Which beer types are the most important to enjoy fresh?

You are going to get all sorts of imperial answers to your simple question. Bottom line: All beers can afford to sit in the fridge for a while. Hoppier beers tend to lose some of that hoppiness over time, especially if made with fragile aroma-forward American hop varieties. But this does not mean they are no good. You shouldn't faint if you see an IPA with 6 months to a year on it. Any beer is worth trying at any time.

 

By far the beers to drink the soonest after bottling would be IPA and double/imperial IPAs. Hop character can fade pretty quickly. You could get several other replies regarding how long you can keep which IPAs but I use 2-3 months as my rule of thumb and prefer refrigerated storage (which slows the aging process).

As far as what will keep- malty beers over about 8-9%abv can keep for quite a while. Take a look at the Cellaring discussion group for a while lit more on that topic.

Hope that helps. Welcome to the wonderful world of craft beer!

 

If you like hop flavor/aroma in your hoppy beers then you want to consume them fresh.

The OP mentioned hefeweizen beers and they should be enjoyed very fresh! Unfortunately the aspects of “imported” and “fresh” don’t always go hand-in-hand. There are a number of excellent German brewed hefeweizen beers that are imported to the US (e.g., Weihenstephan, Ayinger, Schneider, etc.) but if they are too old (or beat up in transport) they are a shell of their former selves. One advantage of drinking US craft brewed hefeweizen beers is that you can increase your chances of getting fresh product.

A majority of German style beers are best consumed fresh: German Pilsner, Helles, Kolsch, Alt, Dunkel, Oktoberfest/Marzen, etc. You have the same ‘challenge’ here as for hefeweizen beers. If you can obtain a German brewed version of these beers fresh they are tasty.

Cheers!

 

Saisons. Others will disagree, but they are wrong.

 

All. Yes, it is important to try all beers as fresh as possible. For one, most beers are good to go the day they are bottled, otherwise the breweries wouldn't be bottling them to begin with. Two, even with beers that develop (the key word is develop, not better, not worse) over time, you need to have a reference point as to how they have developed, ie, try them fresh for reference.

A few pointers:
1. Pale Ales, IPAs, IIPAs/double IPAs - try them as fresh as possible, there's really no point to trying them late (unless it is Sierra Nevada's Celebration which holds well for a couple of months atleast)
2. Anything less than 8% ABV needs to go asap.
3. Any beer unless explicitly recommended by the brewer otherwise (aka Deschutes' Abyss, Black Butte anniversary ales etc)
4. No opinion with regard to freshness (or beer for that matter) is correct or wrong. Perception is subjective, so what works for another may not work for you. See it, smell it, taste it, and judge it - for yourself, or better, in the select company of good friends. Cheers!

 

The ones you find through trial/error to be good fresh, but not as enjoyable with age.

All other advice will be based on palates not belonging to yourself.

 

I agree with some of this, but I have to take issue with a couple of points. The notion that a brewery wouldn't bottle and release something that's not ready to drink RIGHT THEN doesn't make sense; if that was the case, would wineries release vintages a decade or more before they hit their stride? Granted, beer doesn't need to sit nearly as long to come into its own (even something like Abyss or Black Tuesday), but I think the point remains valid.

Also, anything under 8% needs to go asap? A lot of lambics, geueze, or frankly anything wild will often be far different on release than it will a year or two down the road. A prime example that jumps to mind is Orval, or Goose Island's Matilda (basically an Orval 'clone'). When bottled and released there is little to no Brettanomyces character, which is supposed to be central to the beer's flavor profile. A lot of these are lower-alcohol beers.

All your points on subjectivity, etc, are spot on, and I agree that 'development' doesn't NECESSARILY mean 'better', but I think that, in certain cases/styles, it often can.

