Colonial Army Rations: Beer Every Day! - Spruce Beer In Early America
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- čas přidán 29. 08. 2024
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Imagine a world where the History Channel had shows hosted by this guy instead of the current programming
Imagine a world where the History Channel broadcasts history documentaries...
@@CallanElliott They kinda do, except it's their fantasy version of history called 'Ancient Aliens'.
@Juicelad I'm afraid you're mistaken on History Channel's current programming lineup being unprofitable. There IS a fairly stable viewership for shows like Pawn Star and Storage Wars - otherwise they would have been cancelled a long time ago. Truth is, with the en masse cutting of cable subscriptions by the American public, the niche audience who would actually enjoy shows like the Townsends have left the market. It's not a coincidence that the decline of actual historical content at History Channel coincide with the rise of CZcams and other internet-based streaming platforms.
Concur. I would add Jason Kingsley to the short list of presenters.
Char I can remember when they once did
Ambiance so authentic I contracted yellow fever and died :)
I'm dead too, but from laughing.
Love it!
That was hilarious 😂😂😂😂
Shoulda drunk your spruce juice.
:D thank you for the laugh!!
So you mean to tell me that my childhood of making forest potions was one or two cooking steps away from a tasty drink?
yeah, but please avoid "mud icecream"
Or poison . . .
@@tankertom3243 the best looking pine is probably yew.
@@mikesadillan5834 Dude I litteraly remiember doing hte nastiest stuff every making "chocolate milk shakes"
Or death
Man this is awesome, I really want sip some spruce beer with you
Love the sound of that!
I'm a big fan of both of your channels. A collaboration would be so interesting to see! Keep up the good work, both of you!
Townsends now kiss
this is the cutest thing on youtube I love you both
Do it! Hang out and make some killer drinks!
Me: The forest is made of beer?
Townsend: No, that's not what I -
Me: *Revs chainsaw* Yes.
Hell Yeah you can get Alcohol from the forest.. two kinds.. wood grain or consumable alcohol.
😂😂😂
**Standing in clearing of fallen trees** **Scratches head** WTF, there's no beer here...
@@Nocure92 hahaha
🤣🤣
"Let's make a beer out of it." The battle cry of humanity.
Aliens: invade earth
Humanity: LETS MAKE BEER OUT OF IT
Aliens: 😶
To alcohol: The cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems.
Human’s two questions when presented with something new: can we use it to kill. And can we make drugs out of it
@@Saipan2297 The real reason aliens haven't visited Earth yet
I think that may be more of a european thing but alcohol was in most cultures anyway
This channel is truly a hidden gem of CZcams.
I mean......
He almost has a mil subs.....
Peterson Hang it absolutely is!!!
Your so right! It's amazing to see and hear about 1700 to 1800 living, eating, and other ways or things people did back then to live. Plus the wearing of the traditional clothing of the time is a topping of the cake
Deserves way more subscribers
im going to demonetize this channel
6:23 "Let's talk about the other ingredients..."
*Nutmeg has sent you a friend request*
Gajah Mada demands 2 luxuries and 10 gold per turn, for the Nutmeg
@@EmeraldEyesEsoteric *adds research agreement. NO, THIS WILL SIMPLY NOT DO
hahahahaahahaaaa
I got a request from someone called "Whole Cloves"?...hmmm
Ya know, you could grow yeast from soaking mushrooms found on the forest floor, just make sure you don't grab any of the poisonous ones...or the OTHER kind of poisonous ones...who's down for some psychedelic yeast beer?
"A tad of the essence of spruce".
Sounds like something i'd loot off a spriggan
I used to be an adventurer like you, then I took an arrow in the knee.
No lollygagging!!
Gotta fight the Native American- I mean Forsworn. Gotta fight off the Forsworn to get to the spriggin though.
What, someone stole your sweet roll.
/r/unexpectedskyrim
1 minute in: why am I watching this
13 minutes later: my life was incomplete before this and I still don't know why
Dan Witzke im a sober alcoholic and its been 3 years since ive had alcohol. I watched the whole video.
Hearing someone dressed like that say "buy it on amazon" is jarring lol
🤣🤣🤣
hahahaha!
Ye Olde Amazon sells everything. lol
During the time period they had to travel far down south to order stuffs from Amazon.
"look for it in Jeff Bezos' Catalogue and Almanack!"
This is so cool!! My friend is from Alaska and makes the most incredible spruce tip IPA. She won an award for it at her local home brewing contest!!! She has a pretty hair raising tale of picking fresh spruce tips and being charged by a grizzly
Does she have a recipe?
