Passionfruit Hazy IPA

By the 1790’s the British were established in India and needed beer, which was considered a staple in every household. India, however, presented serious problems for brewers. Hot temperatures, poor water and short supplies of basic ingredients made it impossible to brew beer. Attempts to ship beer out of Britain to Calcutta failed.

George Hodgson of London produced a pale ale of greater strength and bitterness than those he sold in London. The hops helped protect the beer from spoilage, as did the increased alcohol content. Hodgson’s India Ale arrived in Calcutta in fine shape-clear, strong, and bitter, with a big, resinous hop aroma.  The word spread of India Pale Ale and people throughout England and the United States were clamoring for this wonderful new beer. The rage lasted through 1970’s, but lost steam in the 1980’s and became just another name for low alcohol bitters.

As craft beer has emerged and grown, so has IPA! IPA has helped grow Craft Beer to what it is currently today. There are now many shapes and forms of IPA, but they all share a bright aromatic hop aroma of citrus, tropical fruit, and pine.  Hop flavor coats the tongue and these beers finish with an assertive, but balanced bitterness. Inspired by hop expression, New England born “Hazy IPA’s” or “Juicy IPA’s” have swept the craft brewing industry by storm. These beers are very hop-forward, tropical, round, and of course - juicy. In traveling to the East Coast and trying these beers, we found these hop-forward ales can be thick and turbid while others display a moderate haze.    

For pFriem Passionfruit Hazy IPA we look to push the boundaries of aroma and flavor intensity. We built the base of this beer on a classic 2-Row Pale malt accompanied by both oats and chit malt to provide a luscious mouthfeel. The hops were carefully selected to create highly saturated notes of passion fruit, pineapple and mango, our Passionfruit Hazy IPA takes you on a vacation for your senses. The passionfruit flavors bring a lively, zesty tartness that's beautifully balanced by the inherent, sweet juiciness of the pineapple. The mango then comes into its own in the mid-palate, lending a smooth, almost custard-like tropical richness that makes each sip incredibly satisfying and harmonious. The bitterness remains restrained allowing those vibrant fruit flavors to truly sing without any competition, leading to an exceptionally clean, refreshing and luscious finish.