tropical fruit ipa with only hops

Does anyone have any experience with a tropical ipa? Did you add fruit or just used hops?

thanks!


per beersmith:
6.2 abv
63 ibu
60 min boil, 5 gallons.

6 oz C 40
5 oz vienna
4 oz cara pils/dextrine
4 oz 2 row
7 lb light dry extract

.7 oz summit hops 50 min
.7 oz simcoe hops 15 min
1 oz galaxy hops 10 min
1 oz mosaic hops 5 min

1 oz galaxy at FO
1 oz zythos at FO

I prefer the fruitier hops and personally simcoe and really summit are not on the end of the spectrum. I'd bitter with a neutral hop like magnum or warrior and hop at the 15,10,5 and do a flame out/ hop stand for about 30-45 min I've had great success with this technique. As far as hops Citra and Galaxy I use a lot wither alone or in conjunction with other hops and they seem to provide the most tropical flavors. Then there is always Amarillo, cascade, mosaic for the grapefruit, centennial and falconers flight has some fruitiness to it too. I'd do a mix of citra and Galaxy then a big do fo hop step with citra Galaxy and mosaic and then do a 4oz dry hop with citra and Galaxy. If that doesn't get you pineapple, mango fruit juice nothing will. Good luck have fun.

I'd focus on one hop or maybe a bittering and second flavour/aroma. Your recipe looks like a big mix with unknown results.

for example:
Albino Kangaroo (Ozzy White IPA) - I haven't tasted this one yet.

6 lbs Superior Pilsen
5 lbs Wheat Malt
1 lbs Torrified Wheat

1.0 oz Topaz 60 minutes
1.0 oz Ella 20 minutes
1.0 oz Ella 10 minutes
1 tbs Irish Moss 10 minutes
1.0 oz Ella 0 minutes

1.0 oz Ella dry hop 7 days
1.0 oz Fresh Orange peel zest dry hop 7 days
1.0 oz Coriander Seeds dry hop 7 days

WLP400 Belgian Wit, 2L starter



or

Etoile de Noel (Galaxy IIPA)

15 lbs Marris Otter Pale
0.5 lbs Pale DME

1.5 oz Galaxy @ 60 min All Pellets
1.0 oz Galaxy @ 20 min
1.0 oz Galaxy @ 15 min
1.0 oz Galaxy @ 10 min
0 oz Galaxy @ 5 min (should have been 1.0)
0.5 oz Galaxy @ 0 min

1.8 oz Galaxy Dry Hop in Secondary (should have been 3.0 oz for posterity)

The "should have's" were a result of the Calypso Mosaic that was being poured.

Calypso Mosaic Pale Ale
10 lbs NorthWest Pale Ale Malt
0.65 lbs Crystal 30

1.0 oz Calypso (16%) 60 min
1.5 oz Mosaic 15 min
1 tsp Irish Moss- 10 min
1.0 Mosaic – 0 min

1.5 oz Mosaic Dry Hop 14 days

The last two can easily be substituted with pale malt extract.

No fruit required.

In fact, it's sacrilege.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reinheitsgebot

I love a good fruit beer but no fruit needs to be added to an IPA to get tropical flavors. Mosaic, El dorado, Azzaca and a host of other hops will give you those flavors.

This is the best hop guide on the interwebs IMO http://www.bear-flavored.com/2011/12/bear-flavoreds-ultimate-guide-to-hop.html

btw, I agree olotti. Simcoe and summit will not give you tropical flavors, or at least not nearly as well as some other varieties. Read the descriptions on the hop guide above.

amcclai7 said:

This is the best hop guide on the interwebs IMO http://www.bear-flavored.com/2011/12/bear-flavoreds-ultimate-guide-to-hop.html

Click to expand...

I raise and call.

http://hopunion.com/aroma-wheel/?aroma=Tropical-Fruit

amcclai7 said:

I love a good fruit beer but no fruit needs to be added to an IPA to get tropical flavors. Mosaic, El dorado, Azzaca and a host of other hops will give you those flavors.

This is the best hop guide on the interwebs IMO http://www.bear-flavored.com/2011/12/bear-flavoreds-ultimate-guide-to-hop.html

btw, I agree olotti. Simcoe and summit will not give you tropical flavors, or at least not nearly as well as some other varieties. Read the descriptions on the hop guide above.

Click to expand...

Great link I saved that very helpful.

heckler73 said:

I raise and call.

http://hopunion.com/aroma-wheel/?aroma=Tropical-Fruit

Click to expand...

Another good one. Saved this too. Great resources guys.

I just made a (no real fruit) passionfruit cream ale with 1oz Simcoe in a 3 gallon batch at flameout. You get good fruit aroma.

Check out New Zealand hops. They give a whole range of tropical fruit flavors. Midwest & some others sell NZ hop pellets. I got a lot of tropical fruit flavors using them in my Maori IPA.

thank you for all the responses!

i will post an updated recipe

I kinda want to try bittering with simcoe and see what happens, if it doesn't work i will just have to drink them faster

I want to do FWH but am not AG yet and am still learning how to partial mash, if it works with that?


