From the Desert to the Mountains... IPA (Prickly Pear Spruce Tip)

[martyjhuebs]

Looking to brew something new that showcases two different types of terrain in the United States.. I recently juiced prickly pear fruits from New Mexico and acquired about 30oz of that sweet nectar. Back in Spring I collected a ziplock bag full of spruce tips here in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. I initially created the following recipe for a White IPA but looking to kick to it up a bit.. let me know what you think.

BeerSmith
5 Gallon AG ABV: 6.41
OG: 1.064 FG: 1.015
IBUs: 130.3 (sounds off)
SRM: 7.6

6# 2 Row
2# Caramel / Crystal 20L
4# White Wheat

2oz Sorachi Ace (30 min)
2oz Galaxy (30 min)
1oz Cascade (10 min)
6oz Spruce tips (5 Min)
22oz Prickly Pear Juice (secondary 1 week)

Wyeast #3944 (Witbier)

Mash in at 152F for 60min, boil for 60min, ferment 3 weeks, rack to secondary 1 week with prickly pear, cold crash and keg.

 

[m00ps]

I would definitely take out the crystal. Youll already have perceptible sweetness from the juice. Its generally reccomended to stay under 5% if you are using crystal malts at all in an IPA.

I would also just pour the pear juice into the fermentor by carefully pouring down the side. Doing a secondary with an IPA just strips your hop character

I think the IBUs are correct. 4oz at 30min of any decent aa% hop is going to be very bitter. I would shift the galaxy more towards flameout

 

[martyjhuebs]

I would also just pour the pear juice into the fermentor by carefully pouring down the side. Doing a secondary with an IPA just strips your hop character

If I add the juice to the boil and skip the secondary shoud I still cut out the crystal? Having prickly pear in the primary should ferment out a decent amount of sweetness...

 

[m00ps]

yeah, it mostly will give a perception of sweetness I think because you will taste fruity flavors and your brain associates sweetness with it. Thats what happened with my jolly rancher IPA anyway

I just think 2lbs of crystal is way, way too much for 5gal of an IPA. I would cut it down to 0.5lb max

 

[tim_c7]

What are you going for Marty? By the effort you put into getting the spruce and prickly pair I would think that you would want character of those ingredients to star in your beer. But by the hop additions it looks more like bitterness and hops will be the first impression.

If I wanted a USA spruce and juice ale then I would modify the recipe like this:

Drop the crystal to a 1/4 or none.

I keep the bitterness in the 20-40 IBU range. Stick with the USA and theme and add USA hops. Cascade is a good choice. This will help meld spruce and the hops. The spruce will come across like bitterness. The longer you boil the spruce the stronger flavor you will get.

If you want hop aroma then you can add some USA hops at flameout and/or dry hop.

I suggest freezing and thawing before adding it to the secondary.


Good luck.