Garrison Brewing Company Spruce Beer

Spruce Beer

 

Garrison Brewing Company in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada 🇨🇦

  Spiced / Herbed / Vegetable / Honey - Herbal Special
Score
6.88
ABV: 7.5% IBU: 35 Ticks: 10
North America’s oldest beer style brewed with local spruce & fir tips, blackstrap molasses & dates. Dark amber and brown colouring. Aroma is a comforting mix of spruce boughs, caramel malts, molasses and dates. Complex and full bodied, it balances the crisp bitterness of spruce and fir gum with the warming flavours of molasses and bittersweet chocolate.
 

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7.2
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7

Dark copper pour, small white head. Big earthy aroma, some spruce, and sweet fruits. Flavor was big on molasses and more earthy spruce. Touches of citrus from the spruce and ir ome through with a light fruits from te dates. Quite intereting and complex.

Tried on 28 Feb 2025 at 05:34


6.6
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5

473mL can. Pours clear brown with small beige head. Aroma has sweet caramel malts. Flavour has a bunch of caramel malts and spruce sap, blackstrap molasses. Nice and cozy beer. Quite enjoyable.

Tried from Can on 18 Dec 2024 at 23:09


6.4
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5

Pours a copper from a bottle, sweet spruce aroma, flavor is like a copper ale with a sweet spruce note. Interesting. Good beer.

Tried from Bottle on 24 Aug 2017 at 19:03


7.8
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8

Thanks Fred.
This was poured into a pint glass.
The appearance was a nice looking hazy red to brown color with a one finger white foamy head that dissipated within about a minute. There was some light lacing trickling down the sides of the glass.
The smell had a decent spruce to sweet molasses. Combined, well not really. It seems as though these smells come in at separate times.
The taste was mainly sweet with a slight kick of sprucy piney - ness. Was that vanilla in there too? If so, I kinda like how that works in with the spruce and molasses, nice.
On the palate, this one sat about a light to medium on the body with a fairly decent sessionability about it. The carbonation was somewhat sharp but I’m wondering if some of it is due to the spruce in it.
Overall, well the Alaskan breweries can’t seem to get to get this right or at least to me but my hat goes off to this Canadian brewer for getting this right. Oh Canada, wait a minute, I’m still American.

Tried from Can on 05 Aug 2014 at 22:37


6.2
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7

Sample, draught, tasted during the Hivernale des brasseurs, savoured on February 22 2013; eye: caramel with a reddish hue, clear, no effervescence, no head, no lacing; nose: soap gum, light caramel, spruce; mouth: soap gum, light caramel, spruce, finale in spruce with presence of soap gum, medium body, average carbonation, mildly bitter, lightly grainy texture; overall: correct FRANÇAIS Échantillon, en fût, bue lors de l’Hivernale des brasseurs, savourée le 22 février 2013; œil : caramel avec une teinte rougeâtre, limpide, pas d’effervescence, pas de mousse, pas de dentelle; nez : gomme-savon, léger caramel, épinette; bouche : gomme-savon, léger caramel, épinette, finale en épinette avec présence de gomme-savon, corps moyen, carbonatation moyenne, moyennement amère, texture légèrement granuleuse; en résumé : correct

Tried on 02 Jun 2013 at 14:13


6.2
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6

A reddish amber ale with a thin mocha head. In aroma, loads of spruce tips essence with light fruity esters. In mouth, a nice crisp malt with with fir tree essence and caramel. Bottle at Hivernale, Feb. 23 2013.

Tried from Bottle on 12 Mar 2013 at 18:28


6.1
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5

Tap (Hivernale): Poured a light brown color ale with a medium size foamy head. Aroma of spruce tips is quite powerful with light molasses notes also perceptible. Taste is dominated by spruce tips with some residual sugar also perceptible. Body is average as well as carbonation. I get what the goal of this beer is but I am just not sure that spruce beer is something I should be seeking on a regular basis.

Tried from Draft on 06 Mar 2013 at 10:34


7.8
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 8

Spruce beer, hay ?! I like spruce beer, the pop drink, but this is the first time I try this alcohol version. From the LCBO. Pours a clean dark copper colour with a nice red shine through. Beige head that is frothy, lasting long and creating lots of webbing. At first pour, the smell is on the molasses side with hints of coffee and chocolate. Then, after breathing a bit, the aromas change to notes of caramel, bananas and the spruce way in the back. Quite interesting nose overall. Roasted malt taste remind me of burnt wood, with some dark fruits but that are nicely different with a beautiful dryness to it. All well-balanced with the hop, spruce, cherry-like flavour and bananas. Almost like a cough medicine (that is fortunately good). A very, very interesting brew, that is nice to have one - from time to time.

Tried on 20 Mar 2012 at 20:59


7.2
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7

This beer has some serious character. Taste like I inhaled Banff through a straw. Aftertaste of spruce lasts a long time. Although it’s interesting it’s not something you’d want to drink by the gallon, as the label suggests.

Tried on 21 Feb 2012 at 18:45


7.9
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5

Copper-burgundy body with a decent head. Aroma is definitely spruce, meat, smoke, beef jerky. Like I’m in a potlach camp or something. Flavour is soft lager and caramel with a huge heap of spruce on the finish. Amazingly balanced and unique. This could have turned out as a disaster, but instead is an amazing and interesting beer. Heavy for sure, but great sipping.

Tried on 04 Feb 2012 at 16:55