Why it works: Lemon and ginger match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,154 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓
Spruce Beer
Ingredients
Directions
Allow an ounce of hops and a spoonful of ginger to a gallon of water.
When well boiled, strain it and put in a pint of molasses, or a pound of brown sugar, and half an ounce or less of the essence of spruce. You can boil the sprigs of spruce fir in place of the essence.
When cool, add a teacupful of yeast.
Put into a clean tight cask.
Let it ferment for a day or two.
Then bottle it for use.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 6 of 9 ingredients. The other 3 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 6 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Molasses | 1 tbsp (20g) | 58 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Rum | 1/2 oz (15ml) | 32 |
| Lemon | juice of 1 lemon (48ml) | 12 |
| Ginger | 1 tsp grated fresh (2g) | 2 |
| Hop | not in our table | 0 |
| Water | not in our table | 0 |
| Brandy | not in our table | 0 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
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. See the original page.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
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Lemon + gingertop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,154 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
-
Brandy + rumtop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,058 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
-
Sugar + molassestop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,225 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
-
Ginger + rumtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together229 recipes
Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).
-
Ginger + molassestop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,116 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Molasses
- Adds sweetness and a rich, dark flavour to the beer.
- Brown sugar
- Provides fermentable sugar that feeds the yeast and adds sweetness.
- Yeast (in the method)
- Ferments the sugars into alcohol and carbonation during the fermentation.
- Hops
- Adds bitterness that balances the sweetness of the sugars.
The step that matters
Add the yeast only when the liquid is cool. Yeast is killed or stressed by hot liquid, so the wort must cool before adding it. Adding yeast too early can stop fermentation before it begins.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, hops, ginger, molasses, brandy, rum, egg):
- Vanillafits better
- Applefits better
- Peachfits better
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, hops, ginger, molasses, brandy, rum, egg. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“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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