Using pine in beer

I have had a Drake's / Faction Brewing collaboration IPA: "Tree Beer", made with whole branches of a Grand Fir tree throw into the boil. I couldn't tell you the boil time or quantity used (except that I saw the tree itself, a good 6' tall at least, in their cooler beforehand, but who knows how much was actually used). I don't know about preservative qualities, but I can say that it did not replace the hops, and made the beer smell (and to a lesser degree, taste) like a freshcut evergreen. In my mind, it was delicious. In my fiance's mind, less so.

I've had & made a few spruce/pine beers. I would use this as flavoring. using new growth needles. you could place them in the boil, or steep the cuttings and add at bottling/kegging. the flavor is potent so you will want to go easy on adding them. or age it for a long time to allow the flavors to mellow.

I made a first infusion in vodka with the part displayed in my picture. I diluted around a teaspoon of it in a pale ale. It didn't smell like turpentine, it just remember pine. I have to admit that on the other hand the aroma was not that interesting. So my experience is that those parts of the pine can be used in secondary fermentation.

Disclaimer: I've never done this before.

I've read about it however and from what I understand you will get the most flavor from the needles rather then the cone. Not sure how much bitterness you would extract, all the recipes I've seen also use a hop for bittering. I'm sure its possible, after all we didn't use hops in our beer for centuries.

There should be no health risk to you.

As to boil time and amount, I have no information for you.

All reports I've read say that using pine will likely impart a turpentine flavor to your beer.

With spruce, you use the tender tips of new growth. If you decide to go ahead with pine, I'd suggest trying that.