Spa - Spruce Pale Ale
Propolis Brewing

 

16oz can from Brewers Haven, dated 02/09/24. Damn it. Hazy yellow pour, fizzy foamy head. Aroma is light citrus and even lighter pine. Taste is mellow citrus with a faint touch of spruce. Kind of meh. Way past it's prime.

Pours a cloudy chalky yellow hue with a massive pillowy white head that sticks around for the duration and clings to the glass like something that clings.

Nose has some fruity hop elements and then I swear it smells just like raspberries. It's the spruce tips, but the blend of hte hops and the spruce just makes me think exactly of raspberries. Terry, you should give it a shot. Just ripe bursting raspberries. Huh.

Flavour initially leads in with similar berry-based fruit impression, but then by the second act it's definitely tree-based. Which is what I was hoping for. It's like raspberries meet pine. It's a fairly unique profile, and it's one that works for me, but probably wouldn't for everyone.

Body is medium and smoothe and shows the influence of the wheat. Carbonation is fine (in texture... I mean one could call it fine in general as well, but I'd give it more than that). Finish brings in the strong pine impression for a lingering piney bitter finish.

As I stated above, this is a unique brew, and one that won't work for everyone. But it's one that works for me. I like spruce tips in general I've learned, but in addition to that this is well executed. Colour me intrigued!!

 

love finding cans from these guys, and this one is so good, truly different from their spruce saison, this is its own thing, still a little yeast forward which is what makes it for me, sweet and pale but malty in a good way, and the spruce is real and pops it off, of a quality level rarely found, and i reckon their cans are as compelling as anything they bottle, love the decision to move into canning, the ones i have had have been lit! high rising white soapy head on this one, frothy and filmy and lasting, straw colored beer with some haze, looks just fine, the head rules. the beer has a lot of character, more yeast than expected, but the pine botanical part mixes with wheat i think, some residual sugar that takes on a baking vibe, the spruce which hits like gin in the nose and honeysuckle and green tea in the flavor is cool, its just not piney and polarizing, i get like white smarties candy here, and its awesome. very compatible with the somewhat subtle herbal hop profile. never vegetal at all but different and green, the yeast matters here but in an unexpected way for a pale, and overall you just cannot argue the quality and uniqueness. this is one of our countrys best breweries, and it must be acknowledged. everything is fire, bar none.

I don't find any haze in the "botanical" version of the PPA. It's pale yellow and clear with enthusiastic foam in the tall Timmermans goblet. Quite tangy with a moderate astringency. Some malty taste with a bit of sweetness. Long aftertaste of piney, leafy, herbal notes. Hint of yeast in the aroma with a long nose of cedary evergreens.

More resins and acidity in the aftertaste. This is a thoroughly intriguing brew. Propolis has their own way of doing things but this one is of more interest to me since it veers from their endless series of wild yeast concoctions. Though the "bonanical"

 

Poured into a Fremont small snifter. Pours a very hazy golden yellow with a fine, two finger white head with great retention and heavy lacing. Aroma of pale and grainy saison malt, honey and spruce and mild grassy hops. Flavor is saison and wheat malt, grassy hops, a hint of wild yeast, honey and light lemony citrus; moderate grassy hop bitterness with a hint of citrus in the finish. Medium bodied with light to moderate creaminess. A not unexpectedly unique take on a pale ale from Propolis, it shows character from pale and wheat ale as well as the saison style yeast and honey that Propolis specializes in. Kind of a hard ale to identify to style, but the labelled "pale ale with wheat and spruce" pretty much nails it. I'm leary of hazy hopped ales now and this one is nearly opaque, but the flavor is intriguing and refreshing from start to finish. As I got further into my glass, the spruce interacted with the mild citrus from the hops to be reminiscent of West Coast style citrus/piney hop blends. But the conifer character here is from the spruce. I've been a big fan of Propolis, but their distribution has been spotty the last few years. I'm glad to see them back and pushing the envelope into pale ale territory. I really enjoyed this, refreshing, sprucy and flavorful. Excellent lingering aftertaste. I'm going to grab their new "ppa", which I assume is this ale without the spruce. I'm intrigued by the base ale now.