So, my favorite bottle store has a "dollar cart" where he throws in old stuff, or slow moving stuff. I found Green Flash Palate Wrecker in there and so grabbed six of them so I got a six pack of Palate Wrecker for six bucks!! I'd say that's a pretty darn good deal! Thing is, it has a "best by" date of May 27, 2014, which means it was probably brewed about 3 months prior... or just about a year ago. I think it's still very good! Sure, the hops probably aren't as fresh as they were but it's still solid, smooth, and tastes great. At 9.5% I guess even an IPA can age well. Thoughts...? Experiences...?
DIPAs have enough hops and malt packed into them that there will always be some resinous quality to it, even a year old, and they basically turn into barleywines or strong ales. Compare that to regular IPAs or pale ales that turn into bitter water when the hops fall off.
I would guess the bottle date on a big ipa like palate wrecker is more like 180 as opposed to 90, but I am just guessing. Big DIPAs like PW probably are the best to pickup old as opposed to a less hopp, ipa/dipa with a lower ipa.
It's about time! Someone on my side. I've been screaming that for years... Yes fresh is better but older hoppy beers aren't bad at all. If it's something hopped like "palate wrecker" Cheers.
Most DIPA's over 8% can hold up well for a couple of years, they had a strong malt backbone to begin with. Deviant Dales is another that holds up well over 2 years, IMHO
Surely, this beer is best fresh. That said, at a buck per bottle, I'd buy every bottle the store had - and I'd put a fit.of them away for even longer just for the hell of it.
This brew lives up to it's name fresh. Like drinking carbonated hop juice so I'd imagine there's actually a decent chance that it's better with age on it.
I recently purchased a 4 pack of Founders Double Trouble which had a May 2014 date on it. The price was too good, so I purchased it and was surprised by how the pine, hops, and tropical fruit notes still stood up! The 9.4% ABV probably helped?? I really can't say. But I was pleasantly surprised!
You certainly got a bargain, but I'm not a fan of diminished hops. If I wanted a barleywine, I'd go buy one.
~6 month old Hoptimum has been my best experience with an old IIPA. The over-the-top bitterness was mostly gone, but it was extremely resiny and easy-drinking for 10%. Their hashy (IMO) house yeast was shining.
DIPA's don't "turn into barleywines." I have no idea where that idea began. The malt profile and especially the FG are drastically different. Or at least they should be assuming you haven't just mislabeled your beer. That said, beer isn't dairy, and hop bombs don't fall off a cliff after 14 days. A good DIPA will be good after a year. Different perhaps, but still a stand-up brew. Enjoy! Jeff
