About Us
Who We Are And Why Our Products Rock
Thanks for checking out Spruce On Tap! We recognize there are other suppliers on the market, but here are a few things that make our products stand out over some of the others:
* Our products are freshly harvested and then immediately vacuum packed and frozen. Beware of terms like "cold dried" or "dehydrated". You will not be getting all the freshness you could be! Our products are never dried or dehydrated. They taste and smell just like the day they were harvested - fresh!
* We always tell you what kind of spruce you are getting. There are over 30 different varieties of spruce. Fir trees can often be confused with spruce (they can look almost identical in some cases) - and you really don't want to accidentally work with fir if you intended to use spruce. Beware of people selling something like "green" spruce. If they don't know what kind of spruce it is, they may not even HAVE spruce!
* Watch out for that quality! In looking at some of the competition, right in their own photos, you can see all kinds of foreign debris in the packaging. We triple process (check) all of our products to make sure you are getting the highest quality and concentration with the least amount of foreign material.
* We own our own brewery. We know the importance of consistent, quality ingredients. We use our own products and hold ourselves to our own standards.
* Ethics matter. We work closely with the National Forest Service. We are commercially permitted and give seasonal reports back to the forest service detailing forest health. And yes, that matters. Forests from Alaska all the way down to New Mexico are struggling with the warmer temperatures. Commercial harvesting needs to be done while working closely with different Ranger Districts. It is illegal to commercially harvest without a permit and unethical because it can damage forests that are already struggling.
* We use commercial grade vacuum packers, commercial-grade BPA free plastics, and walk-in freezers to process and store our products. Everything is temperature-stable and in the freshest environment possible until the day it leaves our shipping facility.
* Shipping standards make a huge difference. We ship all of our products with ice packs, insulation, and express shipping. Yes, our shipping is a bit more expensive but this way we are SURE the product arrives to you in good shape. If you have never used spruce tips before, how would you know if they got hot and ruined in shipping? And yes, they really do get ruined and put off a very different characteristic when they get hot. Ours stay happy and fresh all the way until they are in your hands.
* We are an approved vendor for SQF (Safe Quality Food) certified manufacturers. This means we have the following documents for our spruce and other products we carry: Certificate of Analysis (lab testing), Product Specification Sheet, Food Safety Plan, Letter of Guarantee, FDA approval documents, and more.
These are just a few of the many things that Spruce On Tap brings to the table that other companies can not. You may pay a little more with us, but you will be getting what you pay for and you will love the end result!
You can trust the original - Spruce On Tap has been providing wildcrafted spruce, juniper, yarrow, and other ingredients for the craft community for over ten years! At Spruce On Tap, you can be confident that you will be receiving the finest quality ingredients. As co-founders of Riff Raff Brewing Company and homebrewers and wild-craft lovers for years before going commercial, we know and understand the importance of the quality of the ingredients. We can recommend usage, boil times, addition calculation, and dry-hopping techniques. We are also able to provide assistance in attaining TTB and FDA approval. Questions? Please feel free to reach out to us! brew@spruceontap.com
Our Harvesting Processes & Ethics
At Spruce On Tap, we love brewing, but we love trees too. We are adamant about making sure the trees are not over-harvested and that our products are only harvested in areas where the forest is thriving. We recognize that trees are the source of our fresh air and they are beautiful to boot, and we strive to protect them. All products are Wild Harvested primarily in the San Juan Mountain Range of southern Colorado, in the San Juan, Rio Grande, and Uncompahgre National Forests. We harvest both Colorado Blue Spruce tips and Engelmann Spruce tips. We harvest the spruce tips when they first begin to emerge from their brown, papery casings each spring. At this stage, they are very tender and have the brightest flavor with slight mint, pine, melon, and citrus notes.
Previous Customers / Testimonies
Check out what some of our customers have to say!
* "Hey friends, Jennifer from Lark Brewing here. I wanted to take a minute tonight to thank you from the bottom of our glasses for the superior spruce tips you provided us. I only get to brew this batch once a year, and I was nervous about using a different supplier, but y'all and your tips gave me the best batch of our spruce tip pale ale yet. Thank you again and happy holidays! Cheers!
- JENNIFER NANCE, LARK BREWING
* "Being proverbial cherubs in the woods when it comes to brewing with spruce tips, we needed some gentle guidance and sage advice prior to brew day. Randy was incredibly quick, detailed, and courteous with his responses back to us and helped immeasurably with formulating our approach. Spruce On Tap genuinely cares about the quality of their product and ensuring a top notch customer service experience. From our initial inquiry right through to the tips arriving in prime condition after a 2,200 mile journey – we honestly couldn’t have had a better experience." - Chuck Freeman, Ipswich Ale Brewery
* "Spruce on Tap has been supplying us with high quality spruce tips over the past several years and has always been great to work with. Fantastic spruce tips and great to work with!" Chad Collier - Dogfish Head Brewery
* "We've been sourcing spruce tips from Spruce On Tap for over five years now for some tap room specialties and I couldn't be happier. Great communication, great people, and most importantly the product has been great every time. Our customers love the fact that these are delicious hand-picked spruce tips instead of some random spruce extract, and the sales of the beer reflect that." - Andy Parker, Barrel Herder, Avery Brewing Company
* "I think it is important to reach out to those companies that provide amazing products. Spruce on Tap has been an amazing source for spruce tips and Juniper for us at Vallensons’ Brewing Company and I am excited with how our Christmas Ale came out this year. I just wanted to take a few minutes and say thank you for what you guys do have a Happy Holiday and stay safe! - Valle Kauniste, Vallensons’ Brewing Company "
Some of our recent customers include:
Ipswich Ale Brewery
Dogfish Head Brewing
Goose Island Brewing
Allagash Brewing
Avery Brewing
Stevens Point Brewing
Riff Raff Brewing
Great Dane Brewing
Big Rock Brewing
Miami Valley Spice Traders
San Luis Valley Brewing
Vallensons' Brewing Company
Noda Brewing
Weldwerks Brewing
Jail Break Brewing
Your Brewery? (Coming Soon...)
And many, many more amazing breweries. Thanks to our loyal customers!
FAQs & News
Check out the link Recipes & More at the top of the page to learn all about the history and uses of our products. Still have questions after that? Drop us a line. Phone and email are found at the bottom of the home page.
In The News:
Check out some articles featuring spruce beer and Spruce On Tap:
Spruce On Tap featured on a podcast about making mead with spruce & juniper:
http://www.themeadhouse.com/podcast/episode-118/