From the Beer Writer: Fruited beers are en vogue…again. In past iterations of this trend, which comes and goes, gaining more and more traction each time around, fruits have mostly appeared in lighter-bodied, lower-alcohol beers-styles such as blonde ales, wits and assorted lagers. Darker beers such as porters and stouts also get their fair share of fruiting, mostly with berries. This time around, it’s all about the IPA. (But seriously, when isn’t it all about the IPA?) IPAs packed with hops exhibiting citrus and tropical fruit flavors are being further amplified in those respects by actual citrus and tropical fruits. This week’s featured beer, Mike Hess Grapefruit Solis IPA, started off with grapefruit picked in a backyard. Such was the popularity of this beer at Mike Hess Brewing Company‘s trio of tasting bars, a domestic plot will no longer suffice. So, the grapefruits are sourced then processed at the North Park production brewery, which on days when the brew crew are zesting away, smells more like an orchard than a manufacturing site. All that aroma and flavor come through in the finished product, a fresh batch of which recently made it back out onto the market.
From the Brewer: “Seven years ago, Mike Hess was trying to convince his mother to try an IPA over her preferred stout. In an effort to persuade her, he suggested thinking of an IPA as carbonated grapefruit juice, and lo and behold, she is now an IPA enthusiast. Fast-forward to the summer of 2015 when Mike was solicited by a local business to create a specialty craft beer and it dawned on him he could create a grapefruit IPA using his flagship Solis recipe and adding fresh grapefruit from the backyard of his home in La Mesa. After picking hundreds of grapefruits from his tree with his children, Mike and his family hand-zested and squeezed the grapefruit to add to Solis #46. After perfecting the recipe, Grapefruit Solis was added to Mike Hess Brewing’s menu as a flagship beer using a combination of Nugget, Cascade and Citra hops with two-row, melanoidin and Vienna malts. Grapefruit Solis takes the best out of a traditional San Diego IPA and combines it with a well-rounded flavor profile brought out by the citrus in the grapefruit. This recipe is the perfect example of fruit-infused beer. We pack our hop-back with grapefruit zest just before fermentation and then, prior to packaging, we add in a dose of real grapefruit juice, doubling down for flavor-town. Light in color and dry in taste, this beer has a subtle malt component and a clean yeast profile. It’s like getting sacked in the face with a bag of grapefruit.”—Jason Stockberger, Head Brewer, Mike Hess Brewing Company
From the Bottle: Grapefruit Solis kicks it up a notch by taking our awesome San Diego style IPA and pumping it full of citrusy grapefruit goodness. No artificial flavors either—we’re talking real fruit. The hops are carefully selected to play off the zestiness, and the malt is subtle in the background. The result is dry, crisp and deliciously refreshing.
Edit: This post has been shortened to focus on The Beer of the Week.