@@LaughingMan44 I wish! It's been years since I've been in touch so I don't think I'd be able to get one
@@Sleipnirseight a shame, I'll have to figure out a recipe myself. Thanks.
I've a tip for your friend
Threat of death makes a lot of things more appetizing
I like the whole "let's make a beer out of it" thought process
Yeah, even though I don't much care for them nowadays, I still recall the by far BEST sentence in all of Anne Rice's Vampire books: "Humans invented agriculture because they wanted to have a steady supply of wheat to make beer".
It's oddly enough still followed too this day with moonshine. Lot of folks experiment with cattail, dandelions, honey, ect.
I highly recommend making beer. It's a fun hobby.
And if you want a modern spruce (flavored) beer try Pennsylvania Tuxedo. It's a saison that just uses spruce tips as an adjunct. It actually inspired me. I'm currently conditioning a Belgian tripel, but in fall I'll likely be making a flavored saison.
@@JoeSkylynx We have a lot of fun in the South with muscadine and blackberries. Watermelon and peach are also fairly popular here as well.
That's the whole of humanity when it comes to alcoholic beverages.
When he mentioned Amazon I pictured a travelling merchant with a cart full of all sorts of crazy things to sell.
@@muadhnate wait...Corruption of Champions?
Ye Olde Hello Kitty backscratcher! For only 4 pence!!! 7 pence for one that doubles as a fire poker!
I imagined a a poor settler making a harrowing voyage, there and back, to the actual amazon just cause he wanted to try one thing.
😆 cart rolls up, greetings I be Amazon a traveler from afar with goods and wears.
@@nastynate1219 do you accept coin for wares?
I like this guy because you can see there's a genuine passion behind what he's teaching, he has all this knowledge of a cool and fascinating history, and simply showing it to people makes him giddy. Love it!
I smile every time I get a notification from you!
Me too, and I keep finding episodes I wished for, when I look through ALL he's done! Lol
As I do. I love this channel.
same :D
James is just such a genuine and sweet dude. It’s refreshing to know there are wholesome kind people out there:)
This is truly the most wholesome channel on youtube. In a world where everyone is jaded, Jon has such genuine excitement and passion for the content he creates. When he tries his creations or is making them, you can tell he is thinking about the people who did it so long ago, and what their experiences were. Thank you for making your passion something we can all enjoy.
I know I’m two years late but this is by far the most accurate comment. He really does enjoy these things. And I’m just now finding his content
People: IPA's are too piney.
Colonials: Hold my beer
love IPA's!!!
Underrated comment
never thought they taste like pine
@@savethesnails9608 yeah not pine, more like hops lol, to each their own. My grandmother used to make both pine,spruce needle tea when we had colds as a kid, that I can drink..now a real IPA hell no!
@@Seizurebleak To be fair I can't say that I haven't had an IPA that I didn't enjoy, but it was a rather mild brew as far as they go, but I can say I have tried some that stained my mouth with the bitterness for days, and gave me quit a sour stomach, hats to those who enjoy the rather strong flavor of bitter hops the IPA carries. I myself am more of a pilsner type of guy, I also enjoy a good stout Wich you might find odd being I don't typically like an IPA. Anyways 🍻 friend happy drinking 😎
Kids: "Dad, what happened to the Christmas tree?"
Dad:.....
As a little boy my family was getting ready on Xmas eve and I asked my mother if we could leave cookies and milk out for Santa.
My father looked up from what he was doing and said, "I think Santa would prefer a beer."
@@aspektx Dad: I'd like a Bud Light
Son: I have no father.
aspektx hey if santas lactose intolerant beers a good substitute
"I drank it"
HERPY DERPEDY yeah cuz as a kid I knew bud light was cheap crap as a kid what I thought tasted best was vodka although I didn’t drink much of anything I would just taste it like a tiny sip
I really love this channel. Even though I don't eat or partake in all of these things, seeing people and food and equipment of the 17th and 18th century brought to life in such painstaking detail is a marvel to watch
AGREED
Just makes me appreciate how easy things are now. I drove 20 minutes and bought 2 liters of drink bottled halfway across the world.
What a nice hobby to be a historian at the level he takes it to! Cool clothes, too ;o) comfy cozy!
I personally think very highly of hobbies. But I've been around people who produce professional work but modestly call it a "hobby". This is a Scandinavian cultural quirk (Law of Jante). Sorensen is a common Scandinavian name, a clue to my cultural background. So no offense was intended. I agree that he has a wonderful role in preserving history and making it accessible for the general public.
