How long do IPAs stay "Fresh"?

Depends on the hops used. Some hops fade very quickly (Citra mentioned above, as well as Galaxy).
I also have a theory that construction of a recipe also plays a huge role. My experience with homebrewing seems like hop bursted beers (little to no bittering addition, heavily handed with hops near the end of the boil for aroma and flavor) tend to let go of that aroma and flavor much quicker as well.
Another thought is the distributor, how was the beer handled? One month on a warm shelf is way to long for an IPA, but I have had 3-4 month old IPA's stored in my fridge taste almost fresh.

I just feel there are way too many factors to make a general rule.

 

Personally - 30 days is my max. I wouldn't buy it.

If you think Zombie Dust is an APA because that's what 3 Floyds calls it they also call Permanent Funeral an APA.

Permanent Funeral The wolf inside this pale ale is trying to walk upright. This bright and aromatic beer was brewed with our friends in the band Pig Destroyer. 100 IBUs, 10. 5% ABV $5 Half Pint

 

To expound upon what mnstorm99 posted, I am of the opinion that how hops are used in brewing an IPA has a large impact on the beer’s shelf life. Specifically, if the IPA is brewed using a lot of late hopping and dry hopping to achieve the beer’s flavor/aroma profile then I think that beer will be more sensitive to hop fade in a relatively short period of time. An example here is Pliny the Elder. That beer is brewed using a lot of hops at the end of boil and even more hops for dry hopping (and a two stage dry hopping process no less). Pliny the Elder is very sensitive to age with many beer drinkers recommending that this particular beer be consumed very young (e.g., with less than a month from bottling).

There are a number of other factors which will impact how quickly a hoppy beer will experience hop fade:

· Storing the beer cold (e.g., 40°F) will extend the beers life since cold mitigates oxidation processes; oxidation processes encourage hop fade.
· How well the beer was packaged in term of minimizing dissolved oxygen (DO). You want very low DO levels (less than 10 ppb ideally). Victory Brewing utilizes a top of the line packaging (bottling) line that performs a double CO2 evacuation of the bottle prior to filling to achieve low DO levels, as a point of example
· How the beer is handled during shipping. A lot of agitation can cause ‘scalping’ which has an impact on beer shelf life.
· The material used for the plastic part of the bottle cap will impact oxygen ingress. Sierra Nevada utilizes an ‘improved’ cap liner that mitigates oxygen ingress into the bottle. The best container for hoppy beers is cans since cans experience zero oxygen ingress

It has been my experience that some hoppy beers from Sierra Nevada have longer shelf lives (e.g., SNPA and Celebration Ale). I think this is too large measure due to the fact that Sierra Nevada does not employ a lot of dry hopping (as compared to Pliny the Elder for example) to achieve the hop flavor/aroma flavors of their beers. I would assume that canned SNPA would still be very tasty (from a hop flavor/aroma perspective) many months post the canning date.

Cheers!

 

Fair enough. Pale Ale is the family name within which IPA lies. Whether or not a particular beer is described as an IPA or not is entirely a matter of opinion and there are no rules because no body exists to lay down rules.IPAs exist in many guises of which the current West Coast type is only one.

 

6.4%, 60 IBUs... It's an IPA.

 

Yes, totally depends on the beer. If you're paying top dollar for a world class, hop-forward beer, you want it fresh! I'd say no more than a month for the best stuff. I'd agree that 2-3 months is about the limit for most other beers. Would also agree that Citra falls off quickly. I just brewed a good citra-heavy APA and really got to watch/taste the hops dissappear. It was Fantastic for the first two weeks, really good for about another 2 weeks and now it's good, but nothing special.
I would love to know why certain beers really fall off faster than others. I think Flower Power is very short lived and as far as I know, it's got no citra in it.

 

Dont Buy it!!!!
Thats very old for Zombie Dust it will not be the same beer. I give most IPAs 30-45 days. It's not that they all taste bad after that, but they're not nearly as hoppy.

 

varies by beer. i wouldn't buy month+ old zombie dust, but i wouldn't turn it down either.

also varies by drinker. i require hoppy beers to be super fresh, primarily because i love really hoppy flavor but i don't particularly like the usual overall character of IPAs... there's some distinctive parts to the flavor once the early early hop flavor dissipates that i am kind of irritated by, and i gravitate toward maltier beers anyway.

i think if i were a bigger lover of IPAs, i'd like a broader range. so again, it varies by the beer (what hops, how were they used, how do they balance with the rest of the beer) and maybe even moreso by drinker.

so, trial and error for you (like everyone else).

 

What does an 'old' IPA taste like? I am at work at the moment and can't watch Kimmich's video and if he explains it there, no need to recap, I'll watch later. But I just picked up a 6 pack of Hop Wallop and I thought it had a bit of a cardboard-like taste to it. I don't know if it was old or not.

 

2 months max.

IPA is not a style that I age or buy great quantity of. Luckily, it is a style where there is always something good to buy at the bottle shop so there is no need to stockpile it.

Pliny, Sculpin, West Coast, and others are all bottles that I drink within a few days of purchase

P.S - love that he is rocking the Double Mountain shirt. Great brewery

 

I don't think they mean to call Permanent Funeral an APA. I go to the brewery all the time and it's referred to as a IIPA.

 

And this my friends, is the true definition of a martyr in the Beer Advocate Dictionary.

 

might want to look that word up again in an actual dictionary.

 

3-4 weeks (max): Pliny and 6 weeks or so for everything else. I really don't like IPAs much right around the two month mark. Gotta be nice fresh and green for me.

 

2 days. Then drain pour.

 

For some people it's about 5 minutes...

 

might want to understand sarcasm and/or humor in an actual sitaution.

 

Hops fall off after 60 to 90 days. But I can still enjoy the beverage, I just do not hold it at the same standard as fresh.

In this case, I think the reward in the long run is worth whatever risk there may be. If you are wrong, small price to pay, If you are right, you get a win.

BUT if you do not try, you will never know.....

Go for it!


Cheers!

 

Sculpin rules!

 

too used to pointless criticism in threads like this.