 

Permit me to tell you a Deschutes story. I live in Pennsylvania and Deschutes has licenses to sell their beer here but they don’t really distribute here. As part of Philly Beer Week (June) apparently Deschutes made a few cases of their beer available. In mid-July my local beer distributor had some cases of Deschutes. One case was Chainbreaker White IPA (a Belgian IPA) which had a best by date of mid-August. I had never heard of this beer but since I am a fan of Deschutes I bought it. That beer was EXCELLENT. It tasted great even until the end of August (but the hops did fade a little bit). In August my beer distributor had one case of Deschutes Black Butter Porter. I thought to myself: hmmm, this beer has been here (Philly) since May/June Can it be any good? That beer has a best by date of 12/1/12 (three days ago). I still have some of those beers left and they are still tasty; I stored them in my half-basement (room temperature). So, some beer styles (like Black Butte Porter) will last longer than others.

Cheers!

 

I liked it because it's true. If you don't read or buy into the popular notion of what is better fresh and take the trouble to taste and make up your own mind, you'll not only have a better idea of what you like and don't like and won't pass something up because it's not up to the commonly held [and often misleading] belief but you'll also get to enjoy alot of good beer.

 

people can say what they want but i want my hops fresh...

 

Yeah, I did not want to go into lambics/sour beer territory since that is an exception to practically every rule in the brewing business! I suppose when the imbiber goes in for 3F or Cantillion , he/she will be sufficiently knowledgeable to know what to expect. Wines are a different category altogether. I do not think it is a fair comparison. Different ingredients, brewing practices (unless you're talking barrel-aged beers), characteristics etc etc.

 

Isn't it funny that IPA's were originally meant for preservation (in essence, they were meant to last and age, though not for flavor reasons, but still). Now most people drink those hops up ASAP.

 

I suppose it still holds good if you're talking English-style IPAs. But with the trend nowadays leaning towards American IPAs, where brewers go to extraordinary lengths to dry-hop their beers to lend those wonderful aromatics, you really lose out on that sensory dimension if you let it sit for too long. A case in point is hop stoopid - fresh, that beer will knock your socks off, and holds its own against pliny the elder. Give it a couple of months, and you'll likely regret spending the $4+ on it, I know I did.

 

I think I might agree with trying everything you can as fresh as you can for a point of reference, but that is all.

Some of this I don't buy into at all. "...really no point in trying them late"? Seriously? There are a shit ton of pale ales and IPAs that are marvelous no matter when you have them. Also, 8% is not some magical level that guarantees perpetuity. Your point #4 is most sensible. Otherwise this is the type of stuff that comes across as pretty closed-minded.

 

The aromatics in American hop varietals are pretty unstable. English IPAs using UK hops will hold up for quite a long time. It's not the style that causes the change, it's the choice of ingredients.

 

mmmmmm fresh IPA....

A week ago I had a bottle of CBC Big Man IPA (http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/14/505/?ba=bros), Batch #01 bottled the same month. I can still taste it now

 

I wasn't trying to force my opinion on anyone, just offering some pointers - as in general guidelines on what I use myself. Disagreement is perfectly acceptable. I am sure there are tons of pale ales that are awesome after 6 months or so, just that it is not something I would advise anyone to do - to spend their money on six month old pale ales.

8% - not a magical number, but then what is .. a higher alcohol content generally holds the beer up for a longer period - not guaranteed, but generally accepted. Now what number makes a beer higher ABV worthy is subjective...I'll take mine at 8. Cheers!

 

IPAs with tons of bittering hops will last longer, but beers with late hop additions (hop bursting, hop backing, "torpedo" hopping, etc.) or dry hopping will lose intended flavor and aroma quickly.

 

I wouldn't worry too much about "making sure" you drink beer shortly after buying it, especially since you're just getting into craft beer. I rarely ever look for a date before I buy beer (although I'm in my local store so much I know what's new and what's been around for awhile). At this point in your journey I would just worry about getting out there and trying new stuff. Maybe if you're on the fence between 2 different brews use the date as the tiebreaker and buy the fresher one?