Are spruce beers good with age?

I've no experience aging spruce, but common site logic dictates that aging anything diminishes any additive flavor (i.e.: spruce), so I guess I have to ask you how heavy you like your spruce?

All kidding aside, I would say enjoy 1 now, then again in 3 months, then again at 6, and if you can make it that long try one at 12 months. It will be really subjective and comes down to personal preference: is the beer getting better tasting or worse tasting the older it gets?

 

Of the spruce beers I've had that were aged the spruce had diminished. Whether that's good or bad for you I don't know, it's personal taste, and I say that because having had some of Anchor's Our Special Ale during the early years when they were pine-bombs softening them a bit would have been great for me!

Most beers these days are not nearly as piney or sprucey. The only one that even comes close in my mind is Yards Poor Richards Tavern Spruce Ale which was a little rough the first year, but has since been softened.

Myself, I wouldn't age that Pennsylvania Tuxedo, I thought it was good fresh, but try one now and see what you think. If it's too spruce-y put it in the cellar until Thanksgiving and then see.

 

Jim, without using the terms of "spruce" or "piney" how would you describe the flavor that spruce imparts to a beer?

Cheers!


Edit: I found your review for Pennsylvania Tuxedo and too note of:

“The pine is like that of the floor of a pine forest, soft unless it rains: delicate, and almost floral. The same character appears in the flavor with a light bit of fruitiness and some sweetness. It's not the pine that I was expecting - this is really drinkable, and just a little bit unusual.”

I recently brewed a Spruce Ale using 4 ounces of freshly picked (picked while the wort was boiling ) Blue Spruce tips (I bottled 5/24/17). The aroma/flavor is dominated by the fresh spruce tips and I am at a complete loss how to describe it in relatable terms. I could say it smell/tastes like fresh spruce tips but nobody would know what that means.

I will state that what I am perceiving in this homebrewed beer does not remind me of the floor of a pine forest (and I have walked through many a pine forest).

 

Very good question. How about prusy? I'm kidding, that's just the Polish word for spruce.

It's one of those things... how would you describe the flavor of a banana to someone who's never had one?

More importantly though, I think you're not giving people enough credit in their ability to determine, or guess, what spruce tastes like. Flavor is 98% olfactory, meaning that if you've smelled a spruce tree before you should have a general idea of what it's going to taste like. There are exceptions of course, Durian fruit being one!

Another thing is that different types of spruce, and the age of the needles when they're picked will make a difference. The can be more directly piney, and almost resinous, or they can be floral, grassy, and even citrusy.

Let me know what you come up with!

 

Interesting- which type of needle gives the floral, citrus notes? The young bright green? I wonder if that would taste any good in a cider....

 

Jim, I totally failed at coming up with an objective description. I discussed my Spruce Ale yesterday in the NBS thread:

*So, I used the descriptor of spruce tip aroma/flavor since I personally am at a loss of words to use for a more ‘objective’ description. Last weekend I attended a friends party and I brought along a few bottles of this spruce ale and gave folks pieces of paper and a pen and requested them to write down the aromas/flavors they perceived, This was not done blind; I felt compelled to provide a ‘warning’ that is was a Spruce Ale they were tasting. Some of the feedback I got was: “evergreen” and “grapefruit pith”. For me this beer’s aroma/flavor is not exactly “piney” or “resiny” but something different altogether. In a nutshell it does not smell or taste like anything else that I have personally experienced. As I made mention above: an ‘exciting’ experiment!!

https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/new-beer-sunday-week-645.524138/#post-5525358

Cheers!

P.S. Fresh growth spruce tips do not smell (or taste) like a Spruce tree to me.

 

Hi! I stumbled across this same beer (also bottled in November '16) in late April. I contacted Dogfish Head to inquire about the shelf life and their response was that the beer is meant to be enjoyed within four months of the bottling date. I drank my 4 pack, and although the spruce was detectible, I felt that i would probably have enjoyed the beer more had it been fresh. I too like the idea of trying one now to see how you like it and storing the others away to try over time.


Cheers