@@h0lystrike855 I really love his channel. He is the best I've ever seen! :o)
When we were doing Civil War living history, my wife got into 19th century cooking. We ordered all kinds of gear from your magazine and she used to copy recipes from your calendars to cook during "heavy camping events".
Love your vids and company, always recommend them to people into history whether they do living history or not.
Here in Norway Juniperspruce beer is much used, with or without alchohol, popular for Christmas and winter.
Menar du julmust?
@@K4inan Ikke akkurat men nesten , koker med einerbar istedenfor gran , der det er mye einer å finne .
@@MrPh30 vad heter drycken i norge?
Juniper berries added to gin helps cure arthritis pain. Wonder the origins of this?
Added to golden raisins to power up the juniper berries!
native americans: hey we made a spruce thing so now you don’t have scurvy!
europeans making it beer: _nice_
If only they hadn't heated all of the needles.......
Me: “oh hell yea bet they were stoked about spruce beer” 😄
*instantly remembers how alcoholism helped to destroy Native American society* 😕
@@peterbrazeal7171 I guess they were a bit too stoked
Make the tea, not beer, if you're going for the vitamin C.
@@nancyeunike6022 spruce tea tastes like eating grass, I'll take my alcoholism
The Continental Congress was really good at writing things down, like this list of provisions, providing them was another thing all together.
I love that they looked at a tree and said "I'm drinking this".
Many 18th-century people never drank water, so they were always on the lookout for things they could brew into drinks.
I like they said that about other trees and it ended up poisoned
@@LegendofLaw Just think, everything edible and many things inedible were once consumed for the first time by someone. It's a testament to humanity's curiosity and bravery (and, perhaps, it's foolhardiness).
@@Low_commotion in other words. To be knowledgeable someone must first be stupid.
@@dylanmccallister1888 In some cases, but it's likely most of the people who first tried things died. So I'd put it more like "Knowledge is built off the observations of the wise and the sacrifices of the foolhardy."
Me: I should really be getting ready for work
CZcams: welcome to 18th century cooking!
that's what I said at about 12:30... now its 5....
Accidentally legit lost a gig this way once. 😂
I should be sleeping ...but here I am......😏
You lose about half of the vitamin c when boiling it, so a lot is still present in the beer.
One thing you could do to retain more of the vitamin c, is simply make a tea by steeping the spruce in warm (100°) water for an hour and mix that in when you're pitching your yeast.
Lol I was thinking get c
By throwing in some minced spruce as a
Garnish
Dry hop it, but with nettles!
And that’s what I decided to do so I could keep this “medicinal” 😂
@@alienmorality 👍🍻
@@alienmorality bucking for the generals job
i clicked onto your channel after finding my way to it (thank Mrs Crocombe for that), and i felt sad because one of the videos on your main channel was uploaded 2 years ago, and i worried that i was a bit late to the party and you guys shut down. But then I clicked onto your VIDEOS tab and lo and behold - you're here! with a fresh, hot video only fifteen or so minutes old! Yay! So lucky to have found this channel! Thank you for what you do!
Hot off the press! Welcome to the party!
I came here from "you may like..." From Mrs. Crocomhe too!! As someone who used to go on vacation to colonial Williamsburg alot when I was a child, and loved it, these videos jog such great memories of the reenactments I saw there!
Your icon, Molotov solution?
Jon, this came up before and I wanted to correct you on it back then but didn't have the chance: the amount of yeast you use per volume is not linear. All modern yeast is scaled to one to five gallons, i.e. you use the same amount for one as you do five, and even ten is not much more. The reason this is so is because of scale factors. In practice, it's almost impossible to use too much yeast and you do not want to use too little or the wild factors can take over. Two gallons is a very small batch as far as scale goes and you should add the full amount and not go under that amount. We need a fairly high population in all cases and this does not mean you can scale it with volume like you would a pie or cake recipe for example.
I've been brewing everything under the sun for about 50 years now and you can believe me. What you say may sound intuitive...but it is not. The reason for this is the dynamics of dealing with a live organism and not a static ingredient.
And yet you can do exactly what John said and have enough yeast for two batches of something, both of which will turn out just fine.
Teach us boomer
@@GavinTheEnchantedHunchback When you speak of brewing, you can never say something "will turn out just fine" - because there are so many variables. Some of these variables can be controlled and perhaps even eliminated with modern brewing equipment and methods, and others not so much. Anytime you reduce the amount of yeast used to ferment a batch, you are lengthening the time during which bad things can happen - the lower the initial yeast population, the longer it takes the yeast to propagate to the proper population necessary to ferment the beer, and the greater probability that undesired organisms will find their way into your fermenting beer and out-compete the yeast for the fermentable sugars. Most of these undesirable organisms are undesirable because they produce very unpleasant odors and flavors. So your premise that splitting the yeast population is guaranteed to produce successful results is inaccurate and, in fact, quite a risky proposition.
