birch sap

[tonyhibbett]

Sort of creeps up on you. Suddenly very tired and very vivid dreams.

 

[Tim_Crowhurst]

It sounds a little like the effects of 5-hydroxytryptophan (5HTP). It's a precursor of tryptophan, which is itself a precursor of serotonin. 5HTP can cross the blood-brain barrier (which tryptophan can't do) so it increases availability of tryptophan for serotonin production within the brain. 5HTP is sometimes used for sleep regulation, since serotonin is involved in regulating the sleep cycle, and one of the most common side-effects is vivid, and frequently surreal, dreams.

 

[tonyhibbett]

Well if it's a sleep regulator, I wouldn't recommend the regime, any more than I would recommend Champix as a way of getting of smoking. I wouldn't describe the dreams as surreal as such. They are hyper realistic but the situations they present have an everyday plausible quality to them, it seems at the time, at least. The net effect is that there is no sense of rest after sleep. My brain is constantly active and I am progressively losing weight and appetite.

 

[tonyhibbett]

I picked up another Sodastream at the boot fair. No gas or screwtop for the bottle. So now I have 3 x 1 litre bottles, so I can carbonate more efficiently by filling the bottles directly from the polypin, (dj bung fits the 1 without cap) and chilling them in the fridge. 3 litres will fill 4 champagne bottles in 1 session. Better still, serve direct from Sodastream bottle, saving time and quite a lot of gas. Instant sparkling birch sap wine, or any other wine for that matter.

 

[tonyhibbett]

First attempt was a bit limp. I assumed a couple of hours in the fridge would be enough, but the temperature of the wine was 13 c. Cool, but hardly chilled. Ideally, the wine must be below 5 for optimum co2 retention. Fridge is designed to this, but 3 litres at room temperature is a lot of liquid to chill. Turn up the stat to max and leave overnight. Freezer is not an option. In a way, Sodastream accept this problem and sell ice poles which fit inside the bottles. You put them in the freezer, not the bottles.

 

[Lampie]

put my wine on this monday, the original OG of the sap was 1.020 added 300 gram sugar at first and got me 1.050 so added an other 300 grams that got me 1.070 that was good enough for me :).

forgot that the sugar also added mass so the bottle is a little full so put on my homemade overflow airlock.

2 days later put on my normal airlock did not get much foam on top.

Tonight I will start an champagne style birch sap got some more of the cartons :)

 

[tonyhibbett]

This looks like pure sap. Did you add any other ingredients?

 

[Lampie]

I only added chablis wine yeast and handful of raisins and sugar..

 

[tonyhibbett]

Meanwhile I have Sodastream carbonation sorted. My larder fridge (no ice box) is now so cold, water is starting to freeze. A few short bursts of co2 is all it takes to give the wine a champagne-like quality, providing you return it to the fridge, and leave it overnight. Moet it is not, but quite like Veuve Cliquot and considerably cheaper!

 

[tonyhibbett]

20 x 1 second bursts of the sodastream gives good results to well chilled wine. Optimises carbonation with a minimal waste of gas. You an get refills from Argos @ £10. There's not much left of the sap wine, which is probably just as well, as my short term memory capacity has tailed of significantly recently. I know this to be true because I am now frequently told that I had agreed an arrangement of which I had no recollection.

 

[tonyhibbett]

Final word on Sodastream. 18 x 1 second bursts of co2 supplies good carbonation with virtually no gas wasted. This significantly reduces the cost.