Down East shares a tip about ‘Green Growth’ spruce beer

Down East magazine wrote about the collaboration between the University of Maine School of Forest Resources and Marsh Island Brewing that has resulted in a spruce beer called Green Growth. Dan Hayes, assistant professor of geospatial analysis and remote sensing, and Aaron Weiskittel, professor of forest biometrics and modeling, “started kicking around an idea” a few years ago. Catherine Chan, a graduate student who uses hyperspectral imaging to study plant health, recently joined a group in UMaine’s Demeritt Forest to snap off light green new-growth tips of Norway spruce trees for the brew. “The first time we added the tips, the brewery smelled like a Yankee Candle shop had exploded,” said Marsh Island head brewer Clay Randall. “I thought, ‘Yep, that’s gonna work.’”