@Gavin the enchanted, why so snide? I’m guessing you are a Bud Light kind of guy?!
@@GavinTheEnchantedHunchback True, don't you just love it when some know it all tells you you can't do what you've been doing successfully for years "because blah blah blah".
I hope you know, that you're an amazing man with a worthy passion. Guys like you are rare and a national treasure, these days, I think.
11:05
Brewer's advice here: NEVER dip your finger in unfermented wort after it has been boiled. You will introduce new bacteria which can spoil the beer
Is it more authentic to the 1775 recipe to dip though? 🤔
@@thesmith201052 it’s also true to the recipe to drink the infected brew and die of botulism without modern medical intervention
@@jimb0e186 I would watch that video if this guy made it….”Ok now we are gonna drink the infected brew, Just like they did in 1775!”…
@@jimb0e186 ......maybe if you let the beer sit for months. But they were drinking this daily. No time for it to spoil boyo, if you get botulism from day 1 of your spruce beer, you reaaaaaally mucked up somewhere before you dipped your finger in....like dipping your still alive chicken in it. And then licking said chicken.
@@plaguemarine7767 after boiling you let it ferment for a couple of days. So introducing bacteria to a bucket of unrefrigerated sugar water can definitely ruin a beer, especially if you don't add enough active yeast
Thanks for keeping this channel going.....it really provides me an escape from our stressful lifestyle.
Drink more beer.
Hhahaha cooter I love it
I don't know, with all the disease and whatnot they were probably pretty stressed
@@KaitouKaiju Probably they had too much work to do to have time to be stressed
I finally got around to doing this. I went with molasses and added a little anise extract. It came out tasting like a more savory root beer. The spruce really comes out at the finish. This has been really fun. I'm planning on making ginger beer next.
I know it's a tired cliche to call any enthusiastic, skilled proponent of an art the "Bob Ross of X" but Townsends really is the Bob Ross of vintage victuals. It's like being wrapped in a big blanket of knowledge and experience.
I think the litmus test is, "Would PBS in the 80s have made a show with this level of production quality, and care on this topic?" This channel surpasses that bar so well.
He’s more like the Mr. Rogers of the 18th century
DaveDexterMusic tired cliche? I’ve never heard that before lol you’re all good in my book :)
DaveDexterMusic especially when I can’t sleep...now I’m multitasking 😂😉👩🏽💻🥂
Read up on Bob Ross, he wasn't as chipper about the show or his signature haircut as you've been led to believe
I love how he also tells you how to do stuff if you're using modern equipment.
Man I just gotta say you bring me a lot of early 2000s sunday TV programming nostalgia and it's amazing. Not only is it so comforting to watch your channel but it is also such a courtesy of you to show us the things you love and inform us about them and entertain us with them. Im totally gonna bake an onion. You're awesome.
So many people are gonna be walking around chewing on sticks and twigs after this video
The next cedar tree I see has my name on it.
@@MrSab177 Spruce, a sub-family of Pine was used. A number of Cedars/Junipers are poisonous so make sure you pick the right one...
@@omgrussian
Oh....
Not me I'm in south texas. What is this spruce you speak of?
i dont think spruce grows in alabama....dang.
yep, seen home made beer explode when capped too soon - Grandma did NOT approve of the shenanigans my uncles were performing in her basement!
Gotta let it go flat/degas then "prime" it with a little sugar. If only your uncles had researched their hobby poor Grandma's basement might have been spared.
It helps to ferment it all the way, and then add small amount of sugar to each bottle. Leave the bottles in water proof box for few weeks to age and carbonate. That way if any do go off, its contained.
Hank Schrader leaves the chat.
My last batch of kvass blasted a hole straight through the top of the cupboard I had it stored in.
I have pancake syrup and a pine tree so i think i am going to make this in my bedroom. But i dont know where to get yest. Can you just grind up bread?
This reminds me of the old PBS shows I used to watch in the morning before school...
I really love it when you brew/distill period beverages. More of this please!
Your videos dealing with military rations are some of my favorites!
lets get this out on a tray. nice
1776 party menu is almost complete
Washington added one last imput to the rasions and that was an equlivicate to a grog, yes grog of whisky for his men every night. He said I won't command my troops into battle away from family and comfort if you don't approve these measures for my men. He's an old relative of mine,we all have bad teeth too. The apple don't fall far from the tree, huh! Great videos.
