Brew Beer Like a Yeti by Jereme Zimmerman

Author:Jereme Zimmerman
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Chelsea Green Publishing

The inner layer, or cambium, of tree bark can be procured by carefully scraping off the outer bark with a knife, and then shaving strips of cambium.

Try to avoid taking bark from live trees. As long as it is fairly freshly fallen, a dead tree will serve you just as well. If you do elect to take a small amount from a live tree, try to go with some bark from a branch, or scrape a bit from the trunk. If you were to take bark from the entire circumference of the tree (which you shouldn’t), you would be cutting off its food source and will likely kill the tree. As with any wild harvesting, borrow what you need and let nature keep the rest. Just remember that bark will be crawling with all kinds of bacteria that you don’t necessarily want. While you can sterilize the bark by boiling it in the wort, this will also release tannins that can lead to excessive bittering. I’ve made flavorful enough (and not overly bitter) beers this way, but you’ll get a more balanced flavor if you heat the bark in an oven at 250°F (120°C) for 20 to 30 minutes and add it as a flavoring component after the wort has cooled. You can experiment with various quantities to use for brewing. It’s tough to give specifics on how much to use—as tree type and age, time of year, and other environmental factors can affect the flavor—but I generally go with a small handful (about 0.5 ounce/14 grams) per 1-gallon (4 L) batch.

Tree Leaves

Many older brewing recipes call for floating an oak, walnut, or maple leaf on top of a new mead or wine for tannin. Along with tannin, leaves provide additional nutrients and flavoring qualities. Beers don’t generally need tannin, although non-grain-based beers (such as simple ales) can benefit from some, or can be flavored with only tree leaves. I like to work with leaves that have already fallen, although green leaves will work as well. When they’ve fallen and have begun to decompose, they start producing a musky, earthen flavor. Walk through a forest in the autumn and take a deep whiff. That’s the flavor you’re looking for.

Coniferous Needles

The needles of conifers (spruce, pine, and cedar trees) have long been used for brewing, and to make teas. Spruce beer recipes abound in historical brewing literature, and spruce was often used instead of or alongside hops, for both its preservative and its flavoring qualities. Spruce was commonly used to prevent scurvy on long sea voyages due to its high vitamin C content. While nearly all conifers have edible needles, I usually use the word spruce in regard to brewing for simplicity’s sake and because nearly all recipes—new and old—use that word primarily.

Please check a reputable source to identify a tree before brewing with its needles. The toxicity of some types of conifers, such as the western ponderosa pine and the southeastern loblolly pine, is a matter of debate (you would have to ingest a lot of “toxic” needles, which you should never do anyway).

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