Spruce tips as hops

[Eastcoastsoxfan]

Hi
I've been wanting to add some fresh spruce tips as a hop addition.
Any ideas what type spruce would go best with??? IPA, amber, blonde etc
I'm guessing spruce will add strong flavor
Thanks

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

There are recipes for spruce tip beer, usually with hop additions rather than instead of hops. With that said it is your beer to experiment with.
and, welcome to the forum.

 

[cmac62]

Ballast Point does a spruce tip scuplin that is pretty good. So it can be pretty hoppy if you want to go that way. Good luck.

 

[Chet Ripley]

Pennsylvania Tuxedo by Dogfish Head is another commercial example. It was pretty bitter as I recall. I tried a dry hop experiment where i took a smash and dryhopped some of it with spruce tips, but I think I left them in too long as I wound up with a weird grassy taste that was not pleasant

 

[cmac62]

My go to for these kind of ingredients is a vodka tincture. Put couple of oz of the spruce into a jar and cover with decent vodka let sit for a week or so shaking occasionally and then add to the keg or bottling bucket to taste. I know it works for juniper, but dont have any experience with spruce. good luck.