Captain Cook's Spruce Tip Ale
Haines Brewing Company

On draft at Cafe Amsterdam

Small tan head leaving lovely lacing. Clear deep amber. Caramel and pine on the nose. Good balance of bitterness and spruce. Very nice!

On tap, 11/10/2016

 

 

I had this in a sample snifter at the Capital Brewfest, Juneau.
The appearance was a nice looking hazy amber to orange color with a film of a white head that dissipated fairly quickly. Nice looking lacing stuck and then slid.
The smell had a nice sweet spruce resinous quality with a slight sweet citrus aroma to combine nicely.
The taste was sweet through a combination of spruce, citrus fruit and a light caramel malt helps to balance.
The mouthfeel was slightly sharp but still carried a nice smooth sweetness rolling over my tongue. I would say that this was pretty sessionable.
Overall, if you're looking to try a Spruce Tip ale by an Alaskan brewery, this is your beer. After having Baranof's and Skagway's, in my opinion, Haines makes the best one.

 

 

Now called the "Spruce Tip Ale". I sampled on-tap at the Dalton City brewery location outside of Haines, AK, on 7/28/2009. They add leaves from spruce trees during brewing, which gives it a spiced flavor reminiscent of a lot of the winter ales. Totally unlike the usual nutmeg or cinnamon, however--much more subtle. Extremely drinkable--I can imagine this being an everyday beer. Too bad it's not available in the lower 48!

Tried at the brewery. As GordonS mentioned, it's called "Spruce Tip Ale" now.

Looks like hazy iced tea. Small thin head. Actually has slight green hints when held up to strong sunlight, which surprised me.

Nose is pine and gentle malts.

Taste is slight spruce, but a strong fruity character balanced with sweet mild citrus. Almost a peach/berry punch combo. Interesting.

Thin mouthfeel. Good drinkability.

Okay, so I'm probably the last person to be reviewing a beer, as I'm inexperienced in such matters. [I'm working on it!] But something needs to be said: This is good beer! I bought a growler's worth at the brewery, where it's now called "Spruce Tips Ale." To get to the brewery, I signed up for a Haines nature hike to be reached by ferry from where my cruise ship was docked in Skagway. The nice tour people were most amenable to a sidetrip, as the locals are quite fond of this place and its products. Spruce tip ale is especially popular, in part because of the Vitamin C it affords. To my mind, this is comparable to your basic wheat beer or other summer ale with respect to appearance and mouthfeel, but the difference comes with the pine notes in both taste and smell. Both are immediately obvious, but not overdone; they got it right, I think. I'm new to the herbed/spiced beer style, in addition to being a beer neophyte, but I'd willingly refill my growler there any time. Which brings up a point if you're visiting Haines. Bring cash! There's no credit card accepted at the brewery, and you can only get their beers in 64-oz. growlers ($5.25 deposit) or large bottles which appear to be 32-oz. No beer from a tap, no beer bar & pint glasses, no cans or six-packs! But it was smooth, balanced, and left me wanting more. I shared my growler with friends back at the ship. They're more at home with "BMC" macros -- one had turned up his nose at an Alaskan Brewing Smoked Porter -- but all agreed this was pleasing and refreshing. On a different day I sampled a pint glass of a spruce tip ale offered at a Skagway establishment, and although it wasn't a side-by-side comparison I'd have to favor the Haines over the Skagway beer. The latter one didn't leave me wanting more, and so I left....