big IPA made with fresh picked OLIVES???

Hey everybody, I'm still new to the game and trying something maybe slightly too bold for my level of experience. I'm doing a brew with a friend who lives on 15 acres of olive trees in Livermore, CA. He's a big IPA fan so we want to brew an IPA and use a handful or more of his freshly harvested olives.
I'm thinking we can masticate and mash the olives. I'm looking to impart the bitterness from the olives and mask any other taste by continual hop, especially towards the end of the boil.
Too ambitious?? Any ideas out there??
Most appreciated from the new guy!!

 

I honestly have no idea how this would turn out. When are you planning on adding the olives and what kind of olives are they?

I'd say if you want true olive flavor you'd have to add it to the secondary. As with any fruit I brew with, I'd recommend using campden tablets mixed with the olive pulp and some water to sanitize with instead of heating the olives.

My opinion is that it would be interesting, but I think an IPA might overpower what I imagine would be a subtle olive flavor. That and it would be a huge pain in the ass to remove all those pits.

Edit - Just to add a comment about whether or not you should get into something like this as a new brewer. No way, you can definitely experiment right off from the start. My 3rd brew was a fruit brew and it is one of the few recipes I've brewed multiple times. Just don't let it discourage you if it doesn't turn out perfectly.

 

Store bought olives are brined/pickled. Fresh, they have a totally different flavor. I would think you could some ridiculous bittering out of the fresh olives. Who knows??? I can't wait to hear how it turns out.

 

I wonder how much oil you'd be adding by crushing and steeping the olives? Might have a tough time with head retention.