Anyone brewed with pine or similar?

[Jim Brewster]

For one of my winter / Christmas beers I'm making a pine IPA which will be an American hazy pale ale with piney hops and also pine needle late addition in the boil. When I dry hop I will also be adding a pine tea.

I'm hoping to get some piney resin flavour from the hops but I want it to taste a bit like a Christmas tree so hoping to get that from the pine needles.

(Pine needle tea is supposedly quite a healthy brew - with antioxidants and a lot of Vitamin C / ascorbic acid. I believe it's only yew trees with flat needles and red berries that are to be avoided as they're toxic but fairly easy to differentiate)

I have not found much info on quantities or what is the best way to extract the flavours, i.e. boiling or cold soaking or alcohol extraction, is it worth chopping the needles up, so any info from someone who's tried it before, or failed experiments, would be appreciated

 

[Clint]

I would only make 10 litres or less incase it tastes like toilet duck.

 

[nickjdavis]

I've used Juniper branches before.

Two ways of getting the flavour into a brew...

1) Make a Juniper infusion by boiling your branches in your brewing liquor for 5 to 10 minutes before starting your mash
2) Line your mash tun with a layer of branches before adding your grains....mash and sparge as normal.

I suspect using pine needles in a similar way would work for you.

I guess you could almost "late hop" with it was well....putting your needles in a hop bag and adding to the last ten minutes of the boil.

 

[peebee]

In the unlikely event of you not having seen this stuff:

https://williamsbrosbrew.com/products/alba
Might give some ideas?

It's been my Xmas Tree Beer for quite some while. Long before the "American Beer" trend (although Williams Bros. have been well and truly consumed by that trend now!).

 

[Sadfield]

I've done the same as posted @nickjdavis above.

This book has a good section and recipes for using things like Pine.

The relevant page is posted in this thread.

https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/threads/rab-homebrew-competition.99009/page-2#post-1159491

 

[peebee]

I believe it's only yew trees with flat needles and red berries that are to be avoided as they're toxic but fairly easy to differentiate)

I believe ... it's only the hard kernel inside the red pulpy stuff that's poisonous? But I've had no inspiration to try it! (And I wouldn't recommend anyone else try either!).

 

[Jim Brewster]

I was planning to forage in Thetford forest but I'm currently away at a Greek island where pine is abundant and basically everywhere, so I have decided to collect some here, brew it up as a tea in the room at roughly 80C (approximate based on volumes), and take it home in a flask. I guess I've got a over 50 grams so for a small batch of one gallon that should be plenty.

I think a spruce addition would be better but I'll work with what I've got and see how that turns out and if I want a different flavour I'll add spruce as well next time.

 

[Clarence]

I think a spruce addition would be better but I'll work with what I've got and see how that turns out and if I want a different flavour I'll add spruce as well next time.

I'd recommend a tasteful dash of Vimto, but each to his own.
Isn't juniper the twig of choice among the cognoscenti?

 

[Sadfield]

I have decided to collect some here, brew it up as a tea in the room at roughly 80C

Ah the Gary Delaney classic.

"You know what really boils my pi$$?

Hotel room kettles."

 

[Jim Brewster]

I haven't done anything with the pine needles yet, still in my suitcase. I'm going to go for a Golden ale with a simple gain bill, around 95% pale malt, plus touch of crystal and wheat malt. Use some Talus hops that @chopps gave me a few months back as a late boil addition with the chopped pine needles.