A little while back Deschutes Brewery sent me bottles of Passion Fruit IPA, first in its new “Just Tapped” beer series. I mentioned in that post that the bottling of this beer caught me off guard, as I only knew it to be available on draft. I wasn’t sure how limited a run these bottles might be, but I’ve seen them on the store shelves currently so it is in the distribution pipeline.

Passion Fruit IPA is 6.8% abv and its 46 IBUs come from Cascade, Azacca, Galaxy, and Vic’s Secret hops. And of course, there is the addition of passion fruit which continues the trend of fruited India pale ales. I realized recently that I’ve never eaten straight passion fruit (though possibly/probably I have if it’s been in other dishes), so I don’t really have a frame of reference for how it tastes. (To-do list!) I’ve read it has a “fragrantly sweet taste with a pleasantly tart tang” so that’s generally what I look for.

Appearance: Deep golden honey color, going on amber and orange-y, clear and bright. Soft lacy white head.

Smell: It’s a blend of spicy hoppiness and a lightly tart Juicy Fruit gum aroma. There is a hint of fruit juice but there is more Sweet Tart (the candy) IPA with mellow hops and a bit of fruit peel tannin-like bitterness.

Taste: Light bitterness, with a touch of tropical fruit juice. It’s lightly herbal with a candied malt sweetness. A bit of herbal tea. Hard to find any fruit character; other than a vague juiciness, I’m not getting much of anything. Lightly tart tang in the back. Otherwise a decent expression of IPA.

Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied, lightly bitter in the finish with a sweet-ish lingering note.

Overall: I’m never quite sure what to expect with fruit IPAs these days—I suppose I’m still finding my way through the hybrid style and wondering at the need for them—but when I see “fruit” in a beer my hope is to experience a really nice expression of that fruit. In this case, it’s not there; it seems to be a well-constructed IPA but I just don’t get much of the passion fruit at all. Frankly, I don’t know the intent behind this—was it to offer a light kiss of fruit juice? A big tropical-tart fruit punch in a glass? Fruity support for the fruity nature of the hops? I would be curious to hear others’ opinions.