mysterio

Recipes 

I tried a trippel flavoured with spruce from a brewer in Alloa last week and it was amazing, so I fancy having a crack at my own, perhaps for drinking in the winter. Having never used spruce or brewed a trippel I would appreciate any advice on tweaking this recipe off the top of my head. I want the spruce flavour to be fairly mild, but at the same time I want to use fresh spruce tips (picked from a park or something) rather than essence, unless it's not recommended.

Here's what I'm thinking anyway:

Pale malt - 11.5 lb
Belgian aromatic - 8oz
Mashed at 150F for 90mins
--
Start of boil
Candi Sugar/Invert sugar - 1.5 lb
Styrian Goldings - 1.5 oz for 60mins
Spruce tips - 3 oz for 60mins
--
End of boil
Saaz - 1 oz for 2 mins
--
One of the White Labs abbey ale yeasts.

Promash gives me 1.081 which is fine. Any comments or tips appreciated!!

gremlin

Recipes 

this won't help your beermaking, but here's some advice that may or may not relate to you.

here in new england (in the north east u.s.), many people get arrested every year for stealing pine tree parts that they can use to make wreaths that they sell. just because it looks like natural woodlands, somebody owns it and they may be very protective of their pine trees. even more so for a public park with rules. it's a strange world.

i would be wary of getting spruce tips from a local park or anywhere else but my own yard. maybe you can be sneaky at night or find them for sale online instead? i am not a big fan of essence or other fake flavors, i much prefer the real thing.

otherwise, i too am curious about making a spruce beer. looking forward to any advice! i have 12 big pine trees in my backyard, so plenty of material for a spruce beer! it must be yummy for christmas.

but if i ever catch you stealing spruce tips off my trees, my friendly little dog will lick you until you leave... i have warned you, so beware!

barrett

mysterio

Recipes 

Heh, that never even occured to me! Thanks for the advice but I'm going to brave the spruces anyway. Then my beers will have the added zing of crime.

I think there's a lot to be said for ingredients that you know the provenance of. You never actually see (usually) where the barley and hops come from. Unless you grow your own hops of course, but the climate in Scotland doesn't allow that

the_bird

Recipes 

I've been a New Englander my whole life, and I've never heard of someone being arrested for stealing "pine tree parts". Stealing a whole tree at Christmastime, yes, but I wouldn't worry too much about 3 oz. of spruce tips.

gremlin

Recipes 

http://www.ume.maine.edu/~woodlot/theft.htm
Christmas Trees and Evergreen Boughs: It is unlawful for any person, firm, or corporation to cut or transport Christmas trees or evergreen boughs on land of another without securing written permission or a bill of sale from the owner or owner's designated agent. Violation is a theft. (Maine state laws).

http://www.news.cornell.edu/Chronicle/97/12.4.97/pink_ugly_mix.html
"Gerardo Sciarra, veteran gardener at Cornell Plantations, applies some of the Pink Ugly Mix he developed to discourage evergreen theft during the holiday season. " Don't drink the pink spruce beer!!!

http://www.maine.gov/doc/mfs/fpd/pages/Program%20bookmarks.htm
Christmas Tree and Wreath Tipping Laws. The harvesting of wreath brush or tips is commonly referred to as "Tipping". You even need to have the permission slip with you when you are transporting tips.

i swear it's true! why else would they have laws and pink paint for your evergreens?

and if anybody wants to find some 'wild' ginsing, you better be super careful. and be ready to be shot at. when i lived in ohio there were guys who had crops of it in the woods, that stuff sells for big big money. they are more protective than marijuana growers!

do what ya want, just make sure you can run fast. my brother almost got arrested once when he climbed a tree in a park. and he was only 10! as far as i can recall, it's a federal crime to remove ANYTHING from a national park, even a rock. have fun and be safe!

barrett