Brewer's Secret Ingredient: 4 Ways to Use Passion Fruit Puree for Unique Beer Creations

Passion fruit beer can be magical—if you do it right. From lip-puckeringly tart passion fruit sour beer to high-ABV hazy tropical IPAs that go down easy, the beloved maracuya is an often overlooked ingredient that really pops when used effectively. 

Although producing a delicious brew is obviously the top priority, using exotic tropical fruits and unique fruit flavor combinations is a fantastic way to keep your customers excited about your brand. It’s no secret that the craft brew scene is heavily saturated, and finding new ways to stand out from the crowd can be tough. 

Passion fruit is an excellent choice for brewers looking to turn some heads, as it treads the line between offbeat and familiar. Most people have heard of passion fruit, but many have never tried a passion fruit beer. If you create something special, you might just earn some new fans, especially if you’re brewing something unlike anything else out there. 

Like any beer recipe, relentless experimenting and testing should eventually lead you to the holy grail. Nailing that elusive 10/10 batch can be tedious, but once you find it, it’s yours for keeps. The secret ingredient isn’t only passion fruit, it’s passion too!

We’re here to provide some inspiration and ideas to assist you on your journey to passion fruit perfection. These are merely suggestions, so feel free to borrow bits and pieces to come up with something that fits your own unique vision of the ultimate passion fruit beer. Let’s begin!

Table of Contents

• Get to Know the Flavor Profile
• Choose a Complementary Beer Style
• Berliner Weisse
• Sour Ale
• Hazy IPA
• Summer Gose
• Use 100% Natural Fruit Puree

Get to Know the Flavor Profile

First things first: whether you’re brewing a passion fruit sour beer or a hard cider, you need to get familiar with the nuances of the passion fruit’s complex flavor.

It’s important to note that we’re discussing the golden passion fruit variety, also known as the maracuya. The banana passion fruit, or curuba, is another outstanding brewing ingredient, but its flavor isn’t what people usually imagine when someone mentions passion fruit beer. 

Curubas are slightly sour like golden passion fruit, but they’re earthier. For the sake of simplicity, this guide is about golden passion fruit only. That said, we highly recommend adding curuba to your ingredients list, too!

What does golden passion fruit taste like?

Golden passion fruit has a sweet, tart, and tangy tropical taste with floral and citrus notes. The flavor of golden passion fruit has hints of pineapple, kiwi, and melon.

Choose a Complementary Beer Style

Now that you know what you’re working with, it’s time to choose a style that makes sense for brewing passion fruit beer. As a general rule, passion fruit works best in light (in color) beers. The zippy tropical flavors tend to get lost in or contrast with darker brews.

When we say light, we don’t necessarily mean light in flavor. A passion fruit sour beer can be incredibly intense! Think spring and summer beers. Passion fruit exudes easy-breezy tropical vibes, so choose a style that makes sense. 

As you get more familiar with the fruit, you may want to branch out and get more avant-garde with your concoctions, but for now, start with tried-and-true styles. That doesn’t mean you have to make basic, boring passion fruit beer! Work within a reliable framework, and then make it your own. 

Here’s a look at some beer styles that complement passion fruit.

1. Fruited Berliner Weisse

What is a Berliner Weisse?

Berliner Weisse is a German sour wheat ale made from malted barley and wheat, Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Brettanomyces yeasts, and lactic acid. Berliner Weisse beers are light and cloudy with a refreshingly tart taste.

The addition of lactic acid gives the Berliner Weisse its signature clean, yogurt-like zing. In general, lactic acid pairs very well with golden passion fruit, helping to round out its flavor.

Nicknamed “The Champagne of the North” by Napoleon’s troops, the Berliner Weisse is an ideal starting point for making passion fruit beer. Its zippy flavor profile is naturally a perfect fit, and the fact that it requires lactic acid really makes this brew beg for some passion fruit!

2. Sour Ale

There are plenty of other passion fruit sour beer options besides the Berliner Weisse. Your usual sour brewing techniques should translate just fine. Simply substitute your usual sour beer fruit pairings for passion fruit and other complementary fruits.

Be aware that passion fruit is quite acidic, so a passion fruit sour will usually be much more tart than a sour brewed with sweeter, less acidic fruits like peach or mango, for example. You can balance the tartness of your passion fruit beer by adding sweeter fruits, or you could lean into it by adding other acidic tropical fruits like pink guava and pineapple. 

3. Hazy IPA

Hazy IPAs and tropical fruits are a match made in heaven. You can capture some unique flavors while helping to mask the bitterness and high ABVs for which IPAs are known—for better or worse, depending on who you ask!

In a hazy IPA, passion fruit takes on juicy citrus and fruit punch flavors that work beautifully alone or alongside other tropical fruits. The aromatic floral notes also help to bring complexity that discerning palates are sure to appreciate.

4. Summer Gose

If you’re looking to turn your passion fruit beer into a vacation in a bottle, a refreshing summer gose might be right up your alley. While you’re still technically brewing a passion fruit sour beer, a gose is much lighter and milder than other sours, making it a superb choice for sunny session sipping.

To give your passion fruit gose some complexity, consider adding other ingredients that complement passion fruit, such as sea salt, Irish moss, osmanthus flower, and coriander. And, as mentioned, lactic acid can really pull everything together.

Use 100% Natural Fruit Puree

We could write a novel about the countless ways to brew passion fruit beer and still barely scratch the surface. But we hope these ideas provide a helpful starting point as you begin brewing with passion fruit.

Now that you have some fruit for thought, order our aseptic passion fruit puree today! We only use 100% natural, sun-ripened fruits to ensure the highest quality results. While you’re at it, shop all of our fruit puree options. We’re proud to offer a massive selection of real fruit purees that are ready to use immediately or store long-term. 

Join our wholesale fruit puree program, and we’ll be your dependable, go-to fruit puree supplier so you always have ingredients ready for the next batch. Your customers’ new favorite passion fruit beer is waiting for you to create it. Follow our craft brewing blog for more brewing tips, and order your aseptic fruit puree today!