Black IPAs fresh?

I had a five month old Nighttime and it was still surprisingly great. I think they do lose flavor, but they don't turn into a malty mess, more of a malty yum.

 

Odd that you posted this a few minutes before my thread on Black IPAs.

I'm drinking one that's just two months old and it tastes like a completely different beer -- enjoyable for entirely different reasons.

 

I with you. I am usually pretty lucky with Anger, Nighttime and Dubhe (my favorite). I still haven't tried Wookey Jack because, more often than not, it's been on the shelves too long. That said, I might trust @tylerstravis on this one and give it a try.

 

I still have a couple of Stone 15th Anniversary bottles in the cellar. Produced and marketed as a black IPA. They're still great but drinking more like a very hoppy stout now.

 

You've got a killer Black IPA on the way, buddy. All these 'black ipas' are black, but this one is... BLAKKR than most

 

Beers evolve and develop. Just because a beer doesn't taste like it's a week old, doesn't mean it is diminished. Black IPAs is not my forte, but I'd bet they age fairly nicely. Of course there are different rules for different styles, but fermented things continue to change as they age. Floaty stuff in German lagers is not usually a good sign, but an older wheat beer with all of the yeast can open your eyes.

 

Is that a hint? You sir, are too, too kind.

 

I have always wondered about the hop fade. I try not to buy the Black IPA's old for the first time trying them, so I have a comparison.

 

I bought a 6 pack of a black ipa I like last year, the only black ipa that really gets distro in my area. When I got home I realized that, in the classic fashion of the wholesaler that carries the brand (competition to the wholesaler I work for), it was, like, really really old. Not very hoppy, it had lost that character. I could still enjoy it but it didn't develop into anything particularly enjoyable.

 

It's not going to be the same beer, but something like a mildly hoppy porter. Not a garbage dump like a six month old IIPA

 

One of the things I miss most about Sublimely Self Righteous is the fact that freshness wasn't much of a concern. While I could still taste the hops six months out, it was still a very good beer. Sadly it is now gone (but as mentioned above there are others).

 

Lagunitas Nighttime holds up decent.
But Wooky Jack I'd prefer fresh however.
Had a Uranus by bells the other day and it was about a month and a half or so and the flavors were still impactful but was a tad different then when I had it at about 2 weeks old.

 

I agree with you. Dubhe's profile was different, but flavorful and, in my opinion, still enjoyable. Just would not pull the trigger on trying Black IPA for the first time.

 

My brother accidentally sat on an imperial black IPA that I had given him for like a year and a half and it was still pretty good. Wasn't as good as it was fresh, but nothing that I would have thrown out.

 

I'd rather drink an old Black IPA than an old IPA/IIPA fwiw...

 

Huh.

I once had a Sublimely Self-Righteous Ale that was pretty much a full year past the "enjoy by" date and I thought it was fantastic and still surprisingly hoppy.

 

Cool avatar

 

I prefer them as fresh as possible, but I suppose I'm not quite as adamant about freshness with black IPAs as other IPAs.