Siletz Spruce Ale

Brewed by Siletz Brewing and Public House
Style: Spice/Herb/Vegetable
Siletz, Oregon USA

Bottle, obtained in Ashland, OR. pours reddish brown. Fairly clear, with a small, thin white head. Smells like a malty, brettanomyces Gin. The flavor is only slightly sour, I don’t think there’s actually Brett in here. Nice herbal favor - it’s very refreshing to taste NON-hop piney herbal flavor that obviously doesn’t come from Simcoe/Cascade/Amarillo. Slight gin taste. Nice malt sweetness without being too sweet. Very drinkable. Probably doesn’t store well, due to the lack of alpha acids, that’s probably a factor in a lot of the bad reviews unfortunately . A nice break from the hop insanity, a very unique beer, and perhaps a look back in time to how beer used to taste. Pretty bottle.

(22 oz bottle: $3.20 at Liquid Solutions in Tigard, OR) Siletz continues the run of infected bottles with Spruce Ale. For those keeping track at home, this is now my 15th bottle of beer from Siletz and the 12th that’s been infected. I know these guys CAN make good beer, they just can’t seem to put beer in a bottle very well. After losing about 17 ounces to the volcanic head (after all their infected bottles, I’ve learned to open them over my kitchen sink), the little bit remaining in my glass tastes horribly sour, but also oddly fruity and, something -- maybe that’s the spruce. Dark amber, cloudy, aah what’s the point of describing this biology experiment any further. I’d say it’s a drain pour, but the beer must have known its fate and showed dignity by pouring itself down the drain.

Cloudy dark amber with very little head. Very unique beer...haven’t tasted much like it and I’m not a fan. Cotton candy malt aroma with a hint of sourness. The strong sour taste is not at all what I expected out of this beer...almost like a grapefruit that is way too sour. Reminds me a bit of vinegar in the taste. Not for me, drainpour.

Bottle Pours a murky deep redish brown. Try as I might, I could not coax more that a thin film of a head. Thin sheeting lacing. Aroma is malty, sweet like brown sugar and apple sauce, cinnamin. There is a fruity character as well, but I would not have guuessed it was from spruce tips. The flavor is more telling of the evergreen content. Again, fruity and sour. More like a bock or a brown saison. Feel is nice and malty, with a light carbonation. Thanks KenB for this one.

Had this one at a shithole in the town of newport called Uptown Pub, Fine Ales. They have a great selection of Siletz. Ruby red amber. whitehead. not much of an aroma. tastes like a tangy glass of pine sol infusted with malt. nasty spruce substitute instead of hops. A Must Try!

Bottle (650ml). Deep cloudy burnt copper with a small head - lovely colour, where’s the head? Sweet orange and tangerine malt aroma, light spice and ... I guess that’s spruce? herbal, a little tangy and acidic, gets quite pungent as it warms. Taste - oh, Lord no, please no - very much like biting a spruce leaf, which I did on a dare when small and, trust me, is not pleasant. Average body and everything else; if you like sweet sprucey bevvies, by all means try this.

22 ox bottle, shared with my neighbor and wife. They loved it I didn’t.Not bad, but just too mild and mellow for my taste. Nice spruce flavor. Reminds me of the Dundee’s Honey Brown though in that is is too smooth and too mellow. Would be great if it were a cola instead of a beer, Still i can see why some people enjoy it. 2 out of 3 of us did. Is definately unique and definately worth trying out.

A strange beer that reminds me of a tourist trap in a bottle. They suck you in with the spruce tips and then they take your money and don’t offer any refunds... This is the first beer I’ve had with absolutely ZERO head on the pour, nada. It is a very dark semi hazy amber. It smells of sour fruit and pine trees) or are spruces conifers?). Tastes strange, as I could’ve expected. I think this was a copy of a historical brew that early settlers made. I just don’t have a taste for it I guess.