UGH! Can I expect this spruce essence to mellow? It's awful!

[Shoegaze99]

I brewed a colonial porter using a kit from my LHBS. The recipe called for a full bottle of this stuff at bottling.

It honestly seemed like too much to me -- the stuff smells POTENT -- so I cut the recommended amount in half.

Didn't matter. Just had my first taste of it three weeks after bottling. It's utterly undrinkable. I don't mean it's merely a bad beer, I mean it's mouth bleedingly awful. Two very small sips and I poured out my glass. No one would finish this even on a dare.

I won't be dumping the batch, though. Not yet. I'm holding out hope the spruce will mellow with time. So the question is, will it? And if so, am I talking a year until this approaches drinkable?

Anyone have experience with this stuff?

 

[gregger]

Found this thread.

Quote from the thread:

"I've only been exposed to one spruce beer that used extract. The maker use 2 ounces in five gallons & the smell was your basic industrial strength floor cleaner. Six months later, you could sniff it without gagging. After a year is was ok.

So, start on the low side, maybe 1/2 ounce."


You used 2 oz. I would say that was WAY too much. Bring a bottle to your LHBS for them to try so they know about the effects.

 

[Shoegaze99]

I only used 1 oz rather than the 2 they suggested, but even then still way too much. That description is right on target. It's cringingly chemical. Thanks for pointing that post out to me. Lets me know I'm in it for the long haul.

I'll be dropping my LHBS a note to let them know their recommendation is WAY off. I hate to imagine other folks brewing this.

I'm pretty disappointed, as this was an experimental batch. Rather than water, I used half water and half (boiled) fresh maple sap.

 

[gregger]

I only used 1 oz rather than the 2 they suggested, but even then still way too much. That description is right on target. It's cringingly chemical. Thanks for pointing that post out to me. Lets me know I'm in it for the long haul.

I'll be dropping my LHBS a note to let them know their recommendation is WAY off. I hate to imagine other folks brewing this.

I'm pretty disappointed, as this was an experimental batch. Rather than water, I used half water and half (boiled) fresh maple sap.

Yeah it's kind of frustrating. Bring them a bottle and make them taste it, I doubt they've made it and tried it. Who knows they may feel bad and cut you a deal on the next purchase or something. If you need the bottles, I'd dump it. It sucks you have to wait a year for this taste to settle some. I guess you could always clean your floors with it if you run out of Pine Sol.

 

[woodstone]

Spruce, ha!

Made a spruce beer with new growth tips from a row of spruce trees in my parents yard back 15 years ago...followed Joy of Homebrew recipe...nasty, Nasty, NASTY!!!!

Thought about dumping the whole batch but forced them all down. Might be the second worst batch of my career.

Spruce, never again BUT it taught me to test...particularly with essence, a drop or two in a pint of a clean brew until you dig the flavor then ramp up and calculate what should go in the primary/secondary.

Cheers!

 

[jwplessner]

Yards brewing co in philly makes a spruce beer they say belonged to Ben Franklin. It's easily his worst invention.

 

[Shoegaze99]

I've had that brew from Yards. It's ... not very good. Not very good at all.

 

[likwidbliss]

I can't imagine drinking anything form a blue spruce! Sounds awful!

 

[beaksnbeer]

Spruce, ha!

Made a spruce beer with new growth tips from a row of spruce trees in my parents yard back 15 years ago...followed Joy of Homebrew recipe...nasty, Nasty, NASTY!!!!

Thought about dumping the whole batch but forced them all down. Might be the second worst batch of my career.

Spruce, never again BUT it taught me to test...particularly with essence, a drop or two in a pint of a clean brew until you dig the flavor then ramp up and calculate what should go in the primary/secondary.

Cheers!

Yep I tried this also friends said it was like drinking a christmas tree ended up making a pale ale and mixing to cut it still can taste it when I think about it....worst beer ever

 

[D_Nyholm]

I made a blueberry ale from my LHBS and it called for 4 oz. of blueberry extract. After i made it I read on here that 2 oz is the correct amount, even the company who makes the extract says that 2 oz. is correct. It is pretty darn strong but I have noticed after about 4 weeks in the bottle it is getting better. Luckily the base beer was one that turned out really well so I can get through a few glasses of it as my taste for the blueberry goes numb after a while.

