Spruce beer is a beverage flavored with the
budthumb|right|Flower buds have not yet bloomed into a full-size flower.In botany, a bud is an undeveloped or embryonic shoot and normally occurs in the axil of a leaf or at the tip of the stem...
s, needles, or essence of
spruceA spruce is a tree of the genus Picea , a genus of about 35 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the Family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal regions of the earth. Spruces are large trees, from 20–60 m tall when mature, and can be distinguished by their whorled branches and...
treeA tree is a perennial woody plant. It is most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or trunk with clear apical dominance. A minimum height specification at maturity is cited by some authors, varying from 3 m to...
s.
Spruce beer can refer to either
alcoholAn alcoholic beverage is a drink that contains ethanol . Alcoholic beverages are divided into three general classes: beers, wines, and spirits....
ic or non-alcoholic beverages.
A number of flavors are associated with spruce-flavored beverages, ranging from
floralA flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to mediate the union of male sperm with female ovum in order to produce seeds...
,
citrusCitrus is a common term and genus of flowering plants in the family Rutaceae, originating in tropical and subtropical southeast regions of the world. The most well known examples are the orange, the lemon, the grapefruit, and the lime. The Latin word citrus was borrowed from ancient Greek kedros...
y, and
fruitThe term fruit has different meanings dependent on context, and the term is not synonymous in food preparation and biology. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants disseminate seeds, and the presence of seeds indicates that a structure is most likely a fruit, though not all seeds come from...
y to
colaCola is a beverage usually containing caramel coloring, caffeine, and a sweetener such as sugar or high fructose corn syrup.Originally invented by the druggist John Pemberton, it has become popular worldwide. Coca-Cola has become the major international brand, leading to the drink often being seen...
-like flavors to
resinResin is a hydrocarbon secretion of many plants, particularly coniferous trees. It is valued for its chemical constituents and uses, such as varnishes and adhesives, as an important source of raw materials for organic synthesis, or for incense and perfume. Fossilized resins are the source of amber...
ous and
pinePines are coniferous trees in the genus Pinus , in the family Pinaceae. They make up the monotypic subfamily Pinoideae. There are about 115 species of pine, although different authorities accept between 105 and 125 species.-Distribution:...
y. This diversity in flavor likely comes from the choice of spruce species, the season in which the needles are harvested, and the manner of preparation.
The fresh shoots of many spruces and
pinePines are coniferous trees in the genus Pinus , in the family Pinaceae. They make up the monotypic subfamily Pinoideae. There are about 115 species of pine, although different authorities accept between 105 and 125 species.-Distribution:...
s are a natural source of
vitamin CVitamin C or L-ascorbic acid is an essential nutrient for humans, in which it functions as a vitamin. Ascorbate is required for a range of essential metabolic reactions in all animals and plants...
.
Spruce beer is a beverage flavored with the
budthumb|right|Flower buds have not yet bloomed into a full-size flower.In botany, a bud is an undeveloped or embryonic shoot and normally occurs in the axil of a leaf or at the tip of the stem...
s, needles, or essence of
spruceA spruce is a tree of the genus Picea , a genus of about 35 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the Family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal regions of the earth. Spruces are large trees, from 20–60 m tall when mature, and can be distinguished by their whorled branches and...
treeA tree is a perennial woody plant. It is most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or trunk with clear apical dominance. A minimum height specification at maturity is cited by some authors, varying from 3 m to...
s.
Spruce beer can refer to either
alcoholAn alcoholic beverage is a drink that contains ethanol . Alcoholic beverages are divided into three general classes: beers, wines, and spirits....
ic or non-alcoholic beverages.
A number of flavors are associated with spruce-flavored beverages, ranging from
floralA flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to mediate the union of male sperm with female ovum in order to produce seeds...
,
citrusCitrus is a common term and genus of flowering plants in the family Rutaceae, originating in tropical and subtropical southeast regions of the world. The most well known examples are the orange, the lemon, the grapefruit, and the lime. The Latin word citrus was borrowed from ancient Greek kedros...
y, and
fruitThe term fruit has different meanings dependent on context, and the term is not synonymous in food preparation and biology. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants disseminate seeds, and the presence of seeds indicates that a structure is most likely a fruit, though not all seeds come from...
y to
colaCola is a beverage usually containing caramel coloring, caffeine, and a sweetener such as sugar or high fructose corn syrup.Originally invented by the druggist John Pemberton, it has become popular worldwide. Coca-Cola has become the major international brand, leading to the drink often being seen...
