products, equipment & ordering   |   birch syrup production workshops |  recipes & nutritional information | questions to ask when purchasing

Currently in Canada, the production of birch syrup is not regulated. This is unlike maple syrup (from the sap of the sugar maple tree) which is regulated by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (www.inspection.gc.ca) through the Maple Products Regulation (http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/showtdm/cr/C.R.C.-c.289). The responsibility of birch syrup producers wishing to sell their product, retail, at the farm gate, or through farmer markets is that their product(s) be safe for consumption. The methods by which this is achieved varies between producers resulting in substantially different products. The following questions are recommended to be asked of producers when purchasing birch syrup products. BE AN INFORMED BUYER!!

1) What sugar density (°Brix) is the syrup finished to?
Syrup density is directly related to how well product quality is maintained during storage and is measured in degrees Brix (° Brix). As there are no density standards for birch syrup in Canada, producers have the option of adopting the standards in Alaska or those used in the Canadian maple syrup industry. The legal density for pure maple syrup in Canada is 66 gr. dissolved solids per 100 ml. liquid, referred to as 66° Brix. Although sugar content is related to density, the Brix value is not the true percentage of sugar content as tree sap syrups also contain other dissolved solids. As 98% of dissolved solids in maple syrup are sugars, the Brix value is a good approximation of % sugar in maple syrup. As such, this can also be defined as for 100 kg. of maple syrup at 66° Brix contains 65 kg. of sugar. The density of 66° Brix for maple syrup is an Identity Standard which protects consumers when they are purchasing a particular product. This ensures the consumer that maple syrup in Canada has been processed to a certain standard and sugar density. Maple syrup with a density of less than 66° Brix may spoil more quickly whereas if the density is higher than 67° Brix, sugar crystals may form when the syrup is stored a room temperature.

Dissolved solids in birch syrup are approximately 90% sugar; as such, the Brix value must be multiplied by a 0.9 factor to compensate for the other dissolved solids and achieve the true sugar density. Hence, a birch syrup finished to 66° Brix contains 59.4% sugar. In Alaska, the Alaska Birch Syrupmakers Association has stipulated 60% sugar (66.7° Brix) as the minimum density for pure birch syrup but they state that the ideal concentration of birch syrup is 74° Brix (66.7% sugar).

It is important that this question be asked as sugar density determines how much sugar is in the syrup. A syrup processed to a lower density not only contains more water and less sugar, it may also not have a stable shelf life.

At Moose Meadows Farm, we process our birch syrup to a density of 66° Brix.

2) Do you add fructose or any other stabiliser (e.g. organic cane sugar) to your birch syrup? If so, at what degrees Brix do you add the stabiliser?
An acceptable way of finishing birch syrup is to add a stabliser. The most common stabiliser is fructose (as this is the predominant carbohydrate in birch syrup) but some producers are known to add organic cane sugar. Typically, the producer would process the sap on the evaporator to a minimum of 35% sugar (38.9° Brix) as this is the point when the syrup has developed a full colour and flavour and a sufficient amount of stabiliser would be added to finish the product to the desired sugar density reading (approximately 66° Brix). The resulting product has a milder, less intense flavour than pure birch syrup.

At Moose Meadows Farm, we produce both PURE Birch Syrup and Birch Syrup Blends. For our blends, we stabilise the concentrated sap (evaporated to 45° Brix) with either fructose or organic evaporated cane juice (sucrose). Both of these blends are milder than pure Birch syrup but still have the deep, bold flavour one expects to experience with birch sryup.

3) Is reverse osmosis included in your syrup making process?

Many of the larger maple and birch syrup makers include reverse osmosis (RO) in their syrup making. The benefit of including an RO is that time and fuel requirements are reduced and lighter coloured syrups can be produced. An RO forces the sap through membranes at high pressures to filter out the suspended solids allowing the pure water to pass through and out of the system. Sap can reduced rapidly this way, as an RO will remove approximately 70% of the water resulting in a concentrate of 5% sugar which is then processed on the evaporator. Since an RO processes the sap very quickly and are very expensive, their cost can only be justified for operations of 1000+ taps.

At Moose Meadows Farm, we do not use an RO in our syrup making. Our syrup is produced using traditional methods on a wood fired evaporator.

4) What fuel source (wood, diesel, propane) do you use for your evaporator?
Common used fuel sources for processing birch syrup are wood, natural gas, diesel, oil or electricity. Wood heat is the most traditional and sustainable in that it does not result in the use of fossil fuels. Additionally, with wood heat, the syrup may be flavoured very slightly from the smoke.

At Moose Meadows Farm, our evaporator is wood fired. We typically use pine, fir, birch and alder in our syrup making.

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