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Spruce Beer
Tree-Top Ale
by Beer & Wine Hobby Shop, MA
Taken from "The Brewmaster's Bible" by Stephen Snyder
Ingredients:
- 6.6 pounds light plain malt extract
- 1 oz. spruce essence or 1 cup freshly picked spruce tips
- 1 oz. Hellertauer hops 5% AA (boil)
- 1 tsp Irish Moss
- 1 oz Tettnanger hops 4% AA (aroma)
- 1 oz loose finishing hops
- American Ale Yeast, such as Yeast Lab A02 or Wyeast 1056 or 1272
Original Gravity: 1.035
Final Gravity: 1.008
Potential Alcohol: 3.4%
The Malt Extract and the Spruce essence/tips should be added for the full boil. The Hellertauer hops are added at the start of the boil, and the Tettnanger should be added after 50 minutes. Add the Irish moss for the last 15 minutes.
The finishing hops should be added into the primary fermenter. Unfortunately, this recipe does not offer anything more exact than that, so I imagine more Tettnanger hops? In any case, follow standard dry-hopping procedures. Alternately, we could add another ounce of Tettnang hops or the last minute of the boil for a similar effect.
This recipe is best when aged for at least four weeks. The results should be crisp, clean & refreshing.
Other advice used for a spruce beer is that it makes a great addition to porters and stouts, and is often found in holiday beers. A word of caution is to use it sparingly, as the spruce flavor can really over-power a beer.
That sounds fantastic!
Aspen,
Is the Irish Moss difficult to come by? Any substitutions you can suggest, or will that really throw off the balance?
The main purpose of Irish moss is a clarifying agent. Basically, when it is added to the boil, it gathers all the loose particles in your beer and bonds them together, making them easier to filter out of the wort.
It is easy to come by & pretty inexpensive, as far as I know. I have actually never used it, and rarely have problems with clarity. If it is something you are having difficulties with, repeat this mantra with me:
Relax. Don't Worry. And Have a Homebrew!
Thanks, Mr. Papazian!
As an alternate for the finings, you could use gelatin or isinglass as well, if you are really interested. Otherwise it would be a skippable part of the recipe.
Irish moss is easy to come by. I buy 1 oz (or there abouts) packages from my homebrew shop and I think it costs about $1.25 a baggie.
It's just little brown particules that were once seaweed. When you start your 60 minute boil, the proteins in your wort coagulate and stick together. This is part of the reason beer won't completely clarify.
Adding 1 oz (or so) or irish moss at the start of your hot break causes the negative charges in the moss to attach the positive charges in the protein to stick together, and therefore, drop the bottom of the boil kettle, thus resulting in a clearer beer.
As for ever trying spruce beer, Siletz Brewery makes one that I have only tried once. LOVED IT!
I personally rarely use irish moss. I like hazy beer.
Also, in addition to irish moss, if you want a clean and clear finish, check to see if your yeast has high, medium, or low flocculation. Low = hazy, medium = just that, high = it will be fairly clear. Basically, what happens, is as the yeast strains convert the sugars to alcohol and co2, they begin to clump together and fall to the bottom of the fermenter. If you have a high flocculating yeast, that means the most of it will fall to the bottom, resulting in a clearer beer. I prefer low in my wheat beers because I love the haze.
Irish moss is not a requirement and doesn't add flavors, at least none that I noticed. But if you want clear beer (aka Budweiser), go for it.
This recipe sounds great!
How would one go about increasing the alcohol percentage? You mentioned that it will be around 3.4%. If I wanted something closer to 6%, how would I do that? Do I double the amount of grains? Use light malt extract? Different Yeast? Or all 3!
Thank you so much for posting this, and just in time to finish aging for Xmas!
Changing the yeast up won't do a whole lot for the alcohol content, but it would change up the flavor & the finish of the beer in various ways. In order to add some alcohol, I would consider the addition of some light LME/DME, and definitely some specialty grains.
Maybe some Gambrinus Honey Malt would be a welcome addition...or some Biscuit malt to fill out the flavor...just a pound or so, steeped in the water before the boil.
Another option would be to add some adjuncts, like honey, candied sugar, or a light molasses. Basically, the more fermentables that you give your yeast, the more alcohol they will produce. Be aware, though, that by adding more to the recipe, you may need to increase the amount of spruce flavoring to get it to shine through.
Another tactic would be to make a Porter or Stout and add the spruce flavoring to that beer. From everything I've read, those are the beers best complimented by the flavor.
oh my - you read my mind! i was just recently wondering how spruce would work in a porter or stout. i couldnt tell if it would clash with the chocolateness, or if it required the hops of an ale to shine. i am absolutely going to brew both, this ale and a porter! thanks for the recipe, it looks lovely!
have you made this before? i wonder how it would be with honey.
thank you!
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