I’ve got an IPA fermenting that I would like to add tamarind to. I have a “brick” of seedless tamarind fruit from the Indian grocery store. It has a pretty powerful sweet-tart flavor. The IPA has an English malt base (Maris Otter with a bit of caramel rye and carahell and a half pound of jaggery), but is hopped in a more West Coast fashion - with late columbus, apollo, summit, and galaxy at flameout/whirlpool.
My thought was to let this go for 4-5 days, then add the fruit. After tasting the tamarind, I’m not sure I should use the whole pound for this 5 gallon batch. Anyone have any experience with tamarind? My experience tells me that its wiser to under-do it than over-do it for a first-time experiment. Also, any thoughts on dry hops that might not clash too strongly (If I add any, I’m thinking of sticking with galaxy at this point, but I’m new to galaxy so I don’t have much to go on there).
-Brian
My experience is a little tamarind goes a long way.
I’d say less than a little goes more than long way. How about dissolving it in water and dosing a sample beer so you’ll have an idea how much to add?
Thanks, guys. Denny, I’ll try dosing with a prior batch, as you suggest - sounds wise.
Skip the dry hopping and just add some fish sauce with the tamarind… 
I used tamarind syrup in a sour beer and was thrilled with the results. The syrup was intended for sodas. It made it easy to dose some soda water and extrapolate the result to beer. I have no experience with a brick of tamarind.
Try making a tincture using vodka and the tamarind. Then you can taste it along with slowly dosing a beer to see where you like the flavor.
After tasting some samples with a prior batch, I think I’ll hold on the tamarind for this IPA. It seems like the flavors would go better with a lighter-bodied, less hoppy style like a wit. I’m a bit concerned about the pulp/rind bitterness that the raw tamarind fruit I have may contribute - and I’m afraid that after fermentation that’s all I’ll be left with. I like this recipe a bit too much to risk it. Guess I’ll just have to add another batch to the lineup soon.
Thanks for the advice!
Good idea. Made a tamarind wit and it is delicious. Since I did a mixed fermentation it is beautifully tart and stands up to ageing. Gutting the tamarind pods was a good amount of labor though.