Noticed a spruce beer recipe in The Joy of Homebrewing, and I wanted to see if anyone here has taken a crack at this style. If you have (forgive the pun) do you have any tips?
Some people really like the flavor, and some really don’t. I have made a couple with early spruce tips (when the are soft in the spring, they’re a bit less resiny) That I liked and others liked as well. Skagway brewing company in Alaska makes a nice one that is basically and english style pale ale with spruce tips added. Go light with your first batch (2-4 oz spruce tips/5 gal) to see how you like the flavor.
IIRC, the Papazian recipe is a porter type recipe. Go with a beer with relatively less assertive hop character to get the spruce flavor without too much hop to interfere.
