foonder

Recipes 

I recently discovered how delicious Rosemary is and had a brief idea as to a recipe called 'Pine Needle IPA' (since rosemary is related to pine) and have it be moderately hoppy, but with less aroma hops to accentuate the rosemary. I'm starting construction on a spice / herb garden primarily for brewing which will have a bunch of basil, lemongrass maybe, roasemary, etc etc. Long story short, I ended up taking some pine tree limbs and stripping the bark off & sharpening them to use as steaks to keep some logs in place, and I thought "Hey, Pine is Awesome smelling". Has anyone used Pine in beer before? I was thinking I could take some fresh pine off of a tree, strip it, and cut it into small pieces, then soak it in super hot / boiling water long enough to kill anything in it, then drop it into the 2ndary. Anybody have any experience / input with pine usage?

EDIT: I would probably supplement the piney flavors with traditionally piney hops, like Cascade, Challenger, & Chinook.

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Revvy

Recipes 

Well there is beer made with spruce tips....Isn't Spruce a form of pine?

Spruce was used long before hops evidently.

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blacklab

Recipes 

Have you considered using Juniper? Rogue makes a Juniper ale which is quite good. I'm working on making something similiar. You can buy Juniper berries in 2oz packs at the LHBS. My plan is to throw 1oz in with 10 mins left in the boil and 'dry hop' with the other oz.

the_bird

Recipes 

I want to say that there's something in pine that you really don't want to be consuming... I know I was reading something about soft woods in the context of smoked beers recently. I sure wouldn't want the sap in my beer. Using spruce tips I think will get you where you want to go.

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Revvy

Recipes 

Remember pinesol cleanser? I don't know if they still make it...but man that was some nasty stuff. I can't imagine enjoying a beer like that.

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Revvy's one of the cool reverends. He has a Harley and a t-shirt that says on the back "If you can read this, the bitch was Raptured. - Madman

I gotta tell ya, just between us girls, that Revvy is HOT. Very tall, gorgeous grey hair and a terrific smile. He's very good looking in person, with a charismatic personality... he drives like a ****ing maniac! - YooperBrew

zoebisch01

Recipes 

Funny, I am planning on a Hemlock Beer for the holidays. I have tons of Hemlock (not field nor water Hemlock, the tree) and so I figured what the heck. I made a tea from Spruce tips and Juniper Berries this weekend and it was rather pleasant. I am planning on 4 oz total in a 5 gallon batch and letting it age into Christmas. Remember to pull back your bittering addition of Hops, or eliminate them altogether as the tips will provide bitterness.

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brewt00l

Recipes 

http://www.alaskanbeer.com/winter.html

http://www.yardsbrewing.com/ales_poor_richards_tavern_spruce.asp

foonder

Recipes 

I've never tried (or actually smelled / tasted) juniper. My idea / question of using pine was kind of aimed at wood aging, but with a different wood (although I guess the end result is the same, beer that tastes like what you put in it)

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BigKahuna

Recipes 

+1 on Juniper berries.
one time...at Band Camp...I got drunk...and put a few pine needles in a ZIMA. It actually helped.
I do however think that the juniper berry would be a more "Civilized" version.

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brewt00l

Recipes 

The Rogue brew mentioned is pretty tasty. I highly recommend this:

http://www.sheltonbrothers.com/beers/beerProfile.asp?BeerID=197