Imagine if u see a dude taking huge bites out of a spruce tree and shouts “ITS EDIBLE!!!” and hands u a huge chunk
I'd try it. Back in highschool i was hustling toothache tree bark for classmates to use as dip. Principle freaked right out when he saw me open my jacket and pull out a little baggy of brown and green stuff and then exchange it for money with other students lol.
I eat spruce all the time, taste excellent when shoved in a fish
@@kanmeridoc1784 they used it as dip? Like a sauce?
@@ThirrinDiamond sorry, not a sauce XD. More like chewing tobacco. I guess Snuff is the proper term. I can definitely see how that would get confusing though.
To spruce things up: -
I could watch colonial field cooking all day. Fascinating stuff.
I hope he realizes how much his content is appreciated.
My favorite thing about this channel is all the little items, the cool containers for the spruce essence and molasses to metal poles you use over the fire pit to hang the pot from, I love it.
My understanding is that pine needles, corns (immature cones) and flowers serve a similar purpose as hops in modern beer. They add astringency, aroma and flavor to the beer.
It's to bitter beer, that's the main purpose of hops. Without it, beer is very sweet. Hops became the main way to bitter beer in Europe around the 1500's. Before that, and in some places after that, various herbs were used, we call it gruit today. The most widely used herbs and plants we know of are heather, bog myrtle, yarrow and dandelion. Spruces, firs and pines were probably used too but I don't think nearly as widely, perhaps in Scandinavia, but in the British isles and mainland Europe, there were mostly deciduous trees and not many pines, spruces or firs.
Is it just me, or does this dude seem like the nicest guy on the internet? So wholesome.
United States Air Force Master Sergeant, retired, Robert “Bob” Ross has entered the chat.....
As a guy who used to brew the occasional batch of beer in college (with extremely inconsistent quality) I am 100% gunna try this out. The fact that this will ferment in just a few days to maybe weeks (if you include the bottled fermentation) in comparison to the months that beer takes already looks amazing to me.
Check out kvass. "Life of Boris" has a good video on how make it.
I wonder if this has any more than 1-2% alcohol in it for fermenting only two days? Have you tried this yet btw? 🙂
You might also mention "spruce gum" (the resin of the spruce tree, which was chewed as gum).
It's super sticky on your teeth lol and not very sweet without sugar added.
I remember that from when I was a kid! Not exactly Juicy Fruit.....
yeah and coyote poop is white
I think Spruce gum is available at Durgin-Park Restaurant in Boston!
Hooray for Spruce Beer!!!!
Hey you look familiar.
John Eden are we Facebook friends? Maybe you know me on Tumblr or Twitter.....or maybe I just have one of those faces.
"Beer is proof God exists, and wants us to be happy."
-Benjamin Franklin
Interesting
Farts are proof God has a sense of humor.
I suspect Ben Franklin’s true source of happiness was schtupping every single woman within arms reach of him.
@@ianmac214 nope. Look up hellfire club. Franklin was not a good man, despite the accolades.
"What if we had some dudes get some water, and like, put it ON the fire?"
-Ben Franklin creating the first fire department
If you ever find yourself in Eastern Canada or more specifically Halifax around Christmas there is a brewery there Called the Garrison Brewing Co that make spruce needle beer during the month of December. There is nothing quite like it
I was taught to make Pine Needle Tea as a young Boy Scout as a survival drink. Mainly because of the vitamin C.
Mark Keller no you just stick pine needles in water and drink it.
Tony DeVault No more scurvy now!
Mark Keller if you boiled it taste better but you ruined the nutrition value.
@@potatopotawto1412 You can pour hot (not boiling water) over it and let it steep in a cup without destroying the vit C if you need a warm drink (winter) or are heating the water to sterilize it, but most of the time you just put the needles into your canteen and let them sit there and steep as you walk.
@@oaksparoakspar3144 I've seen this done on various camping trips, and many people chew the needles as they drink it too.
I just steeped some black spruce and am enjoying the tea for the first time since learning to identify the tree AFTER seeing this video. Thank you Mr T! Inspirational. God bless yous. 💚-A in Michigan
I've made maple mead much the same way. By the way, who are the 86 curmudgeons who disliked this? I think they need a beer ;)
Perhaps they've had a few too many - and missed the like button!
I make Mead too! Not maple Mead but still!! My favorite is my fall Mead, after it's done I add some cinnamon sticks, orange peels + apple
The people who disliked it are probably teetotalers who think anything fermented is a sin.
I rather fancy trying this recipe with the maple and a second batch with honey. Then maybe a 50/50 split of honey and maple to make MapleSpruceMead.
