fruit in ipa??

[caseyd]

has anyone added fruit to an ipa?? is this dumb? im using:
1.00 oz Galaxy [14.00 %] - Boil 5.0 min Hop 5 8.2 IBUs
1.00 oz Galaxy [14.00 %] - Boil 1.0 min Hop 6 1.8 IBUs
1.0 pkg Burton Ale (White Labs #WLP023) [35.49 ml] Yeast 7 -
1.00 oz Citra [12.00 %] - Boil 45.0 min Hop 3 32.5 IBUs
1.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] - Boil 25.0 min
they all have a fruityness to them so i wanted add a small amount of pasionfruit or something


What do u think??

 

[JoeDaddio]

I'm a total noob at making beer but I do enjoy drinking beer. But if someone handed me a passion fruit IPA I think I might instinctively scissor kick them.

That said, however, if it floats your boat, you dig it, and you think it'll be good, then go for it!


joe

 

[caseyd]

this is why i ask... i dont think fruit should be in an ipa but im like a cat... too curious

 

[JoeDaddio]

this is why i ask... i dont think fruit should be in an ipa but im like a cat... too curious

I'm biased though: I'm not a fan of any fruit in any beer.

Maybe make an IPA and siphon off a gallon of it and add fruit, that way if you hate it you've still got 4 gallons of IPA and you can "gift" the fruity stuff.


joe

 

[Swib]

There are a few things to consider here: In an IPA the fruit flavor may not be able to stand up to the strong bitterness of the hops, the addition of fruit may go against style guidelines, if you add fruit be sure to do it after primary fermentation is over.

As for the bitterness issue, I think that fruit is generally a subtle flavor and can easily be masked by other, stronger flavors. That's why most commercial fruit beers are simple styles (wheat, pilsner, blonde). Just be aware the fruit will be competing with some strong IBUs.
As for style, if you don't care about the guidelines then make it, it's your beer after all; if you do want to follow guidelines then you may have to call it a fruit beer.
Lastly, if you've never added fruit before read up on it and be sure to add it after primary fermentation is over so the yeast don't eat all the natural sugars an make the fruit flavors gross and bitter. Trust me I once used strawberries in primary and it was a strange transformation.

 

[caseyd]

how about after racking in the 3rd week in the primary... and cook the fruit first rt? it needs to be sterile?

 

[shawnbou]

One of the great things about homebrewing is that you can experiment.

One of the other great things about homebrewing is that you can make what you want to drink, even if no one else (i.e., a commercial brewery, or even another homebrewing buddy) thinks it's worth making.

I honestly don't think I'd like a passionfruit IPA, but I'm not fond of passionfruit to begin with. If you think it would be good, try it. Siphoning off a gallon and adding the fruit to that would be a simple way to take a chance without risking your whole 5 gallon batch.

With that said, I can't think of too many fruits that I would want to taste in an IPA. But I personally think a grapefruit IPA, or maybe even an IPA with a bit of lemon, would be fantastic. I hope to make one some day soon.

 

[caseyd]

the passionfruit idea was bc i wanted to complement the aroma from the Galaxy hops i was going to use but im deff open for better fruits or flavs to use... and shawnbou, orange ginger mead sounds great