FlyteCo Brewing has brewed with many different adjuncts over the past few years. Founder and Head Brewer Jason Slingsby explained to Brewer that the Denver-based brewery has used coffee, fruit, chocolate, and wood-aged products in their beers.
“[All] have all ended up on our menu at some point,” he said. In fact, a flagship beer from FlyteCo’s portfolio includes a Guava Pale Ale (Oh My Guava!) that stays on the menu year-round.
“I think the part of the process [on how] you add the adjuncts is dependent on what you are trying to accomplish,” he said. Slingsby said he feels a commonly overlooked challenge is using adjuncts with subtle flavors.
“There is a delicate balance,” he pointed out. “If you don’t use enough, the flavor profile is too light and doesn’t showcase the adjunct as intended. Too much and you could start to see unintended profiles or lose the main purpose of the beer.”
READ MORE: Is There a Ceiling for Unique Adjuncts?
If Slingsby is using fruit flavors that have the tendency to be very subtle, he said he will play with hop additions that also have similar characteristics and flavors so they can build off each other and work together to achieve the desired final profile.
“With fruit-forward styles, I like to add the additions post-fermentation right before packaging to really help showcase the adjunct,” he added. “If the goal is more nuanced, adding a smaller amount over a couple days can help dial in the desired profile.
“A little experimenting on your system can go a long way.”
Slingsby said he has had the best success using purees in the beer.
”I think the combination of color, flavor, and texture can all help add complexity to an adjunct beer, especially when that fruit/flavor is meant to be one of the dominant elements,” he said. “I do use extracts in some of our seltzers when I want to keep a more neutral color and still add plenty of flavor and aroma.”
Tying in flavors that enhance a customer experience with other parts of the company can be helpful as well. FlyteCo recently added a coffee shop and Slingsby said that using different styles of coffee beans in different beer styles has been a new ground of experimentation for the brand.
“Since we opened our coffee shop last year, we have tried to always keep a coffee beer on tap,” he said. “Blonde ale, Amber ale, and Stouts all provide a very different experience paired with the coffee flavor.
“Lately I’ve been adding cold brew to the fermenter, but we are always experimenting with new methods!”
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