Spruce IPA
Alaskan Brewing Co.

 

12 oz bottle from Tony into my Bearded Iris Willie Beecher glass.
"Best By" date is not printed.

Pours a semi-transparent apple juice color with a tall creamy head of 2 fingers, very nice lacing and recedes to 1.

Aroma is spruce - yep it's there, caramel malt, and a little bit of apple and strawberry. Very slight onion and fainter diesel.

Flavor is full bodied and very tasty. Has a good dose of chewy caramel malt that just gets sweeter the more it's tasted, followed by some apple and strawberry seltzer, then some floral hop and spruce/pine/mint, and finally a touch of perfume and more spruce/pine. It actually comes together quite well and is very balanced if just a bit on the sweet side.

Feel is medium bodied, alcohol heat is evident, with a slight creaminess and quite a bit of resins building up on the finish. Moderate cling and oils.

Overall, this isn't a beer I could drink five of, but I think it's a tasty IPA that really pays homage to the older malt-focused IPAs and gives a nice twist with the spruce. Well done.

Pours a clear bright honey yellow with a thick white head that sticks around and leaves nice lacing. Aroma is some nice spruce hops and a bit of malt. Flavor follows the nose sweet caramel malt in front with a nice bitter spruce hop finish. Feel is medium bodied and adequately carbonated. Overall a very nice beer.

 

 

Spruce IPA by Alaskan Brewing Company. Poured from the bottle into a pint glass, the head's three fingers thick and off-white, with spotty lacing, & a medium golden amber body.

I smell primarily hops with a lighter touch of the spruce.

Tastes like ,again, mostly the hops with the spruce being milder. It really does a nice job complimenting the flavor of the hops without being too overpowering.

Medium mouthfeel with mild carbonation.

Overall, I'll go ahead and rate Spruce IPA with a solid 4. Thanks to @nicholas2121 for the bottle.

Spruce IPA brewed by Alaskan Brewing Co., with an ABV of 7.00% This American IPA pours out of a 12oz glass bottle into a pint beer glass. The color is a nice deep amber color with a nice white head. There is also a nice amount of lacing to this brew, it sticks to the side of the glass well. The smell is Rich with Hop bitterness mixed with pine. You also pick up on a nice amount of earthly grains and malts in the smell as well. So far Spruce IPA is a nice inviting brew. Now for the taste, it is Bold with flavors. You pick up a nice amount of Spruce or pine notes mixed with mild hop bitterness. The Spruce or pine is a nice touch to this brew. The earthy grains and malts are mild an smooth. It is really hard to pick up on the 7.00 % ABV on this brew, it is just that smooth. Tbe body of Spruce IPA is a solid medium. There is nothing overpowering about this brew, it has a super nice balance to it. This brew would go nice with dinner or on a cold weather day. The mouth feel is Bold, Pine, Hoppy, Clean, Smooth, and Refreshing. Overall I'm going to give Spruce IPA a soild 4 out of 5. I would definitely look this brew up again givin the opportunity to. Alaskan Brewing Co.,did a super nice job with this American IPA.

 

 

Appearance: Deep gold amber glass holds a full cover of white foam that leaves soapy spots all down the glass.

Aroma: A candy sweetness, toffee with orange peel, under lying crystal malt.

Taste: Classic west coast pine and citric hop notes, but fairly mild for today's IPA. Some malt comes through increasing drinkability.

Mouthfeel: Medium body, medium low carbonation, slightly oily but mostly clean finish.

Overall: Spruce? I don't really get any tree flavors. I was hoping for something down the road toward an Anchor Merry Christmas. Didn't really get any Spruce notes, just a slightly perfumed floral note in the nose. But, I don't care, it's a great IPA hitting all the right notes.

Poured into a Seattle Beer Week pint glass. Pours a medium coppery amber with a healthy, two finger white head with good retention and great lacing. Aroma of pale malt and spruce needles with mild citrus. Flavor is mellow biscuit malt, spruce, citrus hops, grapefruit, lemon, mild light stone fruit. Finishes with great lingering fresh spruce resin. Medium bodied with light to medium creaminess. Really glad I picked this up. Alaskan has always been my mainstay in Alaska when away from the cities with more robust craft scenes. Their beers are well made, but often unexciting, but always welcome in restaurants and bars, as well as ubiquitous bottles of Amber on the docks and waysides. I like pine/spruce flavors in ales and this one really delivers. The malt body is quiet, but very supportive and the spruce element is well balanced with the lightly citrus hops. Every so often this brewery comes out with something that leaves inspires me and this is one of them. Nicely done.

 

Poured from bottle into a pint glass
Appearance – The beer pours a deep amber color with a one finger head of off white foam. The head fades quite fast, leaving a tiny bit of foamy lace on the sides of the glass
Smell – The aroma of the brew is massive of pine. Along with the nice spruce pine comes notes of a doughy and slightly bready smell along with some notes of lemon and caramel.
Tastes – The taste begins with a heavy bready and slightly grainy taste with a decent showing of some pine hop at the start. Upfront there is some light caramel and orange sweetness as well, which dwindle as the taste moves forward. All the while, the pine hop gets stronger along with the grain, while the bready taste becomes slightly more doughy in nature. At the end the nice spruce pin hop is joined by a little bit of herb and earth to leave one with a dank, but somewhat thicker malted taste to linger on the tongue.
Mouthfeel – The body of the brew is on the average to slightly thicker side with a carbonation level that is rather normal. For the dank hop and the bready/grainy taste the feel is great and makes of a robust media for all the tastes to be well sensed.
Overall – I rather enjoyed this brew. Full of dankness from the pine with a body to support the malt, hop, and lightly sweetened flavors of the brew. Tasty!!

Appearance:
Deep Amber, clear. Medium rising bubbles. Thick frothy head. Good head retention.

Aroma:
Spruce, some sap... A little citrus, spice, sweet bread, caramel.

Taste/Finish/Body:
Spruce up front, but it doesn't overpower the beer. Moderate hop bitterness, citrus-fruity. Bready, some candy like caramel. Finish is bitter-sweet, lingers fairly long. Medium bodied, slick, smooth, moderate carbonation.

Overall:
It's a very interesting beer, but I really enjoy this one a lot!

 

12oz bottle served in a pint glass. Beer is brassy amber in color and builds nice looking head. Aroma has the distinct woodsy quality of spruce trees, but not overpoweringly so. Like being at the far end of the room from a christmas tree. Flavor combines a piny hop bitterness worthy of a NW IPA with a much stronger does of that spruce flavor. Strong flavors and aggressive carbonation make for a somewhat intense drinking experience, though an enjoyable one. Spruce can be overpowering, but this beer keeps it in control and the result is legitimately an IPA and not a gimmick.

 

 

Poured from a 12 ounce bottle into a Shaker pint glass, "BEST BY" date "042519".

APPEARANCE: pours a clear, copper color with less than one-finger off-white head that quickly dissipated until a thin, broken layer of small bubbles remained, heavy lacing on the glass, medium carbonation.

SMELL: sweet caramel, bread and spruce/pine.

TASTE: the taste follows the nose, initially sweet caramel and bread then a spruce and pine hop profile that lingered.

PALATE: medium body and carbonation, somewhat creamy.

OVERALL: this is a decent beer but I would not seek it out again, maybe a little more subtle on the spruce, this has potential but not quite right.