Spruce Beer

I've got this recipe out of a book of stuff from the revolutionary war- "Spruce Beer" it's called, though I wouldn't go so far as to call it a beer. It was rationed out as an alternative to rum on the battlefield.

1. 1 gallon water
2. 12 ounces molasses
3. 1/2 ounce spruce extract (or 1/4 pound spruce needles)
4. Ale yeast

Has anyone ever tried this? What would be the best way of going about carbonating?

EDIT

It says this stuff is supposed to taste along the lines of English Stout... if you use your imagination.

I DID TRY THIS AND IT SUX BALLZ! Try adding a lb of sugar.

I didn't make it, but I have tasted spruce beer: think Pinesol. I'm told it got better after about six months.

That recipe sounds a bit harsh. If you're looking for a nice winter warmer recipe that includes that holiday/pine flavor, try a porter recipe with a bit (1/2 to 1 tsp) of spruce extract added to the secondary.

I was really wanting to try a spruce beer this spring and even went so far as collecting spruce tips while on a mountain biking trip in May but I never got around to it. As david_42 mentions, I was definitely planning on aging it until about...now.

I didn't make it, but I have tasted spruce beer: think Pinesol. I'm told it got better after about six months.

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David_42 have you had Siletz Spruce Beer? I really like it. It has a piney "Tang" to it that I enjoy.

Sipping an Alaskan Winter Ale with spruce tips. A nice beer, but the spruce is at the edge of detectability. Which is to say, there is a flavor there that I don't associate with any hop. I don't smell anything I would call spruce, the main notes are all malts.

david_42 said:

Sipping an Alaskan Winter Ale with spruce tips. A nice beer, but the spruce is at the edge of detectability. Which is to say, there is a flavor there that I don't associate with any hop. I don't smell anything I would call spruce, the main notes are all malts.

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I wonder if a big late-addition of spruce tips would help get a sprucey nose?

The last time I had a sprucey nose I got a slap and a Cosmopolitan thrown in my face.

I brewed an colonial spruce ale last year, I forget the recipe but it was an extract brew with 4 different kinds of hops, a ton of dark LME, and an American ale yeast. Mine was easily my least favorite beer that I've ever brewed. It lacked body, there was way too much alcohol, and the spruce flavor is overwhelming even after having aged a little over a year now. It fermented like a Jack Rabbit on a date though, kept blowing the lid off the pail.

Larry, the proprietor of my LHBS, gave me an indispensable peice of advice about spruce extract: Use 1/2 to 1/3 the amount recommended. After my experience 1/4 seems too much, but YMMV. Good luck!