Tropical IPAs=Malternative?

What reviews do you mean? I want some of that mango beer.

 

I have no specific comment on the topic of malternative but for folks who like beers with a mango flavor:

I had a collaborative beer brewed by Friegeist (Sebastian Sauer) and 2cabecas and my local beer bar Teresa’s Next Door. The beer was ‘branded’ as Freigeist/2cabecas/Teresa's Eau De Janeiro. It is a Gose brewed with Mangos. The beer looked like Mango Juice (turbid) and tasted like Mango Juice with some tartness. I drank the one beer and I thought it was good but I had zero desire to order a second one.

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/10574/184532/?ba=bros

Cheers!

 

I sometimes feel the same way. I'll drink such a beer and think, that was awesome! But now I want a beer!

 

I prefer papaya's to mangos

 

Let me start by saying that everyone has different tastes. There is no right or wrong. The free market will weed out the stuff that does not sell. Having said that, my personal preference (emphasize personal) is that I prefer my beer without the extra adjunct ingredients. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy an ocassional pumpkin ale or blueberry concoction. I also enjoy Belgian beers that have orange and/or coriander spices.

So I guess I did not answer your question but merely posted my preference in hopes that my wife and friends read it and buy me good beer this Xmas.

 

wait isn't that beer suppose to taste like fruit? I think the op is referring to ipas.

 

It's not acknowledged much, but it's true. People want their IPAs to taste like juice and their stouts to taste like dessert.
When the "best" beer in the world has (or mimics the taste of) coffee, maple, and chocolate, it's pretty clear that people want beer that blurs the lines with other food & drink.

 

I myself taste more ipas with a grapefruit flavor than anything else and once in a while what I think is pineapple, I have gotten mango only a couple of times.

 

Big fan of when hops taste like mango/orange/pineapple, but not when fruit is added. I guess the difference is im not a big fan of sweetness in my ipas. If the hops provide this flavor by themselves, it tends to be more of a bitter, spicy, resinous form of that fruit.

 

That being said, Im not sure I would like fruit juice having that type of profile

 

I think that people enjoy when they can relate flavors to things that they are familiar with. Memories and flavors are very tightly linked. I'm not sure it's about "mimicking" the tastes. There are so many different flavors that beers can hit, and I think that's part of what makes people enjoy beer. I don't think people want malternatives or pho-beers, they just enjoy flavorful intriguing beer. just my 2cents.

 

I like IPA's that have hints of tropical fruits but I draw the line at beers that basically taste like grapefruit or pineapple juice have been added. That's part of the reason I'm not a huge fan of Grapefruit Sculpin. I know I'm in the minority in this site when it comes to that beer but I would rather have the tropical notes be a bit more subdued

 

Yup, I just figured I would provide a 'heads up' to folks who like to drink beers that taste like mango. How the mango flavor gets there is a secondary consideration IMO.

Cheers!

 

I love those juicy mango, grapefruit , and pineapple IPA's. Having said that I am not a fan of the ones that add juice. I am not sure what the huge difference would be for me other than I do like subtle flavors so mango juice IPA would definitely be over the top.

 

The sugars in fruit juice are fermentable. If you are perceiving sweetness in an IPA it is from something other than a fruit juice addition.

Cheers!

 

I agree.

 

Ha! I've often thought the same thing in regards to people loving ipas that taste like "juice". However, I do think people use "juice" whether it be mango, orange or pineapple juice to describe hop flavors because it's the closest thing we can think of to describe the flavor yet it doesn't taste exactly like "juice".

Edit: I am one of those guys who loves tropical juice bumbs though.

 

I've come to the conclusion that I'm much more fond of 'piney' IPAs, and also that beers of that variety are harder to come by these days.

I get what you're saying, but the discussion here is about IPAs with fuity 'notes' that are achieved (usually) with the standard 4 ingredients - particularly the hops. Although, @JackHorzempa makes a fair point about the method of achieving the flavor being secondary.

 

Sweet citrusy IPAs generally speaking (yes, there are exceptions) are more approachable to a craft beer newbie or "part-time" craft beer drinkers than the piney, resinous IPA varieties. The recent craft beer popularity boom has created a lot of new craft beer drinkers, so I think the beers produced are reflecting changes in the market/consumers. There are plenty of old-time craft beer drinkers that appreciate the citrus forward flavors too, so the "blame" so to speak for this trend doesn't all fall on the newbies.

There is certainly a strong trend towards intensely citrus IPAs these days. 10+ years ago most IPAs tended towards the piney side and there were really only a handful of well-known citrus dominated IPAs, not so anymore. I think it actually makes a beer like Ballantine IPA that much more interesting in today's market, even though it's an old classic take on the IPA.