6.0 abv
63 ibu
1.062 to fg 1.017


7 lb light dry extract
7 oz honey malt
4 oz cara pils / dextrine
4 oz vienna malt
3 oz C 30 malt
2 oz 2 row malt

.8 oz simcoe at 60 min
1 oz galaxy at 15 min
1 oz citra at 10 min
.75 oz zythos at 5 min
1 oz galaxy at FO
1 oz citra at FO
.25 oz zythos at FO
.2 oz simcoe at FO (don't want to waste it right?)

primary for 12ish days, then dry hop in secondary with an ouce each of galaxy, citra, and zythos (5 days)

You should be using a lot more of the 2-row (base) malt. It has the diastatic power (basically enzymes) to convert the other grains & itself if enough is used.

even for an extract batch?

I made an all Simcoe IPA using DME and got CRAZY amounts of passion fruit and pine, it was absolutely amazing.

7 lbs golden light dme

1 oz simcoe @60 min (yes I bittered with Simcoe, experimentation!)
.5 oz @20 min
1 oz @15
1 oz @5
1 oz @flame out

dry hop with 3oz simcoe.

I wouldn't go over 8-12 oz of specialty grain with this.

I put straight australian galaxy hops in an ipa tastes like a ton of grapefruit and starfruit.

bonarek said:

even for an extract batch?

Click to expand...

Yes. Most of the other malts you've listed cannot convert their own starches into sugars. If you don't put at least 8 oz of 2 row you'll end up with a lot of starch and less ABV in your finished beer. Its not the hugest deal with a fairly simple malt bill but step up to a porter or stout and it could make a large difference. General rule of thumb for me is at least 20-25% 2 row or 6 row.

http://beersmith.com/blog/2010/01/04/diastatic-power-and-mashing-your-beer/

You know looking back now I realize that I am steeping a few mash-needing grains here, oops! Was originally going to PM but now am just steeping. Will take out the 2 row / Vienna / honey

I have steeped Vienna in IPA's before and it works fine. What I generally do is make sure the average diastatic power of my grains is 40 or higher. There is a formula to determine this on the link I listed. If you use a much higher ratio of water to grain, which is easy to do with pm, and let it go for at least 45 mins, you should be fine.

Don't know if this has been mentioned yet but:

http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/kiwi-express-extract-kit-w-specialty-grains.html

I brewed this up all grain version. Still in the fermenter though. But, I have recently had another beer brewed with one of these New Zealand hops, the Nelson Sauvin, and it definitely had a wonderful fruity taste. I thought it tasted more like passion fruit, and I loooove passion fruit. So, I'm very looking forward to trying this beer in about 2 weeks, and I'm not even an IPA fan typically.


Rev.

Turned out great! Wonderful aroma and it is delicious. Is citrusy more than "tropical" but I will be making this one again. The hops and honey and bitterness are there but it all balanced perfectly, I am pleased with this beer.

Bottled about 8 weeks ago and it was very green for a couple weeks but is amazing now! Will update as the flavor profile changes as it ages.


This is the recipe I ended up actually brewing:

6 lb light DME
1 lb amber DME
6 oz cara-pils
6 oz C20
2 oz C40
2 oz honey malt
2 oz pale malt

1 oz Simcoe at 60 minutes
1 oz Galaxy at 15 minutes
1 oz Citra at 10 minutes
.75 oz Zythos at 5 minutes
1 oz Galaxy at FO to steep
1 oz Citra at FO to steep
.25 oz Zythos at FO to steep

1 lb local honey added right before FO

Safale US-05 yeast

Dry hopped for a few days with 1 oz each of the Galaxy, Citra, and Zythos

OG: 1.078 (higher than I anticipated?)
FG: 1.012
abv: 8.6
ibu: 56

primed with 3.5 oz corn sugar to achieve theoretical carb volume of 2.5. It seems just right as I drink them two months later. bottled 4.5 gallons

added most of the DME with about 5 minutes left in the boil

More NZ hops than simcoe or citra would give more tropical fruit flavors ime.

I will do that next time thank you! Are there any you recommend?

Here's the NZ hops I used in my Maori IPA; Motueka (flavor & aroma), pacific gem (bittering), pacifica (flavor & aroma), wakatu (flavor & aroma). Those are the ones that were originally available when they started selling them here. There are more these days That I haven't got around to trying yet.

here's the Tropical IPA recipe I'm making tomorrow!

http://centennialhomebrewing.com/en/recipes/230-tropical-ipa.html


Calypso, El Dorade, Azacca and Citra dry hop.

This is making me kind of excited about my next batch.. Kind of thinking of a nice Grapefruity/Tropical Fruity IPA. Gonna follow this one!

Rev2010 said:

Don't know if this has been mentioned yet but:

http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/kiwi-express-extract-kit-w-specialty-grains.html

I brewed this up all grain version. Still in the fermenter though. But, I have recently had another beer brewed with one of these New Zealand hops, the Nelson Sauvin, and it definitely had a wonderful fruity taste. I thought it tasted more like passion fruit, and I loooove passion fruit. So, I'm very looking forward to trying this beer in about 2 weeks, and I'm not even an IPA fan typically.


Rev.

Click to expand...

I second this recommendation! The all grain batch I brewed came online about a month ago and it's fantastic! Light, tropical fruit nose with tropical fruit and lime flavor with just enough (but not too much) bitterness and a hint of sweetness. It is unlike any IPA I've had before. I just need to save some for when it finally gets hot outside, because this will be the perfect compliment to a hot summer evening...