Spruce beer?

[_CJ]

Anyone care to review and comment on my recipe? Just finished getting it together tonight.

I'm totally guessing at the amount of spruce tips. 6oz in the boil, 3oz in the secondary? I know, I know, wash and sanatize the spruce tips. Thinking about rinsing them in B-Bright?

http://hbd.org/cgi-bin/recipator/recipator?group=9&item=6421

[husker267]

CJ - I haven't made a spruce beer, but some recipes that I've seen only use a max of 3oz at 30 minutes, and none for dry hopping, as it's very powerful. Most recipe call for it to be cellared for a long time to mellow as very fresh spruce beer has been reported to taste like pinesol.

[xjmatt]

Looks good. I've never tried spruce tips in a beer but I know the smell/taste of fresh spruce. Only thing I'd think about is your base beer selection. A brown is mostly malty and slightly sweet and usually not about showcasing the hops or anything else you add.

I know homebrewing is all about experimentation but when jumping off into the void I usually start with an American Pale Ale so nothing else gets in the way of what i'm experimenting with. Just a thought.

For cleaning the spruce tips I'd steam them just like you would any vegetable and call it good. That way you know you're heated all the way through and preserve as much of the flavor/aroma character as possible.

:beer:

[Snotty]

BAD BAD BAD!!! Stay away from the spruce! lol, I made a batch using Spruce Essence or some such nonsense and let me tell you... A wee heavy blended with gin is awful! I poured the whole 5 gallons down the drain.

On that note, I know several have done it successfully and heather beer has been around for ages. Good luck, but remember one thing, less is more here. Start with small amounts and increase in each batch until you get what you are after.