New England IPA - Release Only When "Ready?"

I'm not sure that this issue even comes down to certain beers, it may be a batch issue. I have had Treehouse Julius 6-7 different times on the day of canning and it has been excellent, super citrusy and flavorful. But I picked up a case on 12/30 and as of yesterday there was still a very green taste to it that I have never experienced with that beer before. The only other thing I can say is that I haven't had Julius on the day of canning from Charlton, every other time has been from Monson, so idk if that could make a difference.

 

Mine was too fresh. And I'm not joking although i find it funny. IMO this IPA needs to mellow and round itself out a bit.

 

Please report back if you determine a 'peak of flavor' timeframe for this beer.

Cheers!

 

They were hoping to get the rubes to buy it 2-3x before realizing it's average or worse!

::not sure what this has to do with NE IPAs anyways::

 

It has nothing to do with IPAs. It has to do with when beers are ready. Which is the basic question the OP had. I was just stating that it might be nice to have a best after date.

 

on an IPA?

oh, okay.

 

That already sounds like 2018. Don't you know? IPA stands for "Instagram Pale Ale."

 

The topic of the tread was about ipas being released before they are ready. If the sweet spot of a ipa is a few weeks after canning then what’s wrong with the brewer putting more info on the can.

Canning date
Best after date
Drink before date

It’s obvious that the brewer would know the most about their product. I would be interested in knowing the sweet spot.

But if you only want the canning date in the beer then more power to you.

 

Honestly, I'm going to crush them all this weekend. Sorry!

 

What are "artificial hops?"

 

Honestly, this style of beer is being released at such a frenetic rate by many breweries that it’s difficult to believe they ever did a pilot batch, let alone have any earthly idea what the optimal drinking window for each beer might be.

 

"Ready" can mean a few things. Does it hit the targets? Is it properly carbonated? Is there space to hold it? or Is it "ready" in how you wish to enjoy.
Brewery side of "ready" and consumer side of "ready" can and often vary case to case beer to beer. Often production is at a pace where a brewery cannot wait for your definition of ready because theirs has been met and they have 4 more beers to package before the week is over.

That is the beauty of beer, and why its nice to get them as fresh as you can so you personally will know how you prefer them. You might like it 14 days after its been packaged, I might enjoy it on that day, someone else might buy it after its been in a store/distribution warehouse for a month and buy it once it hits their shelves in their area.
Cycles back to what you define as "ready"

Im sure its possible that larger operations do hold on, but i've never witnessed this.

You paid for it, its yours to pour out or drink it; be it on that mountain top or molehill. You decide when to buy, how much to buy, and where to buy.

just my 1.6 cents damn exchange rate.

 

Any homebrewer who has tried chewing up a hop pellet can tell you about hop burn. I like to think it's astringency and bitterness from hop polyphenols. Yes, NEIPA is a style that is especially susceptible to hop burn because it's jam packed with post boil hops. That being said, some people (claim to) enjoy the beers that way, and those who don't can wait a bit. Maybe @rscot231 or @Tarheel4985 could weigh in on hop burn in NEIPA and if it means a beer "isn't ready" from a brewers perspective.

 

Pretty funny to read these comments from folks who likely buy things like Brie cheese and bananas that are not ripe, and ripen them at home. I am sure there are people who say that bananas and Brie cheese should be kept in a separate area of the store until fully ripe, but that is just as ridiculous an idea as doing the same with beer (just more obviously so).

 

This was answered above from a respected brewer in the industry who makes some of this style and also cans his beers, he outlined in detail his views on this and his personal likes with this style as far as when to consume, see earlier in thread.
Cheers

 

At that point they may as well print an xy coordinate plane on the bottom of the can:
f(x=0) as the enjoyment of drinking the beer at completion.
Then notate different points like packaging date, best after, best before, where the "cliff" is that it's inevitably going to fall off of!

We'll probably need two of these graphs, one for refrigerated one for shelf storage. Maybe a more complex formula could be used with a t1 and t2 for days warm and refrigerated. Any MAPLE programmers on here who can help us out!

 

I could write many pages about this. Short version: The presence of hop burn is a function of both recipe and process. We see it any time we go over about 2.5 to 3 lbs per BBL in the dry hop. We have made some process changes to reduce it, and they have been successful but have not eliminated it 100%.

Some people hate it. Some don’t. Because it fades with time, we let the customer choose their own adventure. The people who want it super fresh get it super fresh. The people who don’t can wait.

Also. I don’t buy into the “short shelf life” thing. I’d rather have one of our IPAs at 3 months than most well crafted west coast versions. Happy to elaborate if there are questions.

 

Are you just trying to bring sarcastic arguments or are you going to actually contribute something to the thread? Seems like your jumping off the deep end on this one. If you don’t want any dates on beers just say so and move on. But you are toeing the line on pointless now.

 

"Based on feedback from employees, close friends and customers, our NEIPA "X" has been found to taste at its best between 3 days - 10 days after canning" (just as an example). Probably best to just post on the website or Facebook page etc.

 

So nobody else can chime in? I have a lot of respect for @honkey and his advice towards brewing, I would say his advice in the past has made me a better brewer. @rscot231 from Odd13 specializes in this specific style and I tagged him specifically for his experience and knowledge on the subject. FWIW Odd13 has had their beers go head to head with trill and treehouse in blind tastings and has had beers rated equal to and higher than the "kings of haze". There is a lot of speculation as to why neipa behaves as it does. I think an open forum is a great place for everyone to voice their opinions about the style. While I agree with @honkey and respect his opinions, I thought opening the dialogue up with more experts would expand the conversation, and possibly bring some thoughts and opinions in as to why these beers are released as they are by the professionals who brew them. But I guess a bunch of drunk amateurs waxing poetic on the subject answers the question better than industry pros.