My first attempt at spruce beer.

[Dynachrome]

I had subscribed to a couple other threads.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/threads/17th-century-french-beer.166923/#post-3774117
I froze a couple pounds of spruce tips from a (black spruce) tree we cut down in our back yard in the spring a couple years ago.

The grain bill was 22lbs of maris otter with a couple pounds of mixed cara-pils. I split the wort in three for two other batches. 6 oz of Weyerman's chocolate dark barley.

At first i tried about 4 oz of tips in the boil. I boiled for an hour after adding the initial spruce addition.

I didn't get much odor from that. I took the rest of about 1 lb container in a pyrex bowl and 1/2 oz of mosaic hops and microwaved it in water to make a tea. I got busy and forgot to take a picture. I added this at transfer into fermentor.

I put this in a glass top heavy stainless pot so I could watch the progress.

O.G. was 1.060

 

[Joggin]

I've made 3 batches of spruce ale over the years in the spring with fresh new tip growth from a Norway spruce.
First one was overpowering to me using 4 oz at 15 end of boil. Very limey taste.
Last one I made recently, I used only 2 tips at 15 and the taste is there but more in balance with the hops.

 

[Dynachrome]

Okay, this smells very beer like. I'm going to use about 1.3 oz of bottling priming sugar for what will be probably just over 2 gallons.

I'm wearing my safety slippers just in case.

 

[Dynachrome]

...over lunch...

 

[Dynachrome]

We added two tablespoons of cane sugar to 2 gallons. I forgot to take the final gravity reading. It says 1.010 right now with the sugar added.

From what I gather from this thread below, each tablespoon raises one gallon by 0.005?

Taking that farther, my beer was probably really dry, like less than 1.008?

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/threads/1-cup-of-sugar-sg-per-gal.467598/

 

[Dynachrome]

...and, thank you to whichever admin moved this thread to wear it belongs.

 

[Dynachrome]

Black Spruce Savage ale.

 

[Dynachrome]

The one with the red top is the last bottle out of the bottling bucket. I keep that off to the side.

 

[Dynachrome]

https://zythophile.co.uk/2016/04/20...-beer-part-two-the-north-american-connection/

 

[Dynachrome]

 

[Dynachrome]

...lovely.

 

[Agent]

Going to make it again?

This spring, I did a Saison with 12 oz of White Spruce tips at flameout. It's very pine forward, but I enjoy it a lot. I've also done a few spruce IPAs with pleasing success. I haven't tried an "old world" style amber with tips yet though.

 

[Dynachrome]

I would do this again in a heartbeat. It took longer to bottle condition, but when it smoothed out, it was really enjoyable.

Going to make it again?

 

[Dynachrome]

@Agent - we have another batch going. Middle carboy without the cucumber lime salad.

 

[Dynachrome]

 

[hungupdown]

I would do this again in a heartbeat. It took longer to bottle condition, but when it smoothed out, it was really enjoyable.

 

[hungupdown]

There's a guy in Norway, who uses spruce or pine branch tips, to make a filter bed for mashing.
I often do his Rongoteus (the Norwegian god of rye) recipe, for a Rye beer.

 

[Snuffy]

There's a guy in Norway, who uses spruce or pine branch tips, to make a filter bed for mashing.
I often do his Rongoteus (the Norwegian god of rye) recipe, for a Rye beer.

I've seen that method used with a couple of juniper limbs. Just placed in the bottom of the mash. I have loads of parsoni juniper around as a shrub but they were using tree juniper.

 

[AmarikinBrew]

Wasn't the original Old Style beer a spruce infused lager? I wonder if it is currently, mebbe I should try it. It might even cure my hoof in mouth disease.