Bacon fig beer

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Stevesauer

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 18, 2014
Messages
80
Reaction score
5
Location
central PA
So I entered a competition that specifically requests creative beers. My friend has been employed as a chef for years, so I sought his advice on off the wall ingredients that could work well together. I won't question his food knowledge. His beer knowledge? Maybe a little. He suggested a bacon fig IPA hopped with an earthy type hop. I am all about bacon and fig, but my gut tells me that belongs in a stout or porter. What do you guys think? Can this work in an IPA?
 
So I entered a competition that specifically requests creative beers. My friend has been employed as a chef for years, so I sought his advice on off the wall ingredients that could work well together. I won't question his food knowledge. His beer knowledge? Maybe a little. He suggested a bacon fig IPA hopped with an earthy type hop. I am all about bacon and fig, but my gut tells me that belongs in a stout or porter. What do you guys think? Can this work in an IPA?

I think this can be done...but it would have to be done 'delicately'. For example, if I was trying to do this in an IPA, I might toss a few ounces of chopped (cooked) bacon and a small handful of diced figs into the boil with about 5 minutes to go. I'd also consider adding diced figs along with a dry hop addition for a week or so after fermentation is complete.

Generally speaking, I'd use a lighter hand playing with those flavors in an IPA than I would in a rich, thick stout or porter. You're still going to want the "IPA" flavor profile backbone, and meet the hoppy expectation that the judges will expect. Just let the fig and bacon flavors be the subtle 'something extra'.
 
Hoppy and smokey can go together....this recipe is one of the best beers I've made, and I haven't made it in a while! I'm thinking this may be coming up on my schedule soon! Maybe I'll play around with using the cherrywood malt instead of rauchmalt......

Lapsong Souchong Smoke Bomb

I actually used This hop schedule tho....

Maybe I'll tinker with the smoked malt ratios to mimic passedpawn's recipe and see how it comes out......
 
Back
Top