Serve with poutine for intense Canadian flavours.
I have questions about maple mead cause that sounds amazing. I've had regular mead before but where could one find the maple variant and if its available commercially, are there any brands in particular that are superior to others?
might try this, i live in finland and here is just the right type of spruce
Don't forget to let us know how it turns out.
Hakkaa päälle!
Hm.. I'm thinking about trying it out myself. But in Sweden we mostly have picea abies, wich I would guess is the case in Soumi too, but the frontier beer prefers the black spruce, picea mariana. I wonder if there is a big difference between the spruces tastewise?
@@Etubnuel smaken är väldigt lik blir ingen märkbar skillnad
@@theswedishpanda3897 vad bra! då blir det till å brygga nu i år, så fort skotten vuxit till sig. Tack för svar!
Var hälsade medsvenskar
Looks great. I remember my grandparents mention they made spruce lung remedy. Fresh spring new growths were covered with sugar. It released liquid and was used as a sirup for cough. I have no idea how effective it was. It was for a family member suffering from "weak lungs" as they called it. Well, by the description it sounded like asthma. But getting a doctor in the WWII period in rural areas was not easy.
Early Americans are so fascinating to me. So practical, resourceful, and ingenious. I think a lot of that spirit still lives in the interior and less built up areas.
My grandparents survived the depression with ways like what Jon shows us in the videos.
Its spread out everywhere, but many of us are covert about our lives, to avoid judgment. I don't use doctors or grocery stores.
Fantastic channel, amazing host, and great production quality, reminds me why I dumped my cable TV subscription years ago
When I was volunteering at the Explore Park in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia at the 1750's Fort VAuse compound, the fellow who ran the place made some spruce beer based up on a recipe in "The Packet, vol. 1". It was from an 18th century recipe and called for the use of molasses but NOT "Black Strap Molasses" because that was way too strong and overpowered everything. From the batch that he made, he gave me three 20-oz. bottles of it. Two of the bottles had little if any carbonation but tasted OK. The third bottle carbonated just great and it was a very tasty Spruce Beer. The carbonation comes from the residual yeast eating the remaining sugars in the beer., turning it into Co2.
We don't add sugar in the typical 1 hour boil of the wort for "normal beer" or the fermentation of it because the grains used are primarily barley and we've already extracted the fermentable sugars from the barley either by mashing the grain (soaking for about an hour at 150° to 154°) or by buying liquid or powdered extract of them. At the end of the fermentation, you have all the alcohol your beer's going to have but basically it tastes like flat beer. You have to give the residual yeast more sugar to eat to make the carbonation, so we add it to wort before we bottle it. Then time takes care of the rest.
With modern methods, after typically 2-weeks of fermentation, there is not enough sugar left to carbonate the beer. It has all been converted to alcohol by the original yeast used to brew it. So, we add some sugar to the wort and carefully stir it in avoiding splashing the wort. Then we bottle it and typically wait for 2-weeks for the beer to get well- carbonated. I made one batch of a clone of the Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, and it took only 1-week to reach its carbonation level,. but that's unusual.
On the other hand I have made some stouts that took 4 weeks of "bottle conditioning" to reach carbonation levels and to get to the proper taste. Did one stout that I though I was going to have to throw out after 2-weeks of bottle conditioning because it had very little carbonation and the taste just wasn't there - I wouldn't drink it. After 3-weeks, the carbonation and taste had improved to the point that I knew I wouldn't have to throw it out, and after 4-weeks It was easily as good as anything available commercially. But 2-weeks is the common amount of time needed both for fermenting your beer and then another 2-weeks for bottle conditioning it.
One other note real quick. You have to be a little careful about yeast. Most yeast cannot handle "blood temperatures", which are in the 90° range. Most of the ale yeasts work fine between about as cold as 62° or as high as 72°. So you nomrally want to cool your wort down to ~70° before pitching your yeast in. If you pitch most yeasts into wort that is 95° or so, you'll kill the yeast and will got no fermenting at all. There are some fairly new yeasts available now that are from Norway and they can handle temperatures between 62° and 98°. They are actually ancient Norwegian "Kveik" yeasts that have recently become widely available.
Hello, thank you for this great recipe. Although I „slightly“ changed it.
I am very often in the woods and so I do know what spruce tea is. Just boil some spruce little twigs in hot water. But in my area there are many pine woods so I mostly put them into the water. In this case I changed the spruce beer into a pine beer and even changed the maple syrup to some sugar beet syrup. It‘s more common here living in middle europe and it‘s cheaper by the way. The normal yeast I use for my selfmade mead is bordeaux yeast and the fact I had some yeast left helped me in my decision what to put in.
