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Spruce Beer

Djehuty

Djehuty

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Does anyone here have any experience brewing spruce beer?  The folks have some spruce trees in the back yard, and I've been thinking I might clip some of the fresh growth this year and try brewing with it.  The question is, what should I brew?  I've read some old Revolutionary War-era recipes for making beer out of molasses and spruce tips, but I don't think I want to go quite that far.  The Complete Joy of Homebrewing has a rather nondescript spruce beer recipe -- not really a style so much as a basic uninteresting beer with spruce added.

I was thinking of brewing a California common at some point, and had the odd idea to use spruce instead of hops.  Would that be an incredibly bad idea? :)

What sort of recipe would work well with spruce replacing the hops?  And how would one translate between the two?  Any suggestions?
 
I tried the spruce idea before and had nice results just doing a simple pale ale. My theory was that a lighter beer would let the spruce come through better. I believe I used a recipie similar to a sierra nevada clone.
 
I still used the same amount of hops, Just added a cup of spruce tips after the boil and let it stir for 20 mins, I guess you could do something in a secondary like dry hopping, But I've never tried it, I'm sure someone on here has. I'm curious myself about that and how it works out in the end.
 
Fresh spruce tips may have high levels of undesirable resins and tannins.  I would limit the spruce to the last 20 min of the boil (or less).  The aromatic quality of the spruce (the part the I enjoy more) should still be present with this process.  Dry hopping might not be a bad idea either, but it would cut back on the amount of flavor you would get from the spruce.

As for yeast, I would go with something that fermented neutral like WLP-001 or equivalent.  Something maltier or sweeter (like WLP-002, WLP-041) might not be bad either, but I would stay away from Belgian and German strains (just personal preference, but who knows) as they might overpower the spruce.

In the past, I have used spruce extract in secondary which provided a wonderful, sweet, piney aroma to my ale.  Just be careful, I little may go a long way!

Cheers,
Brad
 
Thanks -- I'll try that, spruce tips in place of flavor and aroma hops, everything else as usual.

Now if the dratted things would just hurry up and grow.... :)
 
Watch the amount of spruce added.  I had a friend who overdid it once, and the beer tasted like pine tar!

Brad
 
Are there any good guidelines for the amount of spruce needed to replace, say, an ounce of hops?  Or should I just wing it, but carefully? :)
 
BeerSmith said:
Watch the amount of spruce added.  I had a friend who overdid it once, and the beer tasted like pine tar!

Brad
Click to expand...

+1

I don't know of a good guideline except for good ol' trial and error.  If they are fresh spruce tips they will be more potent and will have more resins that could "tar" up you beer quick.  Err on the side of caution and use less then you think you need.

Cheers
Brad
 
Err on the side of caution. It's better to be disappointed a little with lack of flavor than to be disgusted a lot with the taste. Also write down the exact amount of spruce for next year. If your a little short on taste this year, next year you may nail it! I always go with too much and regret it. Good Luck!
 
Hmm... I thought that picking the tips when they're new, before they harden, would ensure that they had fewer harsh resins rather than more.

In any case, I'll take your advice and be careful. :)  Thanks!
 
I have not brewed this yet as I too am waiting for May to trim new growth off spruce trees, but here is what I am going to try:

12 lbs Pale Ale Malt 2-Row (Briess) (3.5 SRM) Grain 100.00 %
0.25 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 10.0 min) Misc 
1.00 tsp Yeast Nutrient (Boil 30.0 min) Misc 
3.00 oz Spruce Tips (Secondary 2.0 weeks) Misc 
5.00 oz Spruce Tips (Boil 5.0 min) Misc 
5.00 oz Spruce Tips (Boil 60.0 min) Misc 
1 Pkgs Safale (DCL Yeast #US-05) Yeast-Ale 

Estimated Original Gravity: 1.066 SG
Estimated Final Gravity: 1.017 SG

Note that there are no hops.  I'm assuming there are bittering characteristics in the spruce tips.  Very simple experiment.  Once I try it, I can modify it from there like adding hops or specialty grains, etc.
 
Beer_Tigger said:
I have not brewed this yet as I too am waiting for May to trim new growth off spruce trees, but here is what I am going to try:

12 lbs Pale Ale Malt 2-Row (Briess) (3.5 SRM) Grain 100.00 %
0.25 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 10.0 min) Misc 
1.00 tsp Yeast Nutrient (Boil 30.0 min) Misc 
3.00 oz Spruce Tips (Secondary 2.0 weeks) Misc 
5.00 oz Spruce Tips (Boil 5.0 min) Misc 
5.00 oz Spruce Tips (Boil 60.0 min) Misc 
1 Pkgs Safale (DCL Yeast #US-05) Yeast-Ale 

Estimated Original Gravity: 1.066 SG
Estimated Final Gravity: 1.017 SG

Note that there are no hops.  I'm assuming there are bittering characteristics in the spruce tips.  Very simple experiment.  Once I try it, I can modify it from there like adding hops or specialty grains, etc.
Click to expand...

I know this was posted 3.5 years ago... but I was curious how your Spruce Beer turned out? I absolutely love Alaskan Winter and was thinking of trying to make some when I came across your post. Did you make any changes to this basic recipe?
 
It turned out great.  It is very citrus-y, kind of tart.  I wouldn't change the recipe, I liked it as it was.  I still have the extra tips in the freezer.  Hope they are good enough to make another bacth.
 
3 year old frozen spruce tips?  I'm not sure that using them now is a wise choice.  Just sayin'.
 
What could go wrong?  The cell walls may be broken down more, the water may have leached out as frost, but all the flavor compunds are still there.
 
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