Spruce tip wine

[brokenkettle]

We are entering into the "candling" season of the pines and spruce here in Nebraska. Friends often use the new spruce tips to make a very refreshing beer. I wondered if there might be someone out there who has made a spruce tip wine or mead? Any recipes?

 

[jtstar]

Hey all you pa'ers this is another Nebraskan we are going to catch to you yet

 

[Old Philosopher]

We are entering into the "candling" season of the pines and spruce here in Nebraska. Friends often use the new spruce tips to make a very refreshing beer. I wondered if there might be someone out there who has made a spruce tip wine or mead? Any recipes?

I was hoping I'd find some answers in this thread, so I'll bump it!
(BTW, sorry to have been gone so long!!! Howdy, gang!)

Anyway, on another forum, we were talking about spruce tea. Knowing just about anything but rocks can be turned into wine, I thought, "Why not?" Then I found out Captain Cook brewed spruce beer for his crew to prevent scurvy. Wine should be a no-brainer.

I was hoping someone had tried it, because my only real question is how much spruce needles would a person need for a gallon batch? I'm thinking 5 pounds (which would just about fill a grocery sack!), but would that be too much for only a gallon?

Inquiring minds want to know!!!

 

[Deezil]

I would make the tea / try the tea & see how strong the flavor is... Do bench trials, of a sort..... So-many-ounces to 1-cup, then up it a bit with another 1-cup measurement of water..

If you find a flavor you like that way, you could adjust the amount of water for however much of the spruce you have.. Then brew most of the tips in a fraction of the full volume, to make a concentrate & thin it out in your primary... You could probably even add the tips in a straining bag to the primary if you wanted more flavor..

You're gonna want to measure & add some form of acidity, and something for body so it doesnt turn out 'flat' - golden raisins, bananas, honey maybe.. Wouldnt take the SG above 1.085.. If you use honey, it only takes about 2/3 the amount of honey as it would sugar (recipe calls for 9lbs of sugar, you'd only need 6lbs of honey, roughly) - but its always smart to add half of your sugar source, re-measure, and adjust again so you dont overshoot it..

This is all just 'winging-it' but i think you could dial it in pretty close & then get even closer on a 2nd batch

 

[Old Philosopher]

I would make the tea / try the tea & see how strong the flavor is... Do bench trials, of a sort..... So-many-ounces to 1-cup, then up it a bit with another 1-cup measurement of water..

If you find a flavor you like that way, you could adjust the amount of water for however much of the spruce you have.. Then brew most of the tips in a fraction of the full volume, to make a concentrate & thin it out in your primary... You could probably even add the tips in a straining bag to the primary if you wanted more flavor..

You're gonna want to measure & add some form of acidity, and something for body so it doesnt turn out 'flat' - golden raisins, bananas, honey maybe.. Wouldnt take the SG above 1.085.. If you use honey, it only takes about 2/3 the amount of honey as it would sugar (recipe calls for 9lbs of sugar, you'd only need 6lbs of honey, roughly) - but its always smart to add half of your sugar source, re-measure, and adjust again so you dont overshoot it..

This is all just 'winging-it' but i think you could dial it in pretty close & then get even closer on a 2nd batch

Good suggestion about coming up with a ratio of water/spruce in a tea first. The raisin idea I like, too. Since I'm not going by a real recipe, I usually just step up the sugar as I go, anyway.
I guess it's time to go find a bushel of spruce candles!

 

[Deezil]

You could even expand your bench trials a bit.. try white cane sugar vs honey vs agave nectar or something to see if those other flavors compliment the spruce..... and apple juice vs orange juice vs lemon juice vs lime juice for the acidity - or tartaric acid..

Just options - if you're gonna try something new, have some fun with it

 

[Old Philosopher]

You could even expand your bench trials a bit.. try white cane sugar vs honey vs agave nectar or something to see if those other flavors compliment the spruce..... and apple juice vs orange juice vs lemon juice vs lime juice for the acidity - or tartaric acid..

Just options - if you're gonna try something new, have some fun with it

...Or get really radical, and throw in a handful of stevia leaves for sweetness.

 

[WildBill]

Wouldn't that taste something like Gin? I never tried spruce tea so I don't know the difference.

 

[Old Philosopher]

Wouldn't that taste something like Gin? I never tried spruce tea so I don't know the difference.

It might. But traditional gin is made with juniper berries.
Before I went to the tropics, and learned the joys of a good Gin-n-Tonic, I classified gin in two flavors: Aqua-Velva (the old aftershave lotion) and Pine Oil. Hahaha! I've since learned the error of my ways.
There are 35 varieties of spruce, and they range in flavor from floral, fruity, cola-like to piney. I'm sure wine would vary as much as tea, depending upon the species.

 

[Anna Nelson]

Great ideas,thanks. The spruce tips will be out in a few weeks here in Fairbanks. We have lots of white spruce on our lot, but I am intrigued by the idea that black spruce tips might be better, or even just different. Living here for almost 30 years, I should know for sure, but we have always thought that the difference is that “black spruce “ grows in or above permafrost. I will take some pictures as I gather and do a little more local research.

 

[Rice_Guy]

?? spruce ?? interesting wine

white pine needle works, I would call the flavor smokey. It is low nutrient & sugar content so go about it like a flower wine with organic nutrients and sugar and acid or raisins / bland flavor grape juice.