Have we moved beyond fruit infused IPAs?

I would love to drink a SN Cali Common, ESB or a Helles! (a Kolsch too of course)

That said - I did really enjoy the Peach IPA after not expecting to like it at all. That 4 way pack was kind of a sleeper hit in my house

 

I've felt that NE IPAs were the "training wheels" of IPAs - but that probably offends like 90% of people on this site!

 

Can't say any fruit IPA has ever really blown me away other than last years Tangerine Enjoy By. Really like that series and that's been my favorite of the Enjoy Bys I've tried and the only fruit variant of an IPA that I've liked over the original base IPA. The tangerine was pretty subtle in that one which is why I probably liked it. From my tastes and from what I can see on here, the overwhelming and/or artificial sweetness gets most BAs.

 

First - great thread and discussion here, with a particular shout-out to @sierranevadabill for weighing in (repeatedly).

I thought I'd never like fruit beers, for the reason that SNBill noted in one of his parenthetical asides: I thought of them as "girly beers" or (the cynic in me) beers designed for underage kids.

However - I've had a few that I do really like, including Captain Lawrence's Grapefruit Effortless and the Grapefruit Sculpin. I haven't had Sidecar, mainly because most of the orange or tangerine beers I've had I didn't love. But I see New Belgium's Citradelic getting purchased by my friends who tend towards Sam and the lighter craft offerings, and based on shelf positioning, I'm guessing it's selling pretty well.

I'm also guessing that this trend won't last forever - or at least, that you can't add every fruit known to mankind to an IPA and have it taste great (I haven't had the new Troegs beer with Mango, but that comes to mind). . . .

 

Randy, the very first version of Yards Tavern Spruce Ale was brewed buy the introduction of an entire spruce tree into the kettle. My wife absolutely loved that batch. On subsequent batches they no longer used a whole tree and she was disappointed in those batches.

Oh well, to each their own!?!

Cheers!

 

Maybe fruit IPAs will ramp up and slowdown like pumpkin beers. I mean I hope we see less pumpkin beers this year.

 

I found tangerine express very good as well. Probably because the fruit s barely perceptible

 

Tangerine Enjoy By is the best of these beers by far.

 

As I think about this we should never be over fruited beers, what we should be asking is what makes a good fruited beer? Its just like adding coffee to beer, sometimes its just a gimmick and sometimes it makes sense. How many people remember Buzz Beer from the Drew Carrey show? Coffee beer was the center of a joke on that show. Now most people get pretty excited when a brewery announces a beer with locally sourced beans. Stouts and porters have some natural coffee tastes to them without the addition of real coffee just like some hops add a fruit taste to beer without adding fruit. IPA's are a more natural vehicle for fruit additions than most beers.

Heck I just tapped a keg of Banded Horn's Wheat n' Potatoes that contains both Maine wheat and Maine potatoes. When my local bottle shop suggested this beer I laughed and thought "wow that's gross". The beer is really enjoyable, not sure the wheat or potatoes adds anything other than look and mouth feel but its a darn good beer nonetheless.

 

The only thing that offends me is running short of beer.

 

I'm sure others have piped in to the same effect but I see fruited IPA's everywhere. I dont' see an end in sight just yet for this (normally crappy) style.

Unfortunately even the good guys are entering into this arena- I I know Avery is coming out with some citrus-based IPA soon, And Sierra Nevada came out with two fruited hoppy beers a couple months ago. Ballast point might have popularized the style, but everyone is going nuts still.

On a side note watermelon Dorado was one of the worst beers I've ever had- literally had a gag reflex trying to choke it down. I don't mind actual grapefruit juice or flavors that complement hoppy ipa's, but artificial cough syrup-tasting flavors? no thanks.

 

I used some spruce extract years ago. To piney for me. I don't care for locally made spruce beers.

There are different varieties of spruce. I had a beer from Ft. George brewing in Astoria OR that tasted citrusy, like fresh Cascade hops. It was made with fresh buds from Sitka Spruce, which grows in the PNW.

 

Jeff, based upon my readings it is my understanding that if you use fresh new tips that you will obtain a ‘better’ flavor profile. Needless to say but I have no personal experience here.

“the green shoots at the tips of the branches of evergreens, can be harvested in spring and used as a flavoring in beer. To the taste they are far less resinous than the more mature needles and twigs (although these can be used as well, to harsher effect) and even somewhat citrusy.”

https://beerandbrewing.com/dictionary/BbUaXjwXD6/pine-fir-and-spruce-tips/

Do you know anybody who has brewed with fresh new tips?

Cheers!

 

Maybe I'm not following...

You guys must be talking about beers like grapefruit (insert different fruit) sculpin. Because fruit forward IPAs are all over the place and not dying. Hazy IPAs, and beers like strawberry and pineapple milkshake are amazing and very popular.

Did I just overthink the question? Or is this just another thread where people can act like they are too cool to drink a juicy style IPA?

 

As the OP's title indicates, fruit infused IPA's which are not Hop forward beers that derive their fruit flavor from the hop but from actual fruit flavor, juice, etc.. Its been established that within this community its not a big thing but outside in the real world it is (unless you talk about Sculpin which apparently is ok even though its fruit infused). Hazy, hop forward IPA's are a whole different thing that we can love or hate on in this world and those outside of it don't understand the difference between infused and derived and don't care.

 

Many of the hazy IPAs you talk about are brewed with fruit puree. Infuse - fill; soak.

 

Tired Hands uses fruit when brewing their Milkshake series of beers. For example I have a can of Tired Hands Strawberry Milkshake IPA in my refrigerator right now.

The critical aspect here is that the Tired Hands Milkshake series is just a tiny portion of their overall portfolio of turbid APAs/IPAs/DIPAs.

If an individual is trying to characterize a beer type like the Milkshake series as being 'typical' of the turbid IPA beer style they are misrepresenting things here.

Cheers!

 

I specifically was talking about hazy IPA's that derive their flavor from hops not from actual fruit. So to be specific, Tree House Julius (or any Tree House beer for that matter) have no actual fruit. Trillium's Hazy IPA's, I don't know of any that contain fruit. If we want to talk about a NE IPA none of them contain fruit, if they did they wouldn't be considered a NE IPA at least in my opinion. Look at Wachussett Wally, that's a NE IPA but Wally Juice has grapefruit flavoring added. I don't consider Wally Juice to be a true NE IPA because it is juice infused. Wally Juice is the doubling down on hype, take a NE IPA and add juice and you can't go wrong, right?

So I guess you could split this into 3 groups really.
1. Fruit infused beers like Sierra Nevada Orange Sidecar, not a Hazy IPA, just fruit infused with real fruit.
2. Hazy IPA's with real fruit such as Tired Hands Strawberry Handshake which would be considered cool because, well Tired Hands can do no wrong, right?
3. NE IPA's or Hazy IPA's which have tasting notes of fruit but contain no fruit. Flavor is derived solely from the hops. Tired Hands other beers fit in here (never had Tired Hands so can't speak first hand).

#1, the BA community is too cool for these, #2 the BA community loves these because we love all hyped breweries unless we are deriding hyped breweries in order to be cool and #3 full on hype machine unless you are one of those people who believe they are too cool for hyped beers (same group that doesn't like hyped breweries). In that case you will argue there is no NE IPA it is just a figment of your imagination, an IPA is an IPA and if its not bitter then its not an IPA.

The rest of the world drinks what they like and doesn't care, they enjoy the beer. I am also being sarcastic through this whole post so don't take this seriously.
[Edit removed doubling of some of my text]