I was given the idea to experiment with adding terpenes to beer to see how the experience changes. So I acquired 4 bottles of different terpenes, a small syringe to measure them with, and some beer: a local New England style IPA Northway Albatross, and the West Coast classic Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. For each of the following 8 entries, I will add 0.1ml of a single terpene to the glass, then take a sip from the can to familiarize myself with the base flavor before pouring it into the glass and reviewing.
Albatross with Beta Caryophyllene:
Smells of classic fruity/spicy Beta Caryophyllene with hops underneath. The taste is crisp and deeper somehow, notes of ripe stone fruit abound , along with a hint of banana bread on a soft full body. The finish is long and moderately low in bitterness, featuring notes of black and Sichuan peppercorns, herbal bitters, and herbal hops. Overall this terp kind of overpowers the beer; perhaps I need a lower dose, but it feels like it doesn’t synergize particularly well with this beer.
Albatross with Alpha Pinene:
Smells of concentrated pine and a pine tree growing inside of your nose. The taste is fruity but crisp and with a piney edge on the same body. The finish is long and moderately low in bitterness, featuring notes of pine sap, piney hops, citrus peel, and more pine. Overall, this dose of terpenes (0.1ml) will definitely need to be lowered, at least for the Sierra Nevada Pales, as the pine completely overpowers everything. I do like the addition of pine to this beer, and have had beer made with it before that I enjoyed more, the balance here is just off.
Albatross with Limonene:
Smells like limoncello, very pleasant. Taste is more or less unchanged, crisp and fruity but no lemon that I can discern; body is the same. The finish is long and moderately low in bitterness, featuring notes of lemon peel, herbal hops, and lemon oil. Overall, this one is nice, mostly shows up in the aroma and finish but complements the base beer instead of dominating it. Would drink again.
Albatross with Myrcene:
Smells of dried apricots and papayas. The taste is crisp and fruity, perhaps a bit sweeter, on the same body. The finish is long and moderately low in bitterness, featuring notes of ripe mango, vanilla, orange blossom, and herbal hops. Overall the aroma is borderline overpowering but the taste and finish are noticeably improved, really wish I could try this and the limonene together.
For the Sierra Nevada Pales I lowered the terpene dose to 0.05ml
Sierra Nevada Pale with Beta Caryophyllene:
Smells of clean malt and hops with just a subtle hint of peppery terps. The taste is crisp and clean and more or less unchanged with a full body. The finish is long and moderately bitter, featuring notes of herbal hops, piney hops, and a touch of white pepper. Overall this may be too low of a dose as I didn’t really taste the terpenes this time.
Sierra Nevada Pale with Alpha Pinene:
Smells of piney hops with extra pine; definitely getting the terps here. The taste is crisp and a little piney with a noticeably more slick body. The finish is long and moderately bitter, featuring notes of pine sap with piney, herbal, and spicy hops. Overall, this is a little too strong still I think, but shows promise with a nice spruce note on top of the hops sorta reminiscent of Evergreen Blaze.
Sierra Nevada Pale with Limonene:
Smells of lemon on top of piney hops, or a lemon dominant Pine Sol. The taste is crisp and fruity with a noticeable lemony undertone on a normal full body. The finish is long and moderately bitter, featuring notes of lemon zest, lime peel, and piney/herbal hops. Overall, this one is really nice, and seems to be the perfect balance of terpenes for this beer. Definitely try this one if you can.
Sierra Nevada Pale with Myrcene:
Smells of mango and papaya. The taste is crisp and vaguely tropical with hints of apricot and the normal full body. The finish is long and moderately bitter, featuring notes of pine sap, overripe mango, and herbal hops. Overall not bad, dose seems balanced and the tropical flavors added are nice, but prefer limonene.
Sierra Nevada Pale with Limonene & Myrcene:
I did my best to measure out 0.025ml of each of these, but it’s impossible to be that accurate with the tools I have available. Smells of papaya with subtle notes of citrus underneath. The taste is crisp and fruity and lemony as it kind of changes flavors across 10 seconds or so on the palate; the body is unchanged. The finish is long and moderately bitter, featuring notes of piney and herbal hops, overripe mango, apricot and lime peels. Overall it is an interesting improvement, better than either terpene by itself.
So would I recommend terpenes in beer? Perhaps, if you spend the time to find the right blend and dial in the extremely precise doses. Obviously it would be easier scaled up in a big batch of beer, but would still require lots of trial batches. While there certainly is potential to add a new level of aromatics in IPAs here, it could also very quickly become a cheap gimmick, and not something I intend to continue experimenting with.