What type of tips are these and can I brew with them?

[Sdiddy84]

Wondering if I can brew with these tips? I'm thinking they might be pine. On my phone hopefully the pictures upload.

 

[Sdiddy84]

Apparently not. Sorry about the sideways photos.

 

[day_trippr]

Looks more like a spruce tree...

Cheers!

 

[Sdiddy84]

Looks more like a spruce tree...

Cheers!

Thanks day_trippr. That makes me happy, I was hoping they were but my mother-in-law thinks it's a pine. Either way I wanted to use them in a saison. Do they freeze well? Wasn't plan on brewing this beer for a few weeks?

 

[sonic7173]

Yep, they freeze just fine.

 

[day_trippr]

Sorry about this, but having thought about it further and looking closer at the needles in bunches, that configuration would seem to favor a pine as spruce and fir needles are pretty much individually attached to branches.

But now I'm not confident in either answer

 

[2trout]

That is a Dwarf Alberta Spruce. It's a selection of White Spruce. The "bunched needles" are the spring growth. they will elongate as the candles expand.

 

[day_trippr]

Thanks, that makes me feel better (and hopefully the OP as well)
It sure looks similar to spruces we have on the property but those bunched needle tips left me wondering...

Cheers!

 

[Sdiddy84]

Yes this is good news. They smell great. I'm thinking of throwing 10g in the boil with 10 min left. Not sure of anything else yet. Got some research to do. Thanks everyone for your help.

 

[shetc]

http://www.thebrewingnetwork.com/dr-homebrew-episode-78/

 

[McKnuckle]

Eat them and you will know.

I have tasted the tips on many very different looking conifer trees this spring. They are all similar, but each type has different flavors. You have to do this when the tips are still very soft. When they begin to stiffen, they are on their way to being just like all the other leaves/needles on the tree. And those don’t taste particularly good.

Don’t be freaked out - the tips are legitimately edible and a good source of vitamin C.

 

[RPh_Guy]

Grass is edible too, and a good source of fiber

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

All varieties of spruce are okay for brewing, from what I have read, also “pine” and fir. Yew is poisonous.

 

[Dland]

Yeah, Alberta Spruce. Grave stone tree I call it, 'cause sometimes plant them by gravestones.

What is neat is they often send out a sport branches that are reverted back to full sized white spruce.

Back on topic, since the Alberta is a very slow growing dwarf variant, the oil concentration in the small tips may be stronger than normal spruce, or maybe not...

 

[Dland]

Yew is poisonous.

Don't tell the deer that, one of their favorite plants.

 

[Sdiddy84]

Yeah, Alberta Spruce. Grave stone tree I call it, 'cause sometimes plant them by gravestones.

What is neat is they often send out a sport branches that are reverted back to full sized white spruce.

Back on topic, since the Alberta is a very slow growing dwarf variant, the oil concentration in the small tips may be stronger than normal spruce, or maybe not...

That's good to know. I think I'll take the advice and eat one. See how it is.