Shopping for IPAs: good, cold, or fresh?

I would probably pick the best beer but it really depends on which beers they were. The ratings are all pretty close. Which beers?

 

My like for the brewer's other products significantly trumps storage, BA reputation, and time frame. Cost is always going to be a factor too.

In your example above, the numbers are so close for me that it's splitting hairs (2 week differences in bottling, 0.05 differences in BA score)... and you might not know when the beer was put in the fridge). In other words, I just don't ascribe the same value to numbers, or at least not with that kind of precision.

 

To me there is no difference in how much I think I will enjoy a 4.0 vs. a 4.2, so I likely would not bother with number ratings but would look at the freshness as the determinant when style, flavor profile, and all else is about equal.

 

A good score doesn't particularly grab me as much as it keeps me from dismissing the beer, I look for something particularly high or low to let me be swayed one way or the other. Ultra fresh for me, for out-of-state IPAs/DIPAs, is within three weeks of bottling, but I'm fine picking up one a few months old if it hasn't been shipped all over and was stored cold. Limited release, something the store had to jump through hoops to get, or a bigger beer are special cases which peak different interests of mine.

New IPAs really depend on my mood on that day and if I have something special in the fridge to pair with it (usually some sharp cheddar which I love even with a poor IPA).

Hypothetically, if there were three IPAs which I have wanted to try for a while and were like your example and all held the same personal or BA score, then I would tend to pick the one in the cooler. Unless it were 2+ months older than the shelved ones, in which case I'd just pick the freshest one off the shelf. If they were all 6, even 9+ months old, which happened to me a while ago, and nothing else comes close in score, then I look for something else or the oldest bottle in the darkest part of the store. In this situation I ended up leaving with a very familiar dusty, cobwebbed bottle of Duchess de Bourgogne and a bottle of Arrogant Bastard to satisfy my hop thirst instead of "gambling" on an unfamiliar and unimpressively old IPA.

 

Freshest

The refrigeration vs. non-refrigeration can make it a more detailed choice, but in the above scenario, it's automatic for me: I take the 1-week-old.

 

When I buy a new IPA how kool the label/packaging are in the most important thing.

 

Door number 2. While 35 days is within my preferred freshness window of 45 days, 5 weeks is still pushing it and I would sooner take the week old. The refrigerated one, as someone else mentioned, is a moot factor since there's no telling when it was put in there. I'd sooner be concerned about the packaging in regards to bottle vs. can.

 

I generally go with whatever is freshest, regardless of score/refrigeration.

 

My decision would mostly be based on my experience with the 3 breweries other beers or what trusted (beer wise) friends have told me. In your scenario above, the ratings are close enough where it wouldn't change my mind and I don't check ratings ahead of time typically. The 5 weeks I would think about, but if for my own consumption it wouldn't bother me. If I was planning on shipping or sharing, I may not get the 5 week because, you know, people.

 

Dare I say it.. why not all three?

 

It's a general wash-out given the relative age and storage conditions of these three beers, and the ratings have a standard statistical deviation that negates using these scores as a factor, so I'd pick the one that uses hop varieties that I like.

 

Food for thought:

Most craft companies that sell to a distributor, sell knowing it will be shipped in a unrefrigerated semi.

Most distributors store in a warehouse, that may have ac at best. Refrigeration really eats into the margin they have.

The journey a beer takes to its destination often involves different periods of varying environmental conditions. Cold, room temp, cold again, perhaps warmed on its car ride to its new owners home, just to get cold again before consumption.

Cheers

 

Good-->Fresh-->Cold

I agree with those that say that those ratings are all so close that I wouldn't let them sway me in your situation; I would have gone with the 1 week old one. Although substyle does play a part with me also (I generally factor that into 'Good').

 

I'd probably pay more attention to the reputation of the brewery and other info about the beer like types of hops used. The difference between a rating of 4 and 4.2 is pretty negligible, especially since my palate might not necessarily agree with those ratings in the first place. I might lean more towards an ipa that is only a week old but 5 weeks isn't enough to deter me from buying an ipa that simply sounds good to me.

 

Without question the 4.0 refrigerated. Warm storage is the WORST accelerator of hoppy beers' deterioration. I do not buy IPAs on any shelf anywhere.

 

In this one post, you've captured the (silly, IMO) hyperventilating that goes on continually on this board.

UGGGG! 5 WEEKS OLD!!!
UGGGG! 0.2 POINTS LOWER!!!

In your example, there is no appreciable difference in age or rating, IMO. And, as others have pointed out, current storage says nothing about past storage conditions.

How about this:
4.6 rating, 12 weeks old, dusty on the shelf
3.75 rating, 2 days old, in the cooler

 

My criteria is a simple reverse of the words in the question. Fresh, cold, good but always fresh first.

 

I am interested to see some study or research comparing the degradation of Light ( More so UV A & B) versus the rate of degradation in regards to temperature.

My gut tells me that light would but I can see a hypothetical scenario where a can of beer is exposed to 90+ temps for three days or so ...say even outdoors in sunlight...not being so premium.

In a perfect world , once packaged it would remain cold until its destination. I have yet to come across a craft beer retailer who keeps 100% of its stock cold. It would be really hard to turn a profit with a electric bill that triples that of sales.

Keep in mind, that more than likely that beer has the potential to spend more time warm, then it does cold, before you buy it. Just because its cold, we cant assume it has always been cold.

Temp variations are notorious in the industry. Its a virtue

Freshness is the best avenue for those looking to have the best exp possible. The fresher, the lesser amount of potential it has to be improperly stored or handled.

Cheers~

 

Fresh because you don't have to worry about storage or how it was handled, if it was just made a few days prior you have no worries....
Cheers