Spruce tips add an immediately recognizable aroma and flavor to beer, yet some have a hard time accurately defining the specifics. When they are collected, handled, and brewed with properly, this historic ingredient will liven up just about any beer.
Spruce tips add an immediately recognizable aroma and flavor to beer, yet people still have a hard time accurately defining the specifics
Dave Coyne of Fort George Brewery holds the title of “Barrel Baron,” and manages everything from R&D brewing to the barrel program of the powerhouse Pacific Northwest brewery.
From Obelisk Beer of Astoria, Oregon, comes this prototype homebrew-scale recipe for a black barleywine that combines flavorful aspects of both barleywine and stout.
Expect hints of citrus, resin, and fruit to flood forward, followed by a piney, earthy complexity in this recipe designed by Jack Harris of Fort George Brewery.
**Aroma:** “Hops character is very prominent. Nice juicy fruity (orange and grapefruit) notes, some pine, and some malt sweetness. Faint breadiness.” **Flavor:** “Some juicy grapefruit character and orange citrus notes. Serious hops flavor and bitter edge make a strong hoppy assertion. The bitterness lingers strongly into the finish and contributes a mild astringency, but the hops flavor sticks around to keep it company. There’s enough malt sweetness to remind you that it’s beer and not hops tea.” **Overall:** “Big hops and everything you’d expect from a IPA, although I’d prefer a little more competition from the malt and a richer mouthfeel. Pretty spot on for the style.”
Sweet aroma of cherry Jolly Rancher, herbal sugar cookie, ripe fruit. Flavor brings muted orange juice, mixing with hop bitterness and woody bite to pleasantly linger on the tongue. A well-put-together treat. Easy like a tiki drink.
“A simple world of deep malt aroma, rooted in toffee, with toasty barley and fresh bread crust. Chocolate and fig-like notes present in the nose. Vanilla, raisin, and cherry offer nice highlights. The flavor adds some chocolate to the mix, while the alcohol contributes some nice peppery spiciness. Brown sugar and toffee flavors command attention, with lighter notes that suggest cinnamon, figs, and vanilla. The alcohol smoothly balances the sweetness—the sweet sip ends in a drier spicy finish with light black-pepper and vanilla flavors that linger.”
**Aroma:** “S’mores and caramelized date that got pushed into a pool of molten marshmallow by its ex-girlfriend, graham crackers. Big chocolate, moderate vanilla, moderate roast, touch of coffee, light apple, light toasted malt. Medium hops aroma, minty and spicy.” **Flavor:** “Dark fruits really punch through this one like a Russian gang fight where one side is Fig Newtons and the other is a bunch of prunes. The flavors carry through pretty far and the semi-bitter finish is like 80 percent dark chocolate. Melted brown sugar, chocolate-covered coffee beans also got their name on the guest list.” **Overall:** “Great for the espresso addict, this beer has some excellent roasty notes well balanced with a touch of sweetness. The flow starts out sweet with chocolate and gradually goes toward the more astringent roast and coffee.”
Baker’s chocolate and cinnamon aroma with a touch of leathery sherry. Taste is classic American imperial stout. Well-rounded edges. Roast, barrel, residual sugars are all in balance. Dried dates, dark chocolate, dry espresso, touch of toasted coconut. A really good example of a classic barrel-aged stout.
“Fresh-brewed medium-roast coffee, light chocolate, a touch of vanilla on the nose. Effervescent quality across the tongue. Chocolate-forward expression of coffee, moderate bitterness linger into the finish. Hop flavors of chocolate-covered strawberries, cut damp grass, hazelnut. An intoxicating experience.”
**Aroma:** “Strong sweet dark roastiness plus bing cherry and plum esters. Some nice oak character is also present. Some alcohol warmth tickles the nose.” **Flavor:** “Dark stone-fruit esters from the nose are also on the tongue and add to the sweetness. Roast blends well with the esters with just a touch of heat on the finish. A red-wine character is paired well with a dark chocolate sweetness and brighter, sweet fruitiness. Some oak character adds complexity with some vanilla sweetness as well. Finishes sweet with some alcohol warmth.” **Overall:** “This bold beer wonderfully features red-wine barrel characters with a perfectly crafted imperial stout. Rich and complex with strong esters and a robust roast profile.”
“Very light bready aroma supports a moderate fruity apricot and berry hop character. The flavor has the same light bready base, but the ripe apricot and moderate red currant/berry notes pop, along with a moderate honey flavor character without the sweetness. Medium bittering is smooth and lingers into a stone-fruit finish.”
**Aroma:** “Some fruity citrus character with orange, pineapple, slight pine, green onion, garlic, grapefruit, and pine trees... what an interesting forest this is!” **Flavor:** “More spring onions, garlic, citrus, and pine. A slight caramel sweetness offers support and rounds out the body. Nice creamy mouthfeel and a smooth bitterness. Aftertaste is dank, mostly with slight onion. As it warms the bready sweetness comes up a little with slight citrus notes.” **Overall:** “This beer is well integrated, and the sweetness to bitterness provide a good balance, nishing slightly bitter in the end to keep you going back for another sip. An unusual IPA, but that doesn’t mean a bad IPA. Consumers looking for something to challenge the palate will appreciate the interesting combination of flavors this beer has to offer. Don’t judge it by the initial aroma or the first sip. Give it some time: It may just grow on you.”
**Aroma:** “Citrusy, lemony, with a bit of tangerine and tropical fruit punch. Little to no malt aroma. Mild hops nose with light coconut and pineapple notes.” **Flavor:** “More tangerine in the flavor than in the aroma, but less of the lemony citrus. Juicy hops flavor with enough malt sweetness to support it. Bitterness balances the malt without overpowering. More of that coconut and pineapple, buoyed by the caramel malt and light toffee. Bitterness lasts into the aftertaste, but some malt stays with it.” **Overall:** “One of the better session IPAs I’ve had, like a Deschutes Fresh Squeezed ‘Lite.’ Tropical-fruit character combined with caramel malt depth makes it imminently drinkable. I could easily knock back several of these and make it a true session—something I can’t always say about this style. The overall impression is that this seems sweet for a session IPA, but the flavors work well enough.”
“Light hints of sweet bread in the aroma are balanced by a delicate floral note with faint woody hops and a light whisp of sulfur. The sweet, pale malt body is tempered by a distinct, but restrained soapy and floral bitterness that lingers into the finish. Clean and dry but the lower intensity leaves it a touch soft in the finish.”
“Moderate white wine, passion fruit, pineapple plus bell pepper, green onion, pine resin, a hint of garlic. Some orange and lemon behind the tropical fruit. A whiff of bready malt. The flavor leans more heavily toward pine and green pepper, with a mix of tropical fruit and citrus. Moderate sweetness slowly fades into moderate bitterness and a touch of alcohol warmth. There could be a bit more bitterness.”
“Aroma is a balance of roasted malt, alcohol, oak, vanilla. Light chocolate, soft espresso, fig follow. Flavor features sweet roast malt, chocolate, light whiskey, espresso. Pine notes balance the barrel vanillin.”
Chocolate nose with a hint of tartness from the dark malt. Hints of chocolate and coffee-like bitterness com-plement the roasted malt notes and are well balanced by a subtle piney hops note. Good balance of roast, bitterness, with a bit of heat from the alcohol. Enough body and residual sweetness to create the impression of a scarily easy-drinking beer despite its ABV.
“On the nose, slightly sweet and malty with reserved spice in the background. Clean, slightly dry finish. Reminds one of a slightly spiced Octoberfest. The ‘pumpkin’ aspect is pushed way to the background.”