IPAs not refrigerated??

Just opinion but I feel light and oxygen do more to age IPAs than temperature.

 

Perhaps some folks with more knowledge of the issue can help me out here....

The OP says that they don't mind if stouts are stored at warm temps, but that mind if IPA's are. Isn't all beer better when stored in cool, dark conditions? I would think any beer with hops (which is most beer if not all beer, right?) would be best stored in the refrigeration units, no? Isn't this why people have beer "cellars" because the cellar is typically colder. If money weren't an issue, wouldn't it be optimal to store all beer, from the time it's bottled to the time it's consumed in dark refrigeration?

To the OP. I wouldn't worry too much about the temp it's stored at as opposed to the age. THe beer we're getting goes through a lot of temp changes to begin with. Just the other week I grabbed a sixer of Hoponius Union. It was on the floor of the store and warm, I'm assuming it's been warm since it left Jack's Abby. It was only a month old and it was delicious.

 

“…oxygen do more to age IPAs than temperature.” But the rate of oxidation is dependent on storage temperature; oxidation occurs more quickly at higher storage temperature. IPAs suffering from hop fade (oxidation processes) follow the Arrhenius Equation: http://chemwiki.ucdavis.edu/Physica...on_Rates/The_Arrhenius_Law/Arrhenius_Equation

Cheers!

 

“Isn't all beer better when stored in cool, dark conditions?” Yes.

“The OP says that they don't mind if stouts are stored at warm temps, but that mind if IPA's are.” Beers like stouts/porters have a significant content of dark malts. Dark malts are anti-oxidative; they help the beer resist oxidation (beer going stale).

Bottom line is that hoppy beers suffer from hop fade due to oxidation and most folks are more ‘concerned’ about that aspect. Oxidation processes occur more rapidly at non-cold temperatures (see post above).

Cheers!

 

Ah, a trusted source. Thank you. So ultimately while stouts and porters don't have the same aversion to non-cold temps as an IPA, it is still optimal for them to be stored in cold temps.

Thanks my man.

 

In a thread a few weeks ago, Vinnie Cilurzo was quoted saying part of why he doesn't make/distribute more Pliny is that he'll only ship in refrigerated trucks which makes scaling up harder. So he at least thinks room temperature IPA is a no-no.

 

I know a lot of IPA drinkers keep freaking out about this, but I've found that storing in "dark cool place", followed by brief chilling seems to correspond to best flavor. In fact, there are few non-lagers I would prefer chilled. I've been drinking most beers slightly below room temp (55-58F). Lagers, as a rule, well chilled, with hoppier lagers chilled, but served after a bit of warming up (45-50F). There is clear loss of flavor in some (but not all) IPAs with time, but it's not due to storage conditions. As long as you don't leave it in unventilated warehouse (or room) that pushes 90F during the day, it's not going to be ruined.

I find a lot of wine snobs, especially wine sellers, making virtually identical comments about Costco wine. My experience has been that it's all BS. I'm yet to have had a cooked wine or a skunked beer from Costco. Others' experiences may differ. Manufacturing date is more of a concern.

 

The Brewers Association disagrees:

 

So they are saying any IPA that's been stored on a shelf for 28 days is bad.
Or was the study not limited to IPAs? Are 29 day old stouts bad? 29 day old Rauchbiers, or Barleywines?

 

Time matters the most when it comes to the degradation (oxidation) of beer. ALL beer.

Temperature matters insofar as it is a factor that influences the effect of time on beer. Colder temperatures will slow the march of oxidation simply because at colder temperatures, molecules move slower, meaning the chemical interactions that take place in the oxidation process occur at a lower speed. With the process moving slower, the same amount of oxidation will take longer to occur.

Warming and chilling and warming and chilling a beer will only have an adverse impact to the degree that the beer is spending part of time that it could be spending chilled at room temperature, meaning the oxidation process isn't being slowed down for as much time as it could be.

 

Looks like they are saying keeping it cool just slows down the effect aging has on the beer's taste, regardless of style. A significant reduction. Whether that is a good or bad thing is up to you, but I'd imagine most people enjoy fresh IPAs better.

 

One of my beer stores puts most of their craft beers on the floor . I bought titan last time and the born on date was back in October which they took back. So I'm trying to buy the cold beer cause on the floor their not paying attention to rotating the stock .

 

Well I'm curruntly drinking a 1 month old can of Jai Alia. I've had Jai Alai 2x previously and thought it was very citrusy and fresh tasting IPA. Loved it. This one (only 4 weeks old canned date) tastes somewhat less fresh/stale hops to me althught still pretty tasty, just not as fresh. Still good but I was actually surprised its only 4-5 weeks old. Perhaps because it was on the single shelf and stored at room temp for the last few weeks? Not sure. A friend gave me the last 2 Jai Alai's I've sampled and not sure of their dates or storing condition. Just saying, I'm shocked at the hop diminished flavor profile of this 4 week old great beer and maybe its due to storing temp?

 

Optimally hoppy beers are kept cold and served a bit less cold but the optimal only makes rare appearances in this vale of tears. We persevere nonetheless.

 

Way to go... now you have to send the t-shirt back!

 

Jai Alai can indeed "fall off" pretty quickly in comparison to other IPAs...also keep in mind that if a FL BA keeps it in their garage for a couple weeks before shipping there is a good chance their garage was 100 degrees. Doubt any BAs would do this though...

 

As long as they are not sitting in the sun and the "born on/best by" dates are fresh...I could care less.

 

This is a myth. The entire thing. The only thing your beer shouldn't be exposed to is extremely hot or freezing temperatures. Or direct sunlight.

 

Too bad there's not someplace for people to learn basic information on a topic. Like a website or something.

 

I just lol whenever I see people who think they're beer goes from brewery to their glass, from across state lines, or even oceans, and they think it's been cold the whole time. Especially people who trade beer.