But what made you think of making a spruce beer? I mean, all I can think of is the little tree air fresheners that hang from rearwiew mirrors. There is NO WAY you'd catch me drinking that!!

 

[Shoegaze99]

But what made you think of making a spruce beer? I mean, all I can think of is the little tree air fresheners that hang from rearwiew mirrors. There is NO WAY you'd catch me drinking that!!

It's not really a spruce beer, it's a colonial style porter, which typically included some spruce in the recipe. I'd never brew a beer where spruce was to be the primary flavor. A little accent I guess would be fine in a complex brew (this has licorice, molasses, and was brewed in maple sap), but this recipe clearly called for WAY too much.

As a side note, I just found this old thread. Oh, if only I had found it before I bottled!

 

[BenjaminBier]

I used a teaspoon of this brand of extract in a Belgian Pale Ale at bottling and it made a really nice spruce "winter" beer. I plan on doing it again this year.

The real trick with this stuff seems to be using very little of it and waiting for solids in the extract to fully precipitate to the bottom before drinking. I noticed as these dropped out, the flavor seemed to dry up a bit. It took about 8 weeks and by the end it was an enjoyable beer.

The only thing I can think of for your situation is to try getting the extract to clear from the beer as much as possible, maybe gelatin would help it drop out.

I wonder if you could vent one of the bottles and let it freeze - maybe the extract would separate and you could pour it off?

Lastly, maybe you can't save the beer but you can find another use for it. Why not try boiling one of the beers down to a syrup and use it for spruce-porter pancakes? Or whip up some spruce-porter meringue, or drizzle some on ice cream for a spruce-porter sundae.

 

[scoundrel]

I think that's the one advantage of kegs for flavoring beer's. You can add to taste and then do the math for bottling. Regardless, if it were me I'd stuff them in a box, forget about them and taste them in a couple years.

 

[Shoegaze99]

Lastly, maybe you can't save the beer but you can find another use for it. Why not try boiling one of the beers down to a syrup and use it for spruce-porter pancakes? Or whip up some spruce-porter meringue, or drizzle some on ice cream for a spruce-porter sundae.

My plan for the moment is to stuff them into a closet and come back to them much later in the hopes the taste has mellowed, but I'm also considering making a second batch of the same brew, minus the spruce, and blending them, effectively cutting the spruce in half. Maybe make the second one at a slightly higher gravity to give it some heft; counteract the spruce a bit.

Don't know if that's actually doable, though. I've never done a blend and don't know the specifics of how to pull one off successfully. Will have to do some research before I consider it.

Heck, maybe combine the two approaches? Let it sit for the summer, then do the blend in September or so? It should be a good late autumn/early winter beer, anyway.

Time to research.

 

[vitrael]

I'll supplement your porter story with mine. In comes Joy of Homebrewing again. Not spruce essence at bottling this time, but blackstrap molasses in the wort. The recipe called for one cup and I gave it one cup.

I made cough syrup beer. Six months later it's *almost* tolerable. I think I'll stick to der reinheit for a while.

 

[Shoegaze99]

I'm wondering (and should probably start a new thread about this), can you blend a beer that's already carbonated with a batch of fresh wort, add more priming sugar (maybe re-pitch, too), and re-bottle? That or I pour the bottles into a carboy before they condition too much and let it bulk age in there before blending. Problem there is, I worry about oxygenating it while transferring, staling the whole thing.

Because I'm thinking maybe sit on it for a few months, let it mellow, then blend it with a fresh, spruce-free batch.

 

[gregger]

I'm wondering (and should probably start a new thread about this), can you blend a beer that's already carbonated with a batch of fresh wort, add more priming sugar (maybe re-pitch, too), and re-bottle? That or I pour the bottles into a carboy before they condition too much and let it bulk age in there before blending. Problem there is, I worry about oxygenating it while transferring, staling the whole thing.

Because I'm thinking maybe sit on it for a few months, let it mellow, then blend it with a fresh, spruce-free batch.

Abso-freakin'-lutely. I've done that before. A beer of mine contained a little too much peach extract, I made another batch - though half the size - and added both batches to a bottling bucket, added additional priming sugar, and bottled it. Came out less carbonated, but it was a BRILLIANT idea, one that I'm lucky to have came up with without consulting HBT first hahaha. It tasted great.