Oskar Blues Passion Fruit Pinner Throwback IPA

Two years ago, I fell in love with passion fruit. Over the course of my honeymoon in the Dominican Republic, each day I tried my best to eat the entire resort out of it. Every morning I would fill an entire plate with it and then go back for seconds. I considered it a healthy way to start the day before I began a steady diet of beer, liquor and heavy food for the remainder of it. Since then, I have avoided eating passion fruit. I feel nothing could ever come close to the fresh, beautifully tart flavor I enjoyed there. However, if there was one way I was going to enjoy its flavor, it was going to be in beer. Some beers have beautifully recreated that fresh passion fruit flavor. For example, Avery Brewing Company's Liliki'l Kepolo lets the fresh passion fruit flavor shine wonderfully. By the way, if you have yet to try that beer, drop everything and go buy a can. It's that good. But this is not a review of Liliki'l Kepolo(although maybe it should be), this is a review of the brand new offering from the Oskar Blues Brewery, Passion Fruit Pinner Throwback IPA.

Before I get started with the tasting section of this review, I want to say I am a fan of the base beer, Pinner Throwback IPA. For me, it ranks just below Founders All Day IPA as an easy to find, go to option for the style. It's light, easy to drink and has just the right amount of hop flavor for a sessionable beer. So after reading about my love of passion fruit, as well as my positive feelings toward the base Pinner, you might think this was going to be a positive review. Unfortunately, that is not the case.

Pouring a beautifully clear golden yellow with a light fluffy head, Passion Fruit Pinner Throwback IPA's aroma filled me with optimism. It was full of passion fruit, orange, grapefruit and biscuity malt. From the aroma alone it seemed like Passion Fruit was going to be the perfect compliment to the beer. Sadly, all I could do after taking my first sip was grimace and wonder how such a promising idea could go so wrong. The initial flavor brings stale fruit combined with bitter hops  before finishing unpleasantly sour, slightly spicy and still being complimented by stale fruit. The passion fruit flavor is definitely there but it completely reinforces my fear of trying the tropical fruit I loved in the Caribbean here in the United States.

Unlike other beers I have reviewed, I tried my best to find something I liked about Passion Fruit Pinner. After all, I foolishly bought a six pack thinking there was no way I would not like it. Instead of finding anything positive, I continued to be greeted by the same cluttered stale fruit flavor that makes me thankful this is only out for a limited run. Oskar Blues is a typically reliable brewery and Pinner Throwback IPA works on its own. Again, I recommend trying it if you are looking for an easy drinking session IPA. But if you see the Passion Fruit Pinner on shelves buy almost anything else in the store.


Overall I would rate Oskar Blues Passion Fruit Pinner Throwback IPA a 1.5/5. This is muddled mess of a beer from a normally reliable brewery.


Rating Scale:
1 - Repugnant and undrinkable
2 - Acceptable but forgettable
3 - Good, worth a purchase
4 - Excellent, a step above the norm
5 - Truly exceptional　

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Thanks for reading. Sláinte!