Coniferous Tree Sprouts In Beer

[AlexM40]

We have a bunch of conifers on our property and they're a;; sprouting wonderful new growth. I was wondering about using the tips for brewing an IPA. Has anyone tried it? If so how much? In the boil, or "dry hopped"?
I just did a fresh squeezed IPA clone that I think would do well with some Doug Fir.

 

[ocwo92]

We have a bunch of conifers on our property and they're a;; sprouting wonderful new growth. I was wondering about using the tips for brewing an IPA. Has anyone tried it? If so how much? In the boil, or "dry hopped"?

My next beer is in fact going to use fresh common spruce tips as they're going to appear any day now.

I had managed to find a description indicating that for a 5 gallon brew, I might have luck with three additions of about 7 ounces each: at 15 minutes boil remaining, at 5 minutes boil remaining, and lastly as the heat is turned off.

EDIT: if you're going to brew an IPA, I suspect you'll have to add some bittering hops nonetheless. For my own brew, I intend to use a modest amount of Chinooq as bittering hops (for its pine-like quality although for bittering its flavor probably isn't too important).