-like flavors to
resinResin is a hydrocarbon secretion of many plants, particularly coniferous trees. It is valued for its chemical constituents and uses, such as varnishes and adhesives, as an important source of raw materials for organic synthesis, or for incense and perfume. Fossilized resins are the source of amber...
ous and
pinePines are coniferous trees in the genus Pinus , in the family Pinaceae. They make up the monotypic subfamily Pinoideae. There are about 115 species of pine, although different authorities accept between 105 and 125 species.-Distribution:...
y. This diversity in flavor likely comes from the choice of spruce species, the season in which the needles are harvested, and the manner of preparation.
The fresh shoots of many spruces and
pinePines are coniferous trees in the genus Pinus , in the family Pinaceae. They make up the monotypic subfamily Pinoideae. There are about 115 species of pine, although different authorities accept between 105 and 125 species.-Distribution:...
s are a natural source of
vitamin CVitamin C or L-ascorbic acid is an essential nutrient for humans, in which it functions as a vitamin. Ascorbate is required for a range of essential metabolic reactions in all animals and plants...
. Captain Cook made alcoholic sugar-based spruce beer during his sea voyages in order to prevent
scurvyScurvy is a disease resulting from a deficiency of vitamin C, which is required for the synthesis of collagen in humans. The chemical name for vitamin C, ascorbic acid, is derived from the Latin name of scurvy, scorbutus. Scurvy leads to the formation of spots on the skin, spongy gums, and bleeding...
in his crew..
Spruce beer, despite its name, is - like
Ginger beerGinger beer is a carbonated soft drink that is flavored primarily with ginger, lemon, and sugar. It is rarely produced as an alcoholic beverage....
and
Root beerRoot beer is a carbonated drink originally brewed using sassafras. Root beer, popularized in North America, comes in two forms: alcoholic and soft drink. The historical root beer was analogous to small beer, in that the process provided a drink with a very low alcohol content...
- not a type of
beerBeer is the world's oldest and most widely consumed alcoholic beverage and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches, mainly derived from cereal grains—most commonly malted barley, although wheat, maize , and rice are widely...
.
Types
Though spruce has sometimes been used as a flavoring ingredient in beer, such as
Alba Scots Pine Ale, and the Alaskan Brewing Company's
Winter Ale, the only beer termed "spruce beer" is Wigram Brewing Company'
Spruce Beer, which is based on Captain Cooks first beer brewed in New Zealand in 1773. Spruce beer, despite its name, is - like
Ginger beerGinger beer is a carbonated soft drink that is flavored primarily with ginger, lemon, and sugar. It is rarely produced as an alcoholic beverage....
and
Root beerRoot beer is a carbonated drink originally brewed using sassafras. Root beer, popularized in North America, comes in two forms: alcoholic and soft drink. The historical root beer was analogous to small beer, in that the process provided a drink with a very low alcohol content...
- not a type of
beerBeer is the world's oldest and most widely consumed alcoholic beverage and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches, mainly derived from cereal grains—most commonly malted barley, although wheat, maize , and rice are widely...
.
Fermented sugar beverages
AlcoholicAn alcoholic beverage is a drink that contains ethanol . Alcoholic beverages are divided into three general classes: beers, wines, and spirits....
spruce beer may also be made from sugar and flavoring from the
spruceA spruce is a tree of the genus Picea , a genus of about 35 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the Family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal regions of the earth. Spruces are large trees, from 20–60 m tall when mature, and can be distinguished by their whorled branches and...
tree. Leaves, small branches, or extracted essence of spruce are boiled with
sugarSugar is a class of edible crystalline substances, mainly sucrose, lactose, and fructose. Human taste buds interpret its flavor as sweet. Sugar as a basic food carbohydrate primarily comes from sugar cane and from sugar beet, but also appears in fruit, honey, sorghum, sugar maple , and in many...
and
fermentedFermentation in food processing typically is the conversion of carbohydrates to alcohols and carbon dioxide or organic acids using yeasts, bacteria, or a combination thereof, under anaerobic conditions. A more restricted definition of fermentation is the chemical conversion of sugars into ethanol...
with
yeastYeasts are eukaryotic micro-organisms classified in the kingdom Fungi, with about 1,500 species currently described; they dominate fungal diversity in the oceans. Most reproduce asexually by budding, although a few do so by binary fission...
