'Aged' hoppy beers

Any time i had old dogfish head squall IPA. discontinuing that beer was a travesty. It holds up forever.

 

I didn't really like IPAs until I had an (unknown to me at the time) aged one -- FW's Double Jack is aged something serious on the shelves back east. Cracked one and noticed all these wonderful fruit flavors when normally hops just gave me a wall of bitterness. Was sort of my door to appreciating the complexity of hop profiles

 

how was it stored?

 

Most DFH ales hold up past expected freshness levels. Like a year or two.

 

We meet again. They got me into craft and I grinned from ear to ear when I saw it at this out of the way store that I had no reason to think that they have that bottle (along with a Fort), let alone when it was fresh. This place is the only place I know that keeps all of their beer refrigerated and I found those two bottles on the floor of the bomber section of the fridge.

Anyways, it was a delicious malt bomb that was glorious. I've asked them a lot of times about including it on their Brews page, which to me is a mess and misleading. Their On Hiatus section (which I think is relatively new and I remember suggesting), is a misnomer since it contains: Black & Red, Golden Era, Golden Shower, Liquor De Malt, Lawnmower, Zwaanend'ale, Festina Lente (not happening), Au Courant, and Verdi Verdi Good. I feel like they should rename it to Vintage DFH or something like that, and then add recently discontinued beers to On Hiatus.

I mean they have put some on hold for 2014 (Immort Ale, Chateau Jiahu, My Antonia or Black & Blue) and still have them up in Occasional Rarities (they really should bold or underline Occasional). They switched over the Draft-Only beers, but not the 750 stuff. Urkontinent, Pangaea, Birra Etrusca Bronze, Fort, Faithfull Ale, and Ta Henket (only unsure one) were one-off releases but still listed with beers that are still released. They had removed Raison d'Extra until their announcement of it coming back and Squall isn't even listed on their brew page. Also, some of those limited beers could be considered collaborations, but whatever.

Their Fish Finder still has Squall (which is actually how I found out about it before I was on BA and trying to go through the DFH catalog). It also still has a bunch of their discontinued beers, which likely don't contain any relevant information any longer. There is no mention of it on their site at all. They got some weird ones on there as well, like Black & Red (a On Hiatus Brew, that I believe was actually a Brewhouse Rarity), Bocce Beer, Eataly, Eataly 75 Min., and 75 Min. Firkins (firkins for nothing else?). The Bocce and Eataly beers are understandable, but really only limited to areas near Eataly locations and the Bocce is probably extremely limited in DE around DFH locations.

Also, they have 4 "secret" liquors, 3 of them were announced in this blog post on their site (Delaware Native, Fortress, and Peche Brandy). They have links on the site that are only accessible through that thread and via direct URL. The fourth one is Darkside Rum.

@SamCalagione Please just put Squall on the Brews page. Also, maybe put some photos up for stuff you made labels of in the On Hiatus section. Finally, what is up with all of the 2014 Saison du BUFF, I thought that was a one-off collaboration, not that I don't mind when companies go back and make a collaboration again or add it to their yearly catalog.

p.s. I know this is a lot of information (hopefully it is all right) and it might be a little bit jumbled, but it is late, I had a lot to say and it is all there in one form or another.

 

Well I have positive situation like the OP stated. I held on to a bottle of DirtWolf for experimenting. Drank one with some age on it, 6 months. While there wasn't that resinous hop quality that I like about DirtWolf, the pineapple and mango notes were still present. Of course the bold malts were more pronounced, still drank quite nice. On another note, had a Three month old MO, wasn't the same beer. When Maine Beer Company says enjoy within 90 days, they're not kidding!

 

imo, you're describing an old ipa that should have been drank fresh.

lol @ "light tasting barley wine"

 

I remember several years back having an Otter Creek Imperial IPA (retired) that was about a year old and completely delicious.

 

If your into barleywines it should be about perfect I think.

 

Huh? Are you in Potter County, PA?

 

bigfoot bigfoot bigfoot

 

I've been seeing this kind of thing in the cellaring forum. Odd - the one time I was able to try Blind Pig, I was pretty sure it was not fresh, as it was very low in flavor but very bitter. I have a hard time imagining how a couple additional years could improve something like that.

 

The first time I bought Celebration Ale I somehow forgot about one in the very back of the refrigerator. A year later I found it and it was delicious

 

Agree, the 2013 Bigfoot I had was much better this year then last

 

The only one I've had old and liked was Boulevard Double Wide. I think it is better with some age, the bitterness softens, and you still have solid hop flavors, but the toffee and butterscotch flavors from it are amazing. Honestly, I can find dozens of great, fresh IPAs to give me a citrusy hop blast, but I can't find anything that tastes like a slightly aged Double Wide does. But even I wouldn't keep it for anything like "years", that is just pushing your luck.

Tried an older Titan...instant drain pour. Older Cambridge Flower Child...awful, drain pour.

 

I've never had any luck with aged IPAs. They always go skunky on me even when stored properly. Seems like the hops spoil over time...? However, sounds like a lot of you have had good luck with aged IPAs. What qualities do you look for for an 'ageable IPA'? High ABV? High residual sugar? Other?

 

Maharaja is actually damn good with a year on it. Hog Heaven isn't bad, but still pretty damn bitter. Hopslam at nine months is cool but people get all pissy about it, and any more time and it turns into cardboard. Bigfoot is hit and miss, I've had 2008 I wanted to pour over my body as cologne and 2008 that was wretched.

 

DFH Burton Baton ages fantastically, especially at 6months to a year