Fruit IPAs and how we got there.

That is an intriguing thought. Hop aroma does indeed fade fairly quickly due to oxidation.

I wonder if actual fruit additions are similarly susceptible? I wonder if fruit peel/zest is different in this regard vs. fruit juice?

Time to call in the expert: @LeRose.

@sierranevadabill @Peter_Wolfe @honkey @Sixpoint

Cheers!

 

Fruit in an IPA just makes it a hoppy Smirnoff.

 

Agreed. Hell or High Watermelon is godawful (in my opinion).

 

I always question strong opinions one way or the other. To me, it depends on the taste. I really like Grapefruit Sculip; pineapple, not so much. I'm looking forward to Stone's Tangerine IPA because I almost always like Stone's brews. I don't want to pre-judge anything.

 

Only hops in the Beer Camp Tropical IPA. No fruit.
Confusingly, we did have a beer out this past spring (draught-only) called Mango Libre which did have mango in it, but the big bottled release was only hops.

 

The short answer is yes, some of these fruit aromas do fade very quickly over time. Sadly, I don't have any hardcore data to back this up, but we've noticed that the grapefruit flavor in Otra Vez (dried peel in the kettle) fades rather quickly over time and we've been tinkering with the grapefruit levels so that the flavor stays more pronounced for longer. (Oddly, the prickly pear sticks around.)
I think this is an interesting point, though, because as we do sensory training at the brewery one of the most important takeaways is that the same flavor and aroma compounds are found across various different foods. For example... Hefeweizen yeast doesn't taste like bananas... Bananas taste like isoamyl acetate which is the same compound produced by some weizen yeasts during fermentation. They taste the same because it is literally the same flavor compound.
For citrus and fruit compounds in hops, in many cases they are the same aroma compounds just in different concentrations. If that compound flashes-off quickly in hops it's pretty safe to say that it might not be that stable in the fruit itself.

 

My pocketbook will like more of these fruit beers. As I won't be buying nearly as many of the new, hot beers each week.

If I want fruit I'll eat an apple or have a gin and tonic. Leave it out of my beer.

 

1. El Dorado hops are gross and make beer taste like sh!t so lets be happy that didn't catch on.
2. We're still seeing some red/black/white IPAs but I think the names are getting less dependent on the IPA name, Hoppy Wheats, Hoppy Lagers etc.
3. Some of the fruit makes sense, a lot of hops give way to flavors like mango and grape fruit so it's a good way for people who don't really like IPAs to start drinking them. I'd prefer an original sculpin but if my family will drink the grape fruit version and I'd rather be drinking that compared to the usual crap they'd drink.

It's not a bad thing, it's better than shandy's and radlers but maybe things like the watermelon dorado went a little too far?

 

Whoa....I dont pay attention for a couple days and now the pressure is on!

From the juice industry, I can certainly echo what @sierranevadabill stated. The flavor compounds will be the same whether they come from yeast, hops, fruit, or a flavor company. The concentrations and therefore the intensity will be the variable. Depending on how they degrade, the "longevity" will also be similar. Oxygen and heat are the main enemies. I dont think the source matters...flavor compounds are inherently unstable, lots of aromatic ring structures and double bonds ripe for reactions. We use natural flavor packages in some products. The advantage is they can be standardized and we can control the level. But you cant just pound flavors in to achieve target shelf life either as juices that are too intense taste like Jolly Ranchers in a bottle...totally "artificial"...and there are labelling regulations too. Plys some of the degradation products are absolutely vile tasting. Some of the oil based flavors or emulsions might be a little more stable.

Grapefruit is tough. I've done quite a bit of work in our grapefruit plants and it is not a stable flavor. No cistrus is. Our bottled grapefruit juice has a nine month shelf life and that is generous by a factor of two at least. It also tastes nothing like fresh grapefruit. We add back essence and oil to buy us a little better flavor, but it only helps so much. We worked on a process to freeze concentrate fresh grapefruit juice. NFC is great, but shipping water around the country is a killer, so a fresh tasting concentrate seemed like a great idea. And it worked like a champ...mild heat treat to shut down enzymes and stabilize the microbiology, freeze that water out and holy crap it tastes like fresh squeezed.....for 21 days. Then it tastes just like any other concentrate. Oxygen and heat are certainly enemies of grapefruit, but the point is the flavor degradation happens regardless. I have had a grapefruit beer from the brite tank that was spectacular. Brought some finished bottles home and after a couple weeks they had faded quite dramatically.

Fruit juices....well, the majority of the flavors and aromas are still volatile compounds. So I would not expect fruit juice to help much in terms of stability or lifespan of the flavors. There are flavor components that are not volatile. Think of the cranberry BPA...while cranberry isnt particularly fruity/aromatic to begin with, the acidity and phenolic compounds definitely add flavor. While the hop citrus notes in the beer lasted a good long time, the cranberry sensation does emerge more as the hops fade. I still have a bottle... A cranberry Berliner from Jacks Abby, in contrast, tasted like fresh pressed cranberry juice. I couldn't get a read on shelf life since it was growler only, but based on 35 years of experience with cranberry I would say a bottled version would have been lucky to make two weeks without significant changes in flavor, and not for the better. That beer was barrel-aged on cranberries, tasted like fresh pressed cranberry which I am certainly qualified to say.

In my industry, a newish area is these high end juices. Cold pressed and pasteurized by some other technique than heat. We have been playing with the concept for a while, and our biggest barrier is shelf life. We can make a dynamite tasting juice with fresh components, but 21 days later it fails sensory. I am not a chemist, so I dont know what all of those changes are, but I can say for certain they happen.