DURANGO – Twelve years ago, Ken Martin of Steamworks Brewing Co. wanted to try a unique recipe that would tie a local brew to the San Juan Mountains. It would be modeled after an Olde English ale that blended spruce needles with malted barleys to offer caramel and toasty flavors.
“The idea actually goes all the way back to the Vikings,” said Martin, head brewer for Steamworks. “They brewed spruce needles into their beer before their long voyages for the vitamin C to protect against scurvy. They also believed it invoked vigor in battle.”
The recipe called for the tender new needles that grow at the very tips of branches. Because he’d be collecting them from the San Juan National Forest to create a product for resale, Martin asked the Columbine Ranger District for help with a forest products permit.
“We issued a permit that allows Steamworks to collect up to 10 15-gallon bags of needles from Engelmann and blue spruce trees annually,” Columbine District Forester Beth Vance said. “We ask that they spread their harvest out at one bag per 20 acres to protect trees from overharvest.”
Every summer since, Martin and a crew of employees make an annual pilgrimage to Molas Pass to gather the flavor of the San Juans. Their equipment is simple: their fingers and a bag. They move quickly across the alpine landscape, randomly picking from tree to tree. The goal is to not affect the growth patterns of the trees.
“We pick a little at about face height evenly in a circle around the larger trees, and we don’t pick from the baby trees. We let them grow,” said Sam Bibo, a former Steamworks employee, now in her third year of needle collection.
The cost of the permit is about $20 a year, and the local brewery gets the needles it needs for a big vat of its popular winter ale. The needles are stored frozen until the brewing process starts each fall.
“We brew about 600 gallons of Spruce Goose,” Martin said. “We steep the needles with the barleys like a tea in mesh bags, then boil it. It has a great flavor and aroma.”
This July’s harvest was 30 pounds of needles, which will yield 20 barrels of Spruce Goose. The brew packs a punch at 8 percent alcohol and sells out every year.
“This gives us a unique regional ingredient,” Martin said. “We’re making beer in a sweet corner of the world, where we can collect natural ingredients to make great beer.”
“Spruce Goose is my favorite beer because it has a lot of extra heart added to it,” Bibo said.
Ann Bond is the public affairs specialist for the San Juan National Forest.
