Good beers that turn fast.

I actually like FBS with several months of age on it. I know that many people don't, though.

 

Sculpin
Sucks

These two beers are amazing fresh, but turn into a malty mess after a couple months. Honestly they're the only beers I've noticed that take such a drastic dropoff.

 

I'd say zombie dust gets pretty lame quickly. The hops fade off fast and it turns into a super orangy/malty taste, which is still good but nowhere near as interesting as a fresh one. Heard this is fairly common of most citra beers though.

 

It seems to me that much of the worry about beer changing rapidly is just that - worry. Perhaps there should be a name for this condition that blights very recent American beer connoisseurship. Most changes I have noted have been minor and subtle. The one beer that I think does noticeably change is Aventinus. I'm drinking one that was bottled last month, perhaps the youngest I've had. A bottle that is a year older is much smoother, and less intense; certain flavours seem to disappear...

 

Pretty much any DIPA.

 

Sculpin & Two-Hearted just seem so much better and different right after bottling, or very fresh draft. Not that they're "bad" later, but they're just in an entirely different league of greatness when they're super fresh.

 

That's how I feel about Nugget Nectar. Great when fresh, but just doesn't seem to stay the same for long. Not bad, just not as good.

 

Most DIPA. I found Chillwave to be so so good when I got a 4 pack fresh. I had one bottled late Jan in early April and it was not even close. Almost drainpour... Sad too as I kept it in a fridge and dark place but the hop fade was very pronounced to me at least.

 

DirtWolf. World class within a few weeks/like a month. Falls off fast after that.

 

It's possible that you just don't like the beer. Though If you can ever get them on tap definitely try them and see if there is any difference. I've had Sculpin on tap a few times and it was fantastic. But I've had a couple bottles as well and they suffered from the same problem I mentioned before. The hop character was all but gone and the malt that dominated the taste was pretty bad.

 

Most DIPAs live a rewarding and short life. The old ones get all crotchety and can turn on you in a second.

 

Grapefruit Sculpin. Changes significantly quickly.

 

Agree with Two-Hearted. Would add Jai Alai and Odell IPA to the list. Great when fresh, pretty bad when not.

Any IPAs that have a floral or bright grapefruit citrus focus needs to be drunk really quick. The pine, earthy and even tropical flavors can hold up longer. Eventually old hops pick up these tea-like qualities which I find disgusting.

 

In my experience, every single ale from Speakeasy goes downhill drastically within about 2 1/2 Months.

 

Sculpin that's older than 12.3 days...ewwww....

 

anything with Citra

 

Sculpin for sure
Pseudo Sue

 

I definitely agree with Sculpin (regular and grapefruit) and Jai Alai. Both seem to start falling off after a month or so to become a shadow of what they once were. Zombie Dust becomes pretty ordinary as well. One of my local shops has Chillwave for 5.99 right now bottled in January/February......I love it when it's fresh, but I can't do it now even with the discount.