Old Tjikko
Urban Chestnut Brewing Company - Midtown Brewery & Biergarten

 

 

 

This beer is absolutely fantastic. At a brewery that I love mainly for its excellent German-style lagers this spruce ale is actually my favorite beer they make. I look forward to it every year (when I can get my hands on it--it's draft only and usually doesn't last long). It's better some years than others, but always good and this year's batch was really nice. Abv on this one actually varies from year to year, between 5.8 and 7, I think.

Spruce, spruce, spruce! Heavy spruce in the nose, heavy spruce taste. So sprucing good! Color is a very dark brown with minimal white head. Medium body. Some hop bitterness hiding behind the spruce and a good malty backbone. If I would change anything about this beer it would be to up the carbonation a little bit, but it's lovely the way it is. Highly recommended, as long as you like spruce.

Enjoyed this pint at the small but cozy and welcoming Urban Chestnut brewpub in St. Louis before a Skinny Puppy & Front Line Assembly show.

Appearance: Dark chestnut. Didn’t notice much lace.

Aroma: Heavy pine spruce action. Wow. This is like full-on Xmas tree. I liked.

Taste: Yikes! Definitely unquestionably spruce. Big time. Hint of bitterness in there, which may have been from some hopping, or maybe it’s the massive infusion of what is hopefully real spruce. Very tasty and unique, and certainly recommended for those interested in more experimental brews.

 

 

 

 

on tap at the source. pours a little hazy and much darker than i anticipated. medium brown with w one inch white head. smells like christmas time, no kidding. sappy pine tree is the dominant aroma, with some caramel malt and agressive hops right behind it. flavor is equally spruced, like mashing up pine needles. at first its almost astringent in the mouth, but it mellows out to a very drinkable ale. a hefty malt body and balancing hop addition round it out. overall i thought this was a ohenominal glass of beer, ive seen spruce done before but never to this effect. id be curious to see how this was made. if you ever get the chance to try this make sure you do, it is like nothing else out there.

Very interesting beer. My first tasting of a spruce beer, and I like it!

Brown with red notes and a decent head and lace.

Monstrous spruce smell and taste, but not overblown at all. It's very woody though. There's some malt and hops balance, but it's mostly spruce.

Medium body and quite drinkable. I'd love to have this one again.

I can honestly say I've never had a spruce beer before. Had this on tap at UCBC while sampling several of their beers

a-as with all UCBC beers the appearance was great. poured into a snifter, it doesn't have a huge head. Very dark, earthy color.

s-the aroma is huge, its almost as pungent as pine-sol but the smell of the spruce is incredible and it smells like christmas morning under the tree.

t-once again the spruce flavor dominates the flavor. The spruce eventually gives way to a nice fruity/berry finish

m-This beer is fairly medium bodied, even with its huge flavor. As with most of the Urban Chestnut brews it goes down as smooth as anything

o-there is a reason this is listed under the revolution series. There might not be another spruce beer around, i've never heard of one, but this one is worth the try. Not something I'd drink all the time but a good example that no ingredient is impossible in beer

Pours a black color. 1/2 inch head of an off-white color. Great retention and great lacing. Smells of strong spruce, slight roasted malt, and slight sweet malt. Fits the style of an Herbed / Spiced Beer. Mouth feel is smooth and clean, with an average carbonation level. Tastes of strong spruce, slight roasted malt, and slight sweet malt. Overall, the aroma is great, the feel is good, but the blend is almost completely spruce. Even so, this is still a great beer, that I can't wait to get again.

This spiced beer served on tap, at the brewery, poured a dark brown color, produced a thin off white head. Average to below average head retention, some lacing was left on the snifter. The aroma consisted of sweet malt, spruce and herbal notes. The taste of this ale, was big bodied, sweet caramel malt that quickly gives way to piney spruce needles. Spruce beer is a style that a lot of brewers do not attempt- This was a nice session beer, and a unique brew. Recommended.

A - pours a black without much of a head

S - nose is full of spruce and some sweet fruits mixed in.

T - taste is similar. Opens up with a nice malt profile, but sweet juniper berries and spruce. A little bit of caramel malts show up, but spruce steals the show.

M - medium body with a low amount of carbonation.

D - I have never had a straight up spruce beer, but this delivered really well. I really enjoyed it and kept ordering this one in place of other beers on tap. Recommended!