Crafting Summer Perfection: Inside PrimeGolf Brewing's Pineapple Passionfruit Ale

The first of the FPB (Finest Prime Brew) series where we experiment with and try brewing different beers other than our regulars at PrimeGolf Brewing, Bengaluru. Our current lineup is the Belgian wit, Hefeweizen Weizenbock, Golden ale, IPA & of course the beer we are talking about, Pineapple Passionfruit Ale.

Let's talk about the base beer and the thought process that went behind it. When we plan a beer, we make sure it doesn't lose the overall nature of being a beer. It needs to be drinkable unlike a smoothie sour which is very thick and juicy. Our aim was to have the base beer being in sync with the fruit we were adding. We brewed this during peak summer with the pineapple bringing in the tropical fruit sweetness and passionfruit bringing in a slight tartness required in the beer. The combination was a real thirst quencher - light, refreshing and fruity but still unmistakably a beer.

The majority of the recipe was built with base malted barley providing that classic beer backbone to which we supplemented with some malted wheat for a touch of haze and mouthfeel, and a very small amount of dextrin malt to help with head retention and mild malt sweetness to balance out the fruit.

During the selection of pineapples, we found that the sweeter the pineapple the better. We tried a few different pineapples from the market, finally bringing in some semi-ripe ones and letting them fully ripen over a few days. The passionfruit we used was a mix of fresh fruit puree and aseptic concentrate for intensity of flavor. The ratio of both the fruit pulps we used was around 90% Pineapple: 10% Passionfruit.

We processed the puree freshly in-house with necessary safety and hygiene precautions, after this careful process we added this entire puree blend to the bright beer tank and let it condition for 5 days before serving. The end result was so good that it just felt like drinking a liquid tropical vacation on a hot summer day, with the pineapple coming through so vibrantly and delightful notes of passionfruit. An amazing brew which is perfect for the summer season in Bengaluru!

Our next beer is the Mango Vanilla Blonde Ale, subscribe to stay updated with more in the FPB series, and all things beer in general. Cheers!