Spruce Tip Honey Amber Ale

[ScrewyBrewer]

Friends of mine own Edwards Hop Farm here in New Jersey. They sold me a pound of fresh cut spruce tips use in a new Christmas Ale recipe I'd been thinking about. And I'm happy to say the resulting beer turned out to be a keeper. Here's the 5-gallon batch recipe for anyone willing to give it a try.

19.5 pounds of Pale 2-Row Malt [Briess]
0.5 pound Crystal 90L [Briess]
2.00 pounds of Honey [Local]

2.00 ounces of 9.9% AA Northern Brewer hops boiled for 30 minutes

Using RO or distilled water target 3 (ppm) Mg+2, 72 (ppm) Ca+2, 69 (ppm) Cl-, 91 (ppm) SO4-2 and a mash pH of 5.20

I used 2 packets of SafeAle US-05 dry yeast to ensure good attenuation.

I boiled 2-gallons of RO water, took it off the heat then poured it over a pound of spruce tips and let it steep overnight covered with towels.

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About 18 hours later I drained the 'tea' off from the spruce tips and boiled it down to 3/4 of a liter of spruce syrup.

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The honey and spruce syrup gets added to the boil about 15 minutes before flameout. Having never brewed a Spruce Tip beer before I was relieved when it tasted good when I tasted it a few weeks later. It came in at about 10% ABV definitely a hearty cold weather beer to sip rather than chug. It's been getting good reviews by the dozen or so people who've tasted it so far. When I brew it next I won't have to change a single thing. It's not often I get to say that but this recipe really makes a unique beer.

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[The_Professor]

Did you taste the reduced spruce syrup before adding it to the wort?

[BlackDuck]

That looks really interesting. With so little in the recipe, do the spruce tips really shine through?

[ScrewyBrewer]

Did you taste the reduced spruce syrup before adding it to the wort?

I did and it was bitter. The pH measured 4.28 at room temperature. It didn't taste overwhelming or have a very strong spruce aroma, it was more of a delicate piney/woodsy taste.

[ScrewyBrewer]

That looks really interesting. With so little in the recipe, do the spruce tips really shine through?

You definitely get spruce aroma and flavor, you know it's there but not overpowering. It works well with the Northern Brewer hops and some local honey.

[Beer-lord]

That's great to hear and it looks great too. So does the glass!

[ScrewyBrewer]

That's great to hear and it looks great too. So does the glass!

I'll admit Steve's glass and the one I bought at New Belgium are my favorites. Next month I was told I'm getting a gift of Concolor (aka: White Pine) tips from Edwards Tree Farm in New Jersey. The owners said the tips of the tree are very citrusy and taste like oranges. So I guess I'll be brewing up another batch before the year is out.

Spruce tips are best stored in a refrigerator and used within a week or two of harvesting. It goes without saying but worth repeating the trees should be free of pesticides too. The flavor of the Fall tips leans more towards 'woodsy and Christmasy' while the new Spring harvested tips lean more towards citrus. I'm going to go with some 'C' American hops for the Concolor batch and will post my findings once I brew a batch.

[Dawg LB Steve]

Vince that does sound tasty, had a spruce tip beer at one of our meetings. Going to have to give it a try at some time. The idea of the spruce syrup is what I am liking.

[John Sand]

Very interesting, thanks for sharing.

[FrozenInTime]

Could you taste the honey? Every time I've tried honey in batches, it only gives the yeasties sugar to up my ABV and I've never been able to taste it in the beer. I'm going to try it again, but I will add the honey after I kill off the yeasties then C02 carb. I'm going to try it in another hard cider.

[ScrewyBrewer]

Could you taste the honey? Every time I've tried honey in batches, it only gives the yeasties sugar to up my ABV and I've never been able to taste it in the beer. I'm going to try it again, but I will add the honey after I kill off the yeasties then C02 carb. I'm going to try it in another hard cider.

I can't swear to the fact I can taste the honey in it. Although the honey was pretty aromatic when added to the kettle. It definitely added some sweetness and added to the mouthfeel of the beer. I bought a mead kit a few years ago that I never got around to making. 2 pounds of that honey instead went into the Spruce Tip beer to boost the ABV. I do think using cane sugar would've dried the beer out more than the honey would. I'll be sharing this beer at our Thanksgiving dinner and will ask for feedback and let you know.

[ScrewyBrewer]

Earlier this month the owners of Edwards Christmas Tree Farm gave me 2 pounds of their organically grown Concolor Fir (White Fir) tips to use in another batch of Honey Amber Ale. Where the Spruce tips had a woodsy flavor the Fir tips had an orange-citrus flavor and aroma. I brought a five-gallon keg to our family Christmas party the other day and it was a hit with all that tried it. I'll admit carrying a keg out to the car after a party is a lot easier on my back when they're empty.

This 10-gallon batch came out a more sessionable 7% ABV. It used 2 pounds of fresh Fir tips with 2 pounds of the same honey used in the first batch. The honey is locally sourced and it added a floral aroma to the beer. The Fir tips added and interesting flavored bitterness that worked to balance out the honey. And a flavor that everyone including myself noticed as being more prominent at the end of each sip. Below is a picture of the FG sample to give a sense of the color.

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