fits in just four steps:
Charcoal cleaning can be done as needed to remove the cloudy color. Such alcohol is stored for at least 3 years.
Before making moonshine, you need to collect the raw materials. Birch is obtained from wood at a level as high as possible from the ground. It is this product that is most endowed with sweetness, and its structure is purer.
The secret lies in glucose, the tree is saturated with this component in summer and stores it in itself, starting in autumn. The longer the path of the juice from the roots, the more it absorbs glucose, gaining sweetness.
The high concentration of glucose eliminates the need to use yeast in the mash - the finished drink only benefits from this
The composition contains many trace elements that contribute to the activation of yeast. That is why mash made from birch sap in most cases may not need yeast "feeding", it ferments independently.
In fact, there are only 2 main recipes for birch moonshine that can be used at home - with and without yeast, sugar. The rest is, in fact, just altering the drink for an individual taste. Consider the basic recipes for making moonshine from birch sap.
To prepare an alcoholic drink, you will need a fairly standard set of products. The whole difficulty lies in the fermentation process. It is important here to monitor the reaction of the yeast so that it can be activated.
Ingredients:
Stages of making moonshine from birch sap at home:
In rare cases, due to poor quality or other reasons, live yeast may not activate. If after 2 days the wort has not started to emit gas, and there is no foam "cap" on its surface, you need to urgently add 50 g. granular yeast. Thus, you will avoid the likelihood of birch souring.
After about 10 days, the mixture will acquire a lighter shade, it will stop emitting gases, and the taste will be bitter. At this point, the mash must be drained from the sediment and put for distillation.
The result will be 2.5-3.5 liters of soft birch sap moonshine with a strength of 42-45 °. To improve the quality of the alcohol, you can filter it with charcoal or re-distillation.
VIDEO: Recipe for princely moonshine
Sugar, wet or dry yeast is not used in this case. The fermentation process takes place through the breakdown of natural glucose from birch trees. It is very important to use the sweetest raw materials here, otherwise fermentation may not occur. The work is quite labor intensive, but the result is worth it. The output will be a drink that can be safely called delicious.
1 liter of juice accounts for 0.5-2.3% glucose, and 1-1.2 liters of 40-degree alcohol is produced from 1 kg of granulated sugar. When the values \u200b\u200bare rounded, it turns out that at least 10 liters of birch wood will be needed to make 1 liter of moonshine.
Ingredients:
Manufacturing process:
From this volume of mash comes 3-3.5 liters of moonshine with a strength of 40-45 °.
Secondary distillation of moonshine allows you to improve the quality of the finished product and eliminate third-party impurities from it. The process will take more than two hours, but as a result, a crystal clear distillate will be released, devoid of unpleasant aromas, the main thing is to follow the recommendations of specialists.
Before the secondary distillation, the strength is measured in the moonshine. For example, in 3 liters of 55 percent alcohol there is 1.65 liters of alcohol, which is calculated by the following formula:
It is necessary to dilute with water up to 20% of the total volume. Also, if desired, moonshiners carry out cleaning with charcoal or other methods.
The diluted moonshine is distilled. The first 12-16% of the output product is separated, they are called “heads” and are considered unsuitable for internal use.
Next, the basic alcohol is selected. But when the fortress falls below 40%, the outlet pipe is rearranged to another container for the selection of "tails". This part gives the product a cloudy and unpleasant taste, so it does not mix with the base.
The resulting alcoholic drink is diluted with water, distributed in bottles and tightly closed. The birch sap product is left for 2-3 days for infusion, balancing the taste.
It is important to know! Regardless of the recipe used, if it is necessary to reduce the strength, it is not recommended to dilute the finished moonshine with birch wood. The fact is that it will make the alcohol cloudy, and a jelly-like "cap" may form on its surface.
After the initial distillation of moonshine, the stage of its purification begins. In this case, many options are used, depending on the preferences of the distiller:
Moonshine made from birch sap has special taste qualities, therefore it does not require additional aromatization by infusion with herbs, spices or fruits.
With this article they read: - not everything is the same in taste and color
Although if you make a tincture on birch earrings from this product, it cannot be compared with any alcoholic drink. The product will receive an unusual color and an even more intense taste of freshness.
Such moonshine is often used in folk medicine, since birch catkins and sap have many beneficial properties for the human body.
VIDEO: How birch sap is officially harvested