With a quarter of the beers in this box being some sort of "birthday beer" we had to make a mention to these releases! First, the Imperial Red Ale by Holgate, release #21 of the 25 beers brewed to commemorate their 25 years of existence. 'Roman Candle' by Mountain Culture to celebrate 5 years of brewing! And finally, 'All Day Breakfast' - a monster 7-way collab made by Fox Friday for the Carwyn Cellars' bar 10th birthday: A Fruited Hazy IPA. But what is this style all about?
Adding fruit to a beer is an ancient tradition, coming from the addition of spices and fruit to beers in the Middle Ages, to modern Wheat Ales in Europe with citrus & spice. When it comes to IPAs, it's a much more recent technique. In 1996, the ground-breaking Dogfish Head brewery from Delaware, made their first ever hoppy beer "Aprihop" as a Fruited IPA with Amarillo hops and real pureed apricot. It was a divisive beer when released, bringing unnecessary criticism.
It wouldn't be until the mid-2010s when breweries like Ballast Point and New Belgium would have massive success with their 'Sculpin' (Grapefruit IPA) and 'Citradelic' (Tangerine IPA) respectively, becoming some of their most popular releases.
Nowadays, with beer styles such as Milkshake IPAs and Sour IPAs, the concept of a fruit addition to a hop-forward brew seems a lot less wild. The key is to find fruits that play nicely with the fruit notes of the hops and blur the line between hop and fruit addition for that massive juicy punch. Is this a mimosa or a beer? Who cares; it’s delicious!
Want to explore Fruited IPAs further?
Shop Carwyn Cellar's full range of Fruited IPAs!
