Yards Poor Richard's Tavern Spruce

Yards Poor Richard's Tavern Spruce

Bronze Medal Winner in the Indigenous Ales category at the 2013 Great American Beer Festival. Based on Franklin’s original recipe, which called for barley, molasses, and essence of spruce, our Tavern Spruce is as approachable and engaging as was the man himself. We source blue spruce clippings from a local organic farmer, steeping them in the kettle to create this one-of-a-kind deep amber ale. Originally brewed exclusively for Philadelphia’s historic City Tavern, Spruce is now available throughout the Mid-Atlantic Region.
3.3
235 reviews
Philadelphia, United States

Community reviews

3.8 On tap at the brewery. Pours a clear amber with medium beige head that lasts. The aroma is strong grass and floral. Medium mouth, rich malt, wheat, spruce, light bitterness, very good.
3.5 C-. Pours a clear copper color with white head. Body is too light and taste is weird
3.0 Bottle. Dark brown-gold. Green and herbal, a little eucalyptus honey. Honey and forest and a little bit sweet and a little green. Medium body, molasses finish and quite fizzy.
3.6 Very interesting beer on draft at the City Tavern in Philly. The beer poured an amber color with a dark orange hue and ample head. There was some nice lacing left inside the glass. The nose featured some toasted barley, spruce, molasses, yeast and spices. The body was very smooth and drinkable, with mostly sweet flavors of barley, molasses, yeast, butterscotch and flowery spices.
2.8 Red-brown, small tan head. Aroma mostly malt. Light body,. Moderately sweet. Some pine I guess but not sure about distinctly sprucy flavor, nor would I necessarily recognize it if it was there. In any case, it ’s a perfectly drinkable beer but fairly average.
2.1 Bottle to shaker glass, pours a clear copper color. Quick one finger near white head with decent lacing but scant retention. Aroma of spruce and eucalyptus. Taste is sweet and medicinal. Light body, soft carbonation, sticky mouth feel. Finishes long and medicinal. Tasting notes of, yep, spruce, Karo syrup, Hall’s cough drops, caramel, grass and toothpaste. Tastes like a winter cold medicine from back in the day but it was likely the result of no hops in the cupboard.
2.5 ベンジャミンフランクリンのレシピ アマ苦い、香ばしい感じ
3.4 12 oz bottle from The Beer Store. Mild resin notes under the molasses sweetness, clean finish. Spruce beer is interesting historically, but there is nothing that seems distinctive about the flavor.
3.1 Draft @ The Wharf Rat - Fells Point, Baltimore. Pours an amber reddish color with a small off-white head. Has a fruity malty spicy spruce aroma with hints of caramel. Fruity malty caramel hoppy spruce flavor. Has a fruity malty caramel hoppy spruce finish.
3.1 The spruce is, thankfully, light and kicks just at the end. Golden yellow coloring. Hoppy. Not terrible, won’t buy again, but would drink I if someone handed me a freebie .tap
2.8 From Notes. A: big spruce/pine, malt, caramel, toffee/nuts A: tan/orange body, trace white head, patchy lacing T: sweet caramel, mint, nuts, malt, mild bitter spruce/pine with a crisp finish M: med/light, semi-dry mouth O: Fascinating beer. Not great, but not bad. Really enjoyed this historical recipe.
3.3 Draft. Cola color with a beige head. Woody, earthy, somewhat bitter with lots of molasses/caramel. Very unique but not something I’d want to drink very often.
3.0 (bottle - 12 oz) Dark copper pour with a thick white head. Sweet aroma with lots of caramel and bread malts. Flavor is sweet and malty as well, but I didn’t get any hint of spruce in either the flavor or the aroma.
3.0 Draught @ Your Game Bar and Grille, Breezewood, PA Pours clear brown with a off-white head. Aroma has notes of mal,t caramel, forrest, some spices and hint of brown sugar. Taste is medium sweet and light bitter with a long caramel and forrest finish. Body is medium, texture is thin to oily, carbonation is soft.
3.2 On tap. A brown beer topped byte a small, dense beige head. Molasses, roasted malts, spruce forest, pine cones and some resin. It’s full to medium bodied, semi-dry and with a soft carbonation. Woody, bitter, resiny flavor with some bread, caramel and a touch of molasses. Medium length finish with a good bitterness and some wood. 150618
3.2 A gift from a neighbor. Poured from the bottle into a glass. Appearance is brownish-amber with no head. Aroma is on the sweet, malty side of things. Taste is bready malt with some faint piney bitterness. Palate is medium in heft, carbonation is light. Overall its decent but not amazing.
3.8 Pours dark molasses color, light tan head. Aroma of resin, grass, and hay. Slick texture with light body. This is a nice ale. Medium sweet, with a smoky malt flavor. Very little bitterness, long finish. Good ale.
4.0 12oz longneck. Pours dark amber, thick creamy head which lingers. Vanilla and sweet on the nose. Aroma has a hint of spruce. Balanced flavor profile with a hint of hops on the finish. Closer to Newcastle than the Yards Brawler (because of the finish). Wonderful beer than goes down smooth beer after beer.
2.7 Pours orange with a foamy head. Aroma is strangely spicey. Flavor is spiced thyme and pine.
3.0 12oz bottle. Poured a brown color with an off white head. Spices, caramel, some pine, and some graininess.
3.2 on tap at the City Tavern in Philadelphia; reddish-brown color; caramel malt aroma with herbal notes; caramel malt flavor with notes of mollasses, spices, and herbal, spruce notes; fairly bitter
3.4 Poured as a taster at regular Friday tasting. Nice spruce notes on nose and palate. Like this, but prefer Heather Ales Alba Scotch Pine better.
2.3 Poured from growler. Pours copper color tan head. Interesting taste with some tree notes. Not amazing but not bad.
3.3 12 Fl. Oz. Poured dark copper, clear, medium head, some spotty lacing. Aroma of malts, grain and some herbal notes. Taste is sweet but nicely balanced with some bitter notes; some spices in there too, honestly I don’t get much of the spruce, however this is super drinkable and very enjoyable.
1.0 Absolutely awful. Tastes like tree. Only gets worse the more you put in your mouth.
3.5 GABF 2014. Copper color with a medium head. Strong spruce aroma. Flavor of caramel and malt. Spruce lingers around towards the finish.
3.3 Decent and curious beer. Spruce tips are subtle. Pours clear brown without much head or lacing. Minty and light sweet finish. Tao at brewpub.
2.9 tried at recent bottle share. pretty decent from what i remember, not too piney.
3.0 Tap, amber pour, off white head, nose is caramel, taste is some spice, vegetables, decent.
3.3 Brownish pour. Plain head. Herbal root tang. Notes of ginger predominant. Interesting pint.