Experimental Beer Winter is Coming [Beer Stark] - Spruce Tip Ale

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anderov

Member
Joined
Apr 1, 2011
Messages
6
Reaction score
0
Location
Silver Spring
Recipe Type
Partial Mash
Yeast
WLP001 - California Ale
Yeast Starter
100g DME/1L
Additional Yeast or Yeast Starter
none
Batch Size (Gallons)
5
Original Gravity
1.086
Final Gravity
1.021
Boiling Time (Minutes)
60
IBU
~12
Color
~10-11 SRM
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)
18 days, ~65F
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)
42 days, ~65F
Tasting Notes
Spruce and citrus/fruit
7 lb English Pale malt
8.5 oz Crystal 60
6 oz Wheat malt
[Mashed at 155F, sparged with 170F. Brewer's Friend puts my efficiency at ~86%, so you may need to adjust accordingly]

4 lb Light DME [Briess]

.35 oz Amarillo [10.5%] - 60 min - 12 IBU*
.25 oz (~1/3c) Sweet gale/bog myrtle - 25 min**
1.5 lb Spruce tips - 10 min

In Secondary:
~1/4c Sweet gale/bog myrtle**
12 oz Spruce tips

Part of my [finally complete] Game of Thrones brewing project [theme beers for each of the Great Houses]. This was one of my favourites, but is definitely an odd beer, and it's been rather polarising among my friends. It tastes of spruce [but not resiny at all] and sweet citrus, with some warmth from the alcohol [~8.8% ABV]. I'll be brewing another batch when the spruce tips come out this spring.

* Probably doesn't matter what hops, as long as they get you 12 IBU. Amarillo's just what I had in my fridge.
** My scale seemed very unreliable about weighing the leaves and twigs of the sweet gale, so I wound up using volume measurments. Got my sweet gale from Wild Weeds.

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[Apologies for the image quality - haven't quite mastered photographing beer]
 
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