So after all it‘s not a spruce beer anymore but furthermore a local variant of it. The taste is wonderful and I‘m sipping it right now typing this. Although I have no comparison to your true spruce beer it‘s delicious and I wonder if this could be better in any way?
So again, thank you for sharing your knowledge in a kind manner.
Cheers!
He said that in more southern areas they used pine instead of spruce but it wasn't as good
That’s pretty cool man! What other booze do you make?
Super cool!
This reminds me of every time I read the comment section of a recipe online there's always a few that go something like "Oh I loved your recipe! I made it and my entire family loves it so much there were no leftovers! The only thing is I added oat milk instead of regular milk for the batter, and I didn't add any garlic or pepper or salt, but added soy sauce instead. And I substituted turkey breast for the flank steak since we try to stay away from red meat. And I added cream of mushroom soup instead of broth. It was so good. Thank you for the recipe!" LOL
I am currently drinking a batch of pine needle and sage tea, not fermented but kegged with CO2 for carbonation. It looks like beer, but isn't. Very good!
Yards Brewing Co. makes a spruce ale, which is supposedly based on Ben Franklin's original recipe. Pretty good stuff.
That place is in philly. That is where cheesesteaks are if you didnt know that.
@@greenlawnfarm5827 I love a good milksteak.
@@fartkerson NOT MILKSTEAK. I SAID CHEESESTEAK. AND YOU CAN ONLY GET GOOD ONES IN PHILLY I HOPE YOU KNOW.
@@greenlawnfarm5827 Ok, but do they come with jellybeans served raw.
@@fartkerson No. They dont give you anything with cheesesteaks. They put the onions and cheese in the cheesesteak and thats it. And jellybeans are not raw. They cook them and the outside is crunchy but the inside is gooey. I saw a video on how they make them so i know. The best kind is jelly belly and you can get the huge can of them at costco.
This man loves what does, and it really shows. I love that.
"Back in MY DAY, we drank pine tree water that we boiled and turned into beer...AND WE LIKED IT!"
I always use Norway spruce. I don't know how common it is in North America, but here in Sweden it is everywhere and you can of course use it in different things - not just for drinks. Add tips raw to salads, puree them for contrast in desserts or pickle them and add them in.. whatever, really. The one key is not to cook them as they both taste worse and lose all the appealing color (turning from a vibrant green to a dreary brown).
Columnar Norway spruce is a common landscape plant in my part of the USA.
When I was in Boy Scouts we went to Virginia and visited a historic fort there. One of the demonstrations was someone making Spruce Tea and everyone in my troop loved it, especially this one second year. He loved it so much that on our next camp out he made "Spruce" tea every day all weekend. Well come late Saturday night the kid got horribly horribly sick, he was vomiting basically nonstop. It was so bad we needed to call an ambulance and he got talken to the hospital. Turns out the "spruce" he was drinking was juniper.
Imagine the flashback to that the first time he smelled/tasted gin later on during college 😬
I was admiring the shelter.
John Bradley Evans I would be spending the night there too. Some chigueing in the joints to block wind ! Yeah
Thanks to you a lost way of life can endure through others who may be inspired by it. You have my absolute respect.
Hello from Denmark. We use spruce as christmas trees and there is a famous christmas carol that talks about eating the tree. For so long i thought that made no sense. Now i im a little wiser thanks to this video. Thank you and have a nice day.
Camera work and editing on this channel was and still is really really good!
So true - also I'm super impressed with Jon's ability to make long cuts, as it's super challenging to deliver stuff without seeming to make much effort, but not screw up!
Goodwood brewing in Louisville Kentucky brews a beer aged on spruce tips. Spruce Tip IPA
It's an ipa...
This guy always seems so happy to share knowledge. I love this channel
Is it me or did he go all Christopher Walkin at 3:33 ? Love the videos as always!
I Am Me " We got our CUTTINGs, and we kinda CHOPPED em down a little bit" haha, good ear, definitely sounds like Chris.
I Am Me he did
Side note, it looks so nice out where you are Jon and Co!
Northern Indiana
It resembles Iowa in practically every way, which is why I like it! ✨ Midwest Is Best!!! ✨
@@LittleBunnySunshine heck yeah! Nebraska represent!
TheLastHylianTitan Woot-woot!!!!! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 The Big NE!!!!
As an amateur home brewer, I am going to make this. Thank you for sharing.
Another amazing video from Townsend’s! I absolutely love this channel!
