Bottle Conditioning NEIPAs

I bottle conditioned a 'NE' style IPA and there was no lack of juiciness in that batch of beer. The hop aroma faded with time in the bottle but that occurs with all hoppy beers (homebrewed and commercial).

Cheers!

Edit: There is a reason that Stone Enjoy By uses a 35 day best by duration.

 

I've never had any problems and I only bottle condition my beers. The style doesn't lend itself to great shelf life, so, like with any other NEIPA, drink it quickly.

 

I also solely bottle condition. I've had success with NEIPAs / hoppy ales by:

1. Tasting earlier than other types of beer (e.g., less than two weeks in bottle)
2. Refrigerating all bottles immediately once I'm satisfied with the conditioning
3. Drinking quickly thereafter

I usually have a couple bottles that make it a couple months (my wife doesn't like hoppy beer). They definitely change / fade, but they're not undrinkable.

 

Personally, I keep the recipe the same. I just drink it quickly. No more quickly than any other hoppy beer that I brew, though.

 

I start drinking mine at 5 days. Not fully carbed but awfull good.

 

I personally do not purge. I drink them in a timely manner just like I do all of the hoppy (i.e., dry hopped) beers I make.

Cheers!

 

If concerned about shelf life, small batch.

 

I make 2.5 gallon batches and bottle them. I start drinking on day 7 and refrigerate as soon as it tastes good. I've had oxygenation issues around day 15-20 that I don't detect in my other beers.

 

What kind of character are you getting?

 

So many people that have complained about oxidation that I've questioned about their bottling techniques have a lot of flaws early on. With correct yeast pitching rates, aeration, and temperature control, the beer should be bottle-able by day 9 at the latest and the yeast should be healthy enough to have the beer fully carbonated in 3-5 days. If you use a non-oxidizing sanitizer (I prefer boiling bottles), you shouldn't have any oxidation issues for at least a few weeks. At the commercial level, I recommend a 4 week shelf-life for our Hazy IPA's. I would recommend only brewing the amount that you can consume in that time, and keep the whole batch cold after it's conditioned.

 

Weedy, could you please 'break down' those 9 days including the dry hopping phase.

For example are you suggesting that the dry hops be added at day x which results in a dry hop contact time of y days.

Also, could you provide further discussion on the aspect of 3-5 days for bottle conditioning. I have always let my beers bottle condition a minimum of 14 days before trying the first bottle regardless of style. I have consistently noticed that for my higher ABV beers (e.g., Quad, Tripel, etc.) that they sometimes (often?) need more than 14 days to fully carbonate.

Cheers!

Cheers!

 

I would suggest that an ale should hit terminal gravity in 3-4 days with healthy yeast and .75 million cells/ml/°P. On the last day of active fermentation (for me, normally day 3, occasionally day 4) is my ideal dry hopping time. I'll normally perform a forced diacetyl test on day 7. If it passes, I'll cold crash on day 8 (The 5 gallon batches I've done, I haven't felt the need to cold crash, but I think most people would prefer a cold crash) and then package on day 9. With healthy yeast, I've never noticed a need to go longer than 5 days at room temperature for bottle conditioning, and frequently the beers are carbonated in 3 days. This is with using dextrose for priming... I've never tried carb tablets or anything like that

 

So, 5-6 days of dry hop contact time?

FWIW I dry hop for a minimum of 10 days and sometimes up to 14 days; the timeframe of 14 days is what Vinnie Cilurzo recommends in his clone recipe for Pliny the Elder.

I will have to take your word here since I have never 'cracked' the cap of my homebrewed beers at that short of a timeframe. As I mentioned in my previous post I have found that for my higher gravity beers that even 12 days was not sufficient for complete carbonation.

Cheers!

 

Even with all the info available out there that says maximum extraction can happen usually in two days? You still go 10-14? I have started doing 2 days somewhere between 60 and 65 then starting the crash and pull off the hops on day 4. Brewery that won Gold at GABF in recent years for their highly hopped beer never leaves hops in contact with beer for more than two days, and I don't think they recirculate. To each their own. I just think 10-14 might be overdoing it a little. What temp do you keep it at for those 10-14?

Do you reyeast your high ABV beers? If not do you think the carbing takes longer cause the yeast was so stressed out from primary and/or is in such a higher alcohol environment. I haven't primed anything over 8%.

 

Yup. I mentioned above that Vinnie Cilurzo listed 14 days in his clone recipe for Pliny the Elder.

From a write-up that Vinnie Cilurzo constructed: “For Pliny the Elder, we dry hop for 12 to 14 days.”

I dry hop at room temperature (e.g., 70 degrees F).

Often. I add a sachet of dry yeast to the bottling bucket. The added time for carbonation is not a big issue since I age my higher ABV beers before I really start consuming them.

Cheers!

 

IMO, anyone going longer than 2 - 4 days should re-examine their procedures.

I've primed beers over 12% without reyeasting without any issue. Can't say that carbonation took any longer than any other beer, but I do find that conditioning is a little different for those bigger beers, in that they take longer from full-carbonation to ideal drinking form than do ones of lower ABV.