My second foray into Foley Brothers beer is their Spruce Session seasonal pale ale, brewed with Vermont spruce tips. Like my first bottle of Foley, this one isn’t a letdown. This time, the pour doesn’t offer any hints as to what’s awaiting the lucky soul who popped the cap – there’s no giveaway aroma that would suggest a brew with an ingredient as special as spruce tips.

In case you’re now scratching you head, wondering wtf I’m going on about, here’s a crash course on spruce tips — In the spring, when conifer trees start to push out new buds, the fresh growth is a little bright green pinecone that is edible. People pull on their wellies, go trudging off into the woods carrying a bucket, and pluck the tips much like they’re picking berries. Once the tips are harvested, brewers use them like hops, adding them at various points in the brew process.

So back to the beer. Foley has done an amazing job balancing the pine and citrus from the tips with their malt. I recall having another spruce tip ale a few years ago, and it was like eating a pine tree. This one is so much better. They’ve created an extremely fresh, bottled about 3 weeks ago, mild beer with an amazing flavor that you don’t normally find. I highly recommend this beer to anyone who may be looking for something new to sit back and enjoy.

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