Fresh IPAs...Does it really matter?

Yes it matters. Fresh is best, but I think a lot of people are too anal about it. An ipa should still be good 2-3 months out.

 

Care to elaborate on what you mean?

 

Of course it matters. I realize that it is not cask beer, but flavor profiles are very sensitive to time & the care & feeding of said ale. If you don't think this applies to all beer I think you may is the connection to the fact at one time all beers are living & breathing. It make take longer to pronounce effects on flavor, but they are there.
Now do I think it is more important than the storage & care of beer? Perhaps not. I do think incorrect temperature plays a negative role on flavor as well.
Some beers seem to hold up great: I think Deschutes Fresh Squeezed is my hero, hold up great be it in the fridge or on the shelf. Seems to hang in there well very close to the BBD date. Stones does good as well & Lagunitas.

Ones that seem to fare not so well: Pliny the only bottles that drank great were less than 10 days old. Schlaflys, wont' touch any of their hoppy stuff after 6 weeks, Firestone Walker the same.

German was so great fresh ( spent 3 years over there ), very little of that seems to come close here.

I do think temperature is also critical, but have no idea of how any of my beer gets from factory to my glass, so I can't really use that as a discriminator. I do see the effects on a lot of beer here, as out dumb ass laws prevent cold storage of any beer other than watered down shite, known as 3.2 beer.

I no long trade, but refused to trade from June to Labor day once I wised up. So there you go.

 

We all know freshness makes a difference in the taste and smell of the beer, but it still depends on how much that matters to the drinker. For me, I've become more geeky about it as time has passed and my palate developed.

 

Could be. Thats reportedly one of the benefits of a properly operating canning line.

 

X2 ^
Had a 90 day old Jai Alai the other nite and very underwhelming. Before that had a 30 day old one and wow it was wonderful! Torpedo from SN doesn't seem to fall off much.

 

I saw these quotes and thought they reeked of urban legend, but I found the video they came from pretty quick. While the quote is accurate, I think he was much less definitive than that part in isolation makes it sound. Here's a part of what he says:

"Sometimes I don't really love it until it has been in the can at least 3 or 4 days. Other times ... I can remember back in the days of the pub, I had written on a recipe sheet '10 weeks' because I tried it every day for 10 weeks and I felt that Heady Topper was at its best at 10 weeks old. [...] So you be the judge, you can drink it anywhere in there. If you keep it in the fridge it can last a long time."

 

I prefer it be fresh, just to be safe. I do notice a difference.

 

I like them so they give you an in your face belt of aroma as you drink. I like them where you open it and the aroma enters the room, and folks feet away turn and sniff with a smile. I like it when I can really taste all the fruity nuances of modern hops brightly. In a word, fresh, the fresher the better.

 

I do too! It's like they explode on the nose and on the palate. Just like fruit does. Also fresh fruit/fruit peel on the IPA is like dew on grass. It's that kind of daily excitement!

 

Tricky question, since modern "American IPA" is so radically different from traditional IPA which was always