"Can Shock", "Bottle Shock", and Freshness

I'm not sure I understand from this what you mean by "can shock." Never heard of the term before.

But there's nothing new about our enjoyment of a beer being different on two different days, since that can be influenced by many things, including what we ate earlier, our mood, the temperature of the beer, or shelf life of the beer as it matures after packaging. From buying cases I've found some beers that tend to smooth out a bit during the first couple of weeks in the bottle, pretty much hold there for 4-5 weeks and then slowly start to lose their luster and start to show their age. Others may take years to lose the flavors I enjoy.​

 

Trilliums IPAs are the same way, particularly the DDH beers. People obsess about freshness rather than drinking a beer at it's best. Give it a week, if you have the restraint.

 

I've only heard of "bottle shock" in reference to wine degrading in quality when it's shaken or poured too forcefully into a glass or decanter. I assume here OP just means he's "shocked" that some cans of beer are better than others.

So everything you say about why the same beer tastes different from day to day is true, and I've had plenty of beers that are supposed to be fresh but actually taste better with some age on them. But hell, if I had a nickel for every beer that didn't live up to my expectations, I'd be just as rich as if I had one for every beer that exceeded them.

 

"Can Shock" is a new one but i think i know what you are meaning. Muted flavors and aroma?
Canning/Bottling happens at or near freezing temp to maintain the integrity of the beer.
At this temperature and stored in large volumes ( roughly 96 cases of beer per pallet) it can stay pretty damn cold for a long time especially towards the middle of the the pallet thus drinking a "born today" can will still be too cold to get the full representation of the beer. But letting them stabilize in your fridge for a few days come up to a more reasonable drinking temp. does wonders.

 

2 things I have experienced could be at play,

1. As another has pointed out, so many things affect your perception. Mood, what you ate before, being sick, or starting to get sick, how much you ate for dinner, OTC or prescription medications and the list goes on

2. In my own pro brewing experience I have absolutely noticed in certain IPA's that get massively dry hopped usually taste a little grassy, and brash when extremely fresh, after a week or two, the grassiness falls out and the underlying hop flavor and aroma comes to the forefront.

 

I imagine the yeast strain used also plays a role? The Tree house beers have a distinct and heavy handed yeast profile that I think fights with the hops when "too fresh". The beer tastes like its ingredients rather than a cohesive beer. And I agree completely on the grassy comment. I've described it as vegetal in the past.

 

I experience a similar thing with some of Pipeworks' Ninja series. I find that Citra, when extremely fresh (less than a week old), is nothing more than a solid IIPA. Generically fruity, pleasantly hoppy and bitter, although the alcohol is harsher. But at about 3 weeks it explodes with orange and tangerine and lemon flavors.

I can't speak to anything technical that is happening but I know what my tongue and nose tell me. Some IPAs, though generally "the fresher the better," do need a few days to settle so the desired flavors emerge. Stone's Enjoy by series has successfully promoted the idea of freshness but we take it too far sometimes. A two month old IPA isn't necessarily a shelf turd.

 

Absolutely!

I have no idea what "can/bottle shock" means but I have had many cans of Tired Hands beers of various brands. Those canned beers have consistently tasted better a couple of weeks after canning day. I have since made it a practice to not drink newly canned Tired Hands beers and always let the cans 'sit' for at least two weeks in my refrigerator before drinking them.

I have also noticed the same thing with Troegs Nugget Nectar. I live not to far from Troegs Brewery and I have consistently been able to purchase cases of that beer only a few days old. I always let that case 'sit' for 1-2 weeks before I drink those beers.

As to what is the 'science' here, I have no idea.

Cheers!

 

There's a certain segment of folks that preached a similar treatment to The Veil cans, promoting the idea that they need to sit about a week before you crack them open. Honestly, I haven't found too much difference in the ones I've had within two weeks of canning, but after that I get some drop off.

 

I've often heard of a wine being in a "dumb" stage following bottling. I had one particular French winemaker say to me that the wine was in a "dumb stage" after my not so stellar reception of the wine he was pouring. I've head of bottle shock as well, but not relative to beer. Can shock is a new one on me, but maybe it's a thing after all.

 

Linalool and other terpenes and agents in hops can sometimes not appear fully until a good rest, preferably in a brite tank, but in a can is where it happens if not in the tank. In a previous thread smart folks chimed in on the exact chemical reactions that can take some time associated with full hop aroma/flavor presentation.

 

Dave, if I had good search skills I would be able to find that thread. Could you please provide a link to that thread?

Cheers!

Jack

 

I couldn't find it, couldn't remember what subject the thread was, nor when it occurred, nor could I find the article I quoted in that thread, but I know that some of the more knowledgeable among us gave info in support of these late occurring chemical reactions and their effects on hop aroma and taste.

 

It sounds like your BA search skills are on par with mine!?!

Cheers!

 

Honestly, I feel that way for fresh or older Tree House! While it's good beer, no doubt, it's greatly overhyped IMO. Trillium on the other hand, significantly more impressive across the board!

But yeah, I have experienced this "phenomenon" with these beers... Some beers benefit from additional conditioning. Hell, when we stopped at Tree House and picked up six cans of Julius I really didn't like the first two or three cans I had the first month. The last can, 2.5 months old, was easily the best of the bunch. Depends on the beer, some best within weeks... Others peak a month or two later.

 

Do you remember the forum and the screen name of one of the folks posting that information?

 

One of the commenters was hopfenunmaltz , am embarrassed to admit that is the only info about the thread itself and its short side discussion I can recall.

 

Well perhaps @hopfenunmaltz will recall that side discussion?

Have you any sense at all of the general topic of the thread?

Did you post in the thread or just read it?

 

I believe it was in one of the many threads about IPA. I posted with a link to an article with easy to understand references that I couldn't locate today. So instead I linked above to another article with the scientific description of the process. As noted by Jack my search skills suck.