One of my absolute favorite CZcams channels!! God bless!
Patrick Glaser - the left seem to be hell bent on anti self reliance and self sustainability. Doing away with history and culture around the world so as to usher in this “borderless United citizen utopia”.
@@brootpk yep. Sounds about right
From a brewmaster in British Columbia here; great video!
I regularly make a spruce tip beer. The spruce are sustainably spring picked (new), then frozen for a minimum of 17 days, to kill any spoiling microbes, I then add it to a beer after it's finished fermenting. This way, 2 things happen, the vitamin c is retained, but mostly, boiled spruce is more piney in flavour, whereas spruce added to the a beer post boil retains more of a sweet fruity note reminiscent of maple syrup.
Also from what I understand the saying "getting all spruced up" came from drinking spruce beer.
Nope, it has to do with trimming leather and making it look nice.
@@CanadianCCP good info brah
@@CanadianCCP but what may I inquire does spruce and leather have a parralel?
"Spruce' isn't just a tree-it's a historical name for Prussia. 'Spruce leather', a product of the region, was popular among the fashionable set, and by the end of the 1500s, 'spruce' was used to describe anyone fashionable or neat in appearance." -Merriam-Webster's website
CanadianCCP trimming armor free?
Your excitement is great. Don’t get down pardoned. You do a wonderful work
This channel provides such a wonderful escape during the current Covid-19 Quarantine.
Glori in her 40s my daily binge
Your videos on colonial beers and foods are the most interesting. I'd never heard of spruce beer before. Thank you for the information & education you provide
Absolutely love this channel! You guys are the "This Old House" of 18th century living. Love it!
This is a treasure of knowledge, and just so much fun to watch :)
As a home brewer / cook, go ahead and use maple syrup ... the flavour all but disappears. In fact, the great difficulty in brewing is maintaining that fragile maple syrup flavour.
DrDankoff so you should use molasses so the flavor stays?
@@owenmoorhead9452 no
Would sorgum syrup work in the place of maple syrup?
@@hunt_fishrepeat9539 the other recommendation is cane syrup
I did one batch, hard to describe the taste. A little bit of maple syrup, but not much. It is definitely a light summer drink.
Great video to randomly stumble on! I live on Canada's west coast and history tells us the british navy/explorers did the same thing, but with Sitka spruce. That spruce is up the coast from where I am, but I found a few spruce trees near me but all I can tell you is they are not blue. Anyway, have been making spruce tip beer for four years now. It is a regular whole grain home brew setup. I really want to try that maple syrup recipe though Eh!
My best advice for a spruce tip whole grain beer is keep it simple. Take an old school ipa recipe and add spruce additions in with you hops. Total spruce additions should be kept to 1 to 2 ounces per gallon. Divided up your additions as you wish. My last batch I just threw all the spruce in at 5 minutes left of the boil. Smells amazing, bottling soon!
This gives me a greater appreciation for the beer we drink nowadays.
I just want to say thank you, you are a Gem sir, I genuinely get happy everytime I get a notification from your channel. my favorite was your pemiccan video from four years ago, I intend to watch them all lol.
I've been binge watching these videos! It's all so fascinating
Yards Brewing Company in Philadelphia brews a spruce beer, which they describe as brewed according to a recipe that Ben Franklin had. It is a proper ale, though, brewed from barley malt but with spruce tips added.
Always love your videos Townsend, thank you for making them!
This is one of your better demonstrations. Thanks!
Truly enjoy your postings, fascinating history and DIY info...Thanks Mate!
The pioneer spirit:
Whats growing here, and how can we make alcohol from it
Jaques Cartier and other early explorers were saved by Black spruce and Balsam fir edibles.. Great channel!
Just had to watch this, we have lots of spruce trees! Am soooo going to try this.
I’ve always loved watching your videos. Keep up the great work
Great video. Love the enthusiasm. Not a “beer guy”-but I certainly want to make some of this for nostalgia sake.
Soldiers back then: "I say, mashed peas, beef cutlet, and beer again? Is there no variety in these military rations?"
Soldiers now *We out here eating CrAyOnS*
Only the marine corps
Yeah, that's what happens when you become glorified equipment.
Tide pods bro, they eating tide pods.
It is said 1 out of 2 jokes end with the marines eating crayons. Those poor souls :(
I like the red ones 🤦♂️
When my pappaw was teaching to make applejack and moonshine when I was a child, he told me the only measures I needed to remember is "a pints a pound the world around".
Explain the saying please. Heard it a few times, but don't understand the actual meaning.
@@CarlPapa88 16 oz
@@CarlPapa88 he's converting weight to volume