spruce beer
Has anyone brewed the spruce beer in The Joy of Home Brewing by Papazian? I was wondering how it turned out and I also have some recipe questions as well.
His recipe
6.6 lbs dark extract
4 oz green growth spruce
2 oz vanguard or hallertauer hopps
I really prefer the better flavor of a mini-mash and do not have the equip for all grain. What should i use to get a mid brown slightly malty flavor to balance the spruce? Should I go with a reg brown ale, add the spruce, and cut back on the hops?
Do I really need the spruce tips or will extract do? how much extract?
I live in central tex so getting to a spruce tree much less getting some one to let me cut off pieces of their tree seems a little far out of my reach for now.
thanks for any help
dave
Hi Dave, and welcome to the forum-
I brew spruce beer on a regular basis. Have never used the spruce extract.
Normally I pick the soft green new growth spruce candles, in Missouri that's in April/early May and freeze them in 3oz baggies.
Currently I'm doing 5.5 gal partial mashes. The spruce works well in both brown & amber American Ales. I use mostly Cascade, Glacier, Centennial genre hops.
Usually 2oz spruce candles, 60min, 1 oz 30min. The spruce flavor needs to be in the background, not up front in the aroma, let the hops do that.
In Texas, obtaining spruce candles could be challanging, but try looking for decortative planting in parks, Blue Spruce is the easiest to pick out & one of the best for brewing, IMHO. Don't pick any now!!! Your beer will taste like turpentine.
If you would like I can either post or PM some of my recipes.
Brewski wrote:
Hi Dave, and welcome to the forum-
Normally I pick the soft green new growth spruce candles,
What exactly are these? I remember you mentioning them awhile back, and I assumed they were like a regular wax candle you got from a local merchant or something, never really understood, are those just like a sprig? What makes them candles? Pardon my extreme ignorance here.
When the new growth comes out it kinda looks like candles on a Xmas tree, I guess.
So I've always heard of it as "Candling", in spring.
Anyway, you only use the really soft, lighter colored, green part, and pick before they start hardening. That's when the pitch, read turpentine, starts flowing into the new growth.
Here's what Blue Spruce, ready to brew, candles look like.
Be sure to get rid of anything that isn't green, including the base of the candle where it starts turning brown.
does it taste the way its described in the book? I've been wanting to brew that sometime...
Thanks for the help Brewski. Do you think that I could get the recipe for the brown? Looks like I'll be doing some scouting trips to the local parks. When spring rolls around I'll get the pruning sheers and head out for a walk.
Dave
One of my favorites, right up there with Mack & Jack's
Montana In My Mind
Style: American Brown Ale
TYPE: Partial Mash
Taste: Excellent, background spruce, touch of smoke.
Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 5.50 gal
Estimated OG: 1.048 SG
Estimated Color: 19.1 SRM
Estimated IBU: 30.2 IBU
Boil Time: 60 Minutes
Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
3.30 lb Pale Liquid Extract (8.0 SRM) Extract 39.76 %
2.50 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 30.12 %
0.50 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L (80.0 SRM) Grain 6.02 %
0.50 lb Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM) Grain 6.02 %
0.50 lb Smoked Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 6.02 %
0.80 oz Centennial [10.50 %] (60 min) Hops 24.0 IBU
0.30 oz Cascade [7.20 %] (30 min) Hops 4.7 IBU
0.20 oz Cascade [7.20 %] (10 min) Hops 1.5 IBU
1.00 oz Spruce Candles (Boil 30.0 min) Misc
2.00 oz Spruce Candles (Boil 60.0 min) Misc
1.00 lb Honey (1.0 SRM) Sugar 12.05 %
1 Pkgs Cooper Ale (Coopers #-) [Cultured] Yeast-Ale
Mash Schedule: Temperature Mash, 2 Step, Medium Body
Total Grain Weight: 4.00 lb
----------------------------
Temperature Mash, 2 Step, Medium Body
Step Time Name Description Step Temp
30 min Protein Rest Add 5.00 qt of water at 129.3 F 122.0 F
45 min Saccharification Heat to 154.0 F over 15 min 154.0 F
10 min Mash Out Heat to 168.0 F over 10 min 168.0 F
I like to do a late addition on the LME & Honey. Makes it a "rounder" flavor.
The trick with spruce is to get the hops & spruce to meld, so you really can't tell which is which. So I always shoot for a little lower IBU, and the spruce makes up for it.
Pardon my Ignorance.......
Temperature Mash, 2 Step, Medium Body
Step Time Name Description Step Temp
30 min Protein Rest Add 5.00 qt of water at 129.3 F 122.0 F
45 min Saccharification Heat to 154.0 F over 15 min 154.0 F
10 min Mash Out Heat to 168.0 F over 10 min 168.0 F
I have never done a step mash before just to be clear heat to 154 over 15 min really means spend 15 min heating up to 154 and then the 45 min starts, or is the 15 min heat up part of the 45 min. I'll be using a grain bag do I need to sparge the grains with hot water when the mash is done? If so what temp should the sparge water be?
Forgive me for all the questions, this is the first time that I'll be doing a recipe that doesn't come with a detailed instruction sheet from my local homebrew shop.
Thanks Brewski for all the help I'm really looking forward to trying this
Dave
I found this amusing.... When I lived in Montreal as a kid we used to drink Spruce Beer - although it was a type of soda - Basically, pine flavoured gingerale. (sorry for the digression Iron)
Sounds good killigan as soon as i find some stupid spruce trees here in central texas i was thinking of trying something like that anyway. was it amber or lighter colored or was it dark like a birch/ root beer?
Irondavy