Spruce Beer
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Combine 4 gallons of spring water with 4 gallons of boiling water in a barrel.
Add 8 pounds of treacle and a few spoonfuls of essence of spruce. Stir the mixture well.
Ferment and bottle
Ferment with yeast in a temperate place, leaving the bung hole open for 1–2 days until fermentation slows.
Close the barrel or bottle the mixture, and it will be ready to drink in a few days.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Treacle
- Provides the sugar that yeast ferments into alcohol and carbonation, and adds sweetness and body.
- Yeast
- Ferments the sugars, producing alcohol and carbon dioxide that give the beer its fizz.
- Essence of spruce
- Supplies the aromatic resinous flavour that defines the beer.
The step that matters
Leaving the bung hole open during fermentation. An open vessel lets carbon dioxide escape while fermentation is vigorous, preventing pressure build-up. Closing it too early can cause the barrel or bottles to burst or over-carbonate, while the yeast needs air-exposed activity to start well.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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