Benjamin Franklin's Booze

Photo via Wikipedia

Since I posted my review of Poor Richard's Tavern Spruce, it's only fitting (since I'm a history geek) that I delve into a little bit of history gallivanting concerning Poor Richard himself, Benjamin Franklin.

Good God, was there something that he did that wasn't productive for the future of this country and the way we live our lives. He was among the many of our Founding Fathers in bringing on the American Revolution, he was the very first Postmaster General, invented bifocals and had a massive influence in the development of meteorology.

Poor Richard's Tavern Spruce is supposedly based on a recipe for spruce ale that belonged to Franklin. After checking under Franklin's entry in the Oxford Companion to Beer I learned two things. Franklin's first published book (as he did make good use of a printing press) had sections in it about three barley types: two row, six row and winter. Also, while he was ambassador to France he once returned to the colonies with a recipe on how to make spruce ale. Possibly the very one that Yards Brewing Company used in the brewing of Tavern Spruce, or at least close to the original.

Franklin was a fan of beer, this is true. Unfortunately, for most of you that like to sport a certain quoted t-shirt he liked wine more. Yes, that famous quote of Franklin's about how beer exists to make us happy possibly wasn't even said by him. in fact, it's taken from a letter to one of his personal friends in which he said something about wine. For more on that, head on over to Beervana. Aside from all that, he was a beer drinker as well. he also knew the importance of beer in our society.

Beer Review: Poor Richard's Tavern Spruce

Serving Type: Bottle

ABV: Five percent

Appearance: Poor Richard's Tavern Spruce pours a dark amber with a thin, tan head. As I said, the head is thin, but has above-average retention. It's not overly foamy, nor is it way weak. With that calculated, I'd prefer a little bit more action in the head as well as a bit more carbonation.

Smell: This beer had me feeling like I woke up somewhere in the deep forest on a foggy morning. The spruce dominates. Notes of molasses and syrup mellow out the remainder of the aroma in a sweet, but subtle way.

Taste: The pine/spruce and syrup combine amazingly. while creating a spicy, sweet and smooth flavor. The molasses adds more sweetness, but a darker side of it. The flavors mix more as the beer warms a bit, only making the taste that much better. The alcohol is screened by the amount of sweetness in this beer. You can feel that the booze is there, but it's just as a warming sensation as this brew bathes your throat.

Overall Rating: 

This is a top-beer in my book. Since I'm a history buff, I love the fact that this beer is somewhat based on Benjamin Franklin's (AKA Poor Richard in case you didn't know) personal spruce ale recipe. Franklin is one of my favorite individuals throughout history. Drinking this makes me want to do some meteorology, or at the very least just flip on The Weather Channel. I bought this beer as part of Yards Brewing Company's Ales of the Revolution sampler pack.

Ales of the Revolution: Best Case Ever?

Being a huge fan of both craft beer and history, I never thought that the two could be combined so finely. I learned I was wrong when I was told about the Ales of the Revolution by Yards Brewing out of Philadelphia.

According to the Yards brewing website, as well as on the bottles of each of the beers in the case, the three beers featured are based on recipes by Benjamin Franklin (Poor Richard's Tavern Spruce), Thomas Jefferson (Tavern Ale) and George Washington (Tavern Porter).

This case of beer caused me to have one of the bigger geek-outs in my lifetime and I can get excited about some history. All three beers are among the best I've ever had. The Tavern Spruce is sweet and syrupy, the Tavern Ale has strong hints of honey in the aftertaste and the Tavern Porter is brewed with molasses and it is truly evident.

If you could choose the personal beer recipes of any three men in American history, would you venture any farther than Yards did? I certainly would've chose both Benjamin Franklin for his multiple innovations and Thomas Jefferson since he's the greatest president we've had, in my opinion.

This case is among the greatest variety cases I've ever come across. I' not entirely sure about putting it past the Troegs Anthology No. 1, but as of right now it's pretty close.