Acceptably Fresh?

I wouldn't waste my money on old Double Jack, if its fresh it's a wonder. You live in NY which gets a ton of great beers distributed. Look for fresh Flower Power it's a NY brew too. Try 2X IPA from Southern Tier, Unearthly. Find a good bottle shop and get to know the people who work there, you'll get the best info. Some brews are case dated not bottle dated see: Flower Power. A small bottle shop has to watch and control inventory they should know the case dates they're buying. Check out Dales PA and G Knight from Oskar Blues they're wildly distributed , and they're can dated on the bottom of the can, both are terrific. Stay away from TW in general, they over buy especially so if your looking into hoppy brews, or maybe low turnover German beers, I wouldn't sweat porters and stouts though.

 

I would recommend that you read these two threads:

http://beeradvocate.com/community/threads/ipas-dipas-with-decent-shelf-life.103091/#post-1512118

http://beeradvocate.com/community/threads/hops-that-dont-fade.103812/#post-1523950

Cheers!

 

It really is something that over time you learn to pick up on. I personally thought the whole "I only drink day old IPA" argument to be total bullshit, and some snobbish idea that was just mindlessly promoted for fear of not looking sophisticated. However, there is always that one beer that keys you in. For me, it was drinking Deschutes Fresh Squeezed IPA on cask at their brewpub while visiting my buddy in Porland way back before the beer was even part of their lineup. It was life changing! I couldn't believe how floral and fruity it was. Even after that, some of their standard IPAs I had drank before were unbelievable....I couldn't remember Deschute's IPAs blowing my mind in that manner before.

Well it turns out that after that trip up to the brewpub, I became depressed....I felt as if most IPAs I would drink just couldn't get that delicious hop character that I had experienced that night. Even IPAs I knew I enjoyed just didn't do it for me anymore. It wasn't until I had a bottle of sculpin (which I drank occasionally) a month later that I was roused from my IPA depression. It was GREAT! Well I just so happend to look at the date.....week old. Hmmmm, so I started paying attention to botted-on dates, and lo and behold there was a correlation!

Being an engineer, I started running a few experiments, and even a blind IPA test based on bottle dates, and I can confidently say my mind was changed. It does depend on the beer....some hold up ok with time but some fall off a cliff far more rapidly that I care to say for fear of sounding like a douche. Others change but are equaly enjoyable in a different way.

My advice to you OP would be to figure it out for yourself. You have access to some great distro in NY. Get some bottles you drink often, and see for yourself what a few weeks can do to it. Figure out what you like.

FWIW that double jack is gonna be a fraction of what it once was

 

I am not a "hophead" by any means. But I do enjoy a balanced single IPA. Tops imo are Odell IPA and Lagunitas IPA. I also have a fondness for Stone sublimely self- righteous ale as a black IPA.

 

Sublimely Self Righteous is really killer good stuff, nothing like it in it's category that I've ever tasted.

 

IMHO, Lagunitas IPA ‘defines’ a balanced IPA.

A short story: I recently bought a case of Lagunitas IPA. My wife is a hop-head and she drank a fair amount of the Lagunitas IPA. We have about 2-3 bottles left from that case. My wife ‘instructed’ that I do not have to buy that beer again (in other words: don’t buy that beer again). It would appear that my wife prefers un-balanced IPAs.

Cheers!

 

For everyday IPA's it's still hard to beat Two Hearted Ale. It's easily available in most states and incredibly consistent and easy to find on tap as well.

 

That was, in essence, my review of Lagunitas IPA. I preferred it over Torpedo, but SN regulars are at a lower price point, so I'm much more likely to have more Torpedo. Oh, well...

 

Check out Racer 5/ Modus Hoperandi/ Caldera if you run across them, all worthwhile, and easy on the wallet.

 

Y

You live in New York? Have you tried Ithaca Flower Power? The aroma is very nice. Great beer, you can usually find it without too much trouble, and it won't kill the budget.

I have never had it last more than a week or two in my fridge, so I can't personally comment on how fast the aroma fades, but I've read posts that say it dies quickly. If you haven't tried it, I suggest you do so. Look for it at less than a month old, and you should be OK.

 

I'm not super crazy about IPA dates. I usually am quite fine with 3 months and under. But if I'm in another town and it's something I can't get at home, I might push it slightly past. Hell, I still have a couple of Hopslams from this year and they are great at 6ish months. I think DIPAs from larger breweries fall off much slower than your typical AIPA from a small local joint. (Not a 100% truth I'm sure, but I've seen it several times) Also, I try to avoid having a beer for the first time if the date is questionable.

 

Just finished a bottle of Flower Power and posted a review... Definitely in the category where freshness matters. This beer would turn into a syrup with flavors fading, but it's very nice when fresh.

 

I don't know if you're near the city, but Brooklyns keg only DIPA Blast! is pretty excellent, as are the IPA's I've had from Barrier and Peekskill. Captain Lawrence Reserve Imperial IPA is also amazing fresh, and Singlecut (Queens) makes a quality IPA/DIPA.

 

No one mentioned the type of hops. It's been my experience that Citra falls off a cliff pretty quickly.

Perhaps it's all in my head

 

With IPAs, this is untrue IMO. You can never get a "too fresh" IPA nor enjoy one too early.

 

You have stepped into the mouth of the beast by exposing the soft belly of noob with asking about freshness dating. Beer will change. That's kind of the fun of dealing with something that is basically a combination of yeast vomit, piss and poop. It's still alive. Hops, while a preservative, are also volatile, especially the ones that make many of the face blaster beers that freshness freaks get morning wood over when they get them so close to bottling day. Fresh beer is good beer, but that's why you go to the brewpub and get it on tap as opposed to trying to lord your knowledge about beer over your local stores manager.
Honestly. Your old bottle of Wookie Jack will still be "good." It's just going to have changed and the brightness from the hop acids will have dropped off and what'll you have for the most part, is a barley wine / strong ale and a very different drinker. These are worth trying too just because you never actually do know what your taste buds can get into until you try it yourself. Older beer has its own characteristics, and complexities. This also develops your mouths ability to discern things in the taste and to become a bitchy snob of a beer drinker too.
Freshness dating is a true ghost hunt when dealing with it at the packy because unless you are dealing with a local small and self distributed. You honestly have no freaking clue what that bomber of (insert voluminously hopped beverage here) went through to get to you.
And KEY. Now with summer in true full swing which means it's damn hot out there. Sure. While it originally was bottled or canned at the right temperature and the brewery might be turning them out as fast as the distributors nab them up. How long was that original temperature stabile? Where was it stored, was the truck a reefer as it journeyed out to you, and onward down the distribution line to a regional or cities distributor to the packy and finally to your belly.

 

You should read this thread:http://beeradvocate.com/community/threads/hops-that-dont-fade.103812/#post-1523950

Cheers!

 

I get your point about guidelines. But how is an individual person supposed to know what the beer is like and more importantly whether they like it if they don't spend the money learning the hard way for each beer. Each person's taste is different so the guidelines are just that. Would you avoid a movie you think you would like because it got less than stellar reviews? I hope not. You might not want to pay the entry fee and wait until you can see it for free, but unfortunately, there's no such thing as free beer [unless you drink at someone's house without bringing some of your own].