. Two different sources of sugar may be used, either
molassesMolasses is a viscous byproduct of the processing of sugar cane or sugar beets into sugar. The word molasses comes from the Portuguese word melaço, which ultimately comes from mel, the Latin word for "honey". The quality of molasses depends on the maturity of the sugar cane or sugar beet, the...
or white refined sugar.
Soft drink
In the Canadian province of
QuebecQuebec is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking identity and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, where it is known in French as
bière d'épinette, spruce beer may refer to either an artificially flavored non-alcoholic carbonated
soft drinkA soft drink is a drink that does not contain alcohol . Soft drinks are often carbonated and commonly consumed while cold. The most common soft drinks are colas, flavored water, sparkling water, iced tea, sweet tea, lemonade, squash and fruit punch....
, or to genuine spruce beer.
Europe
Norway SpruceNorway Spruce is a species of spruce native to Europe. It is a large evergreen coniferous tree growing to 35-55 m tall and with a trunk diameter of up to 1-1.5 m. The shoots are orange-brown and glabrous...
is used for making spruce beer widely in northern Europe . In
ScandinaviaScandinavia is a geographical region in northern Europe that includes, and is named after, the Scanian Province. It consists of the kingdoms of Norway, Sweden, and Denmark...
it is used to flavor fermented
aleAle is a type of beer brewed from malted barley using a top-fermenting brewers' yeast. This yeast ferments the beer quickly, giving it a sweet, full bodied and fruity taste. Most ales contain hops, which impart a bitter herbal flavour that helps to balance the sweetness of the malt and preserve the...
s in the absence of hops.
North America
Alcoholic spruce beer was common in the
colonial United StatesThe Thirteen Colonies were part of what became known as British America, a name that was used by Great Britain until the Treaty of Paris recognized the independence of the original thirteen United States of America in 1783...
and eastern
CanadaCanada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, made from red or black spruce. An American recipe from 1796 states:
Take four ounces of hopsHops are the female flower clusters, commonly called cones or strobiles, of the hop plant . The hop is part of the family Cannabaceae, which also includes the genus Cannabis . They are used primarily as a flavoring and stability agent in beer, though hops are also used for various purposes in other...
, let them boil half an hour in one gallon of water, strain the hop water then add sixteen gallons of warm water, two gallons of molassesMolasses is a viscous byproduct of the processing of sugar cane or sugar beets into sugar. The word molasses comes from the Portuguese word melaço, which ultimately comes from mel, the Latin word for "honey". The quality of molasses depends on the maturity of the sugar cane or sugar beet, the...
, eight ounces of essence of spruce, dissolved in one quart of water, put it in a clean cask, then shake it well together, add half a pint of emptins, then let it stand and work one week, if very warm weather less time will do, when it is drawn off to bottle, add one spoonful of molasses to every bottle.
Today
Sitka spruceThe Sitka Spruce is a large coniferous evergreen tree growing to 50–70 m tall, exceptionally to 100 m tall, and with a trunk diameter of up to 5 m, exceptionally to 6–7 m diameter. It is by far the largest species of spruce, and the third tallest conifer species in the world...
, native to the
northwestThe Pacific Northwest is a region in the northwest of North America, bound by the Pacific Ocean to the west. There are several partially overlapping definitions of the region, but they generally include the Canadian province of British Columbia and the U.S. states of Washington and Oregon, and...
coast of
North AmericaNorth America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and in the western hemisphere. It is bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the southeast by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west by the North Pacific...
, tends to be favored, although other species of spruce have also been used. Lighter, more citrus-like flavors are produced by using the bright green fresh spring growth before the new needles and twigs harden and become woody. Sitka spruce trees on the north-central
Oregon CoastThe Oregon Coast is a region of the U.S. state of Oregon. The Oregon Coast forms the western border of the state, and stretches approximately from the Columbia River in the north to the Oregon–California state border in the south...
develop spring growth in early to mid May.
External links