Beer Forum

so I'm reading Richard Cornwell's "the fort" and there is frequent mention of spruce beer.

I looked it up thinking it might be interesting.
It's indeed got spruce in it and the rest is just hops, a little ginger, water, and molasses.
3 quarts of molasses.
Doesn't sound so interesting any more.

This is the recipe:
5 gallons of water
1/8 pound of hops
1/2 cup of dried, bruised ginger root
1 pound of the outer twigs of spruce fir
3 quarts of molasses
1/2 yeast cake dissolved in 1/2 cup of warm water or 1/2 cup
of liquid homemade yeast

In a large kettle combine the water, hops, ginger root and
spruce fir twigs. Boil together until all the hops sink to the
bottom of the kettle. Strain into a large crock and stir in the
molasses. After this has cooled add the yeast. Cover and leave
to set for 48 hours. Then bottle, cap and leave in a warm place
(70-75 degrees F) for 5 days. It will now be ready to drink.
Store upright in a cool place.
*************************************

But it puts me to mind of the possibility of adding a little spruce to an otherwise mild brew.
Might be interesting.

Alaskan Brewing has a winter ale out that says it's brewed with spruce. I don't think they used a lot but it does come out in the finished beer. Has a really sweet sprucy aroma, Have you tried it?

Have never had any commercially brewed spruce tip beers but my LHBC guys have delved into this adventure in the past. After tasting several years versions of them I would recommend to go lightly on the spruce tips as they can really impart an almost "tarry" flavor and mouthfeel to the beer which can make it cloyingly undrinkable. I'll have to check with them to see how much they added and get back to you.

make sure you only use the fresh tips that develop in the spring, those taste more like citrus. i made one this last spring with a cup of spruce and no hops, everybody loved it.

I can imagine that too much would be easy to do. Spruce is a very strong flavor and the tips will have loads of it.
I should think that the slightest hint of spruce would be more than sufficient to impart an interesting flavor and aroma "note," but beyond that, I should think, you start down the path of another beverage altogether.

I've never been a fan of adjuncts. I can't stand three philosophers beer. The crap they put in there just doesn't work for me. Blue Moon and most of what the DogFish people do likewise I find substantially less than appealing. If I want citrus, I'll use hops and manipulate the yeast and use yeasts that produce the desired citrus notes like Wyeast 3711 French Saison or White WLP380 Hefeweizen IV.

If you get Yards Brewing, I think the Ben Franklin Tavern Ale is brewed with spruce tips.

Spruce has a really nice flavor when it's well done. If you get fresh tips, it's got a resinous, citrusy character similar to Northwest hops, but unique, and somewhat minty.

If you get bad spruce tips it's woody and tarry.

Moral of the story, go fresh or go home.

I've never brewed spruce beer, but I've had some good oens. I have been told by several brewers, you only want the fresh new growth spruce tips. If I remember correctly, the amounts they used were similar to hops. I don't remember if they boiled them long or short. Spruce tips will add bitterness.



I don't know if that's a real spruce, but it makes the point. You see how some of the tips are a different color? That's the new growth, that's what you want. You don't want the darker stuff. It's more aged and woody tasting.

My advice: boil a little bit of the spruce tips in a bot of water before hand and see how much bitterness and flavor you get out of a late addition.

I made a Spruce Beer about two years ago... a pint glass full of fresh tips in a 5g batch in the last 5 minutes of the boil (brown ale base).

Was VERY strong in Spruce flavor when the beer was young, but it mellowed out within 6 months.

A good commercial one I had was Spruce Goose:
http://www.steamworksbrewing.com/main/do/Spruce_Goose