Champion Brewing Fruitbasket IPA
There have been some good examples of fruit juice infused IPAs popping up on shelves the past year or so. And there have been some really bad ones, as well. Champion’s Fruitbasket IPA falls somewhere in the middle. This double IPA is brewed with plenty of Mosaic hops as well as what feels like a pile of zest and juice from both blood oranges and grapefruit.
The 8% ABV brew is packed to the hilt with fruit juicy flavors that tend to overly dominate the pine and herbal nature of the hops. Fruitbasket is sweet on the tongue, but the 70 IBU do their best to cut through and offer some balance to the fruit presence. The result is a fairly one-sided experience in terms of flavor.
These types of brews certainly have their fans, and I have found a couple that I thoroughly enjoy. But much like Fruitbasket, some of them just simply rely too fully on the fruit influence instead of letting the base beer stand on its own. That said, this isn’t a bad beer. There’s plenty going on with its golden depths to appease just about IPA drinkers, as well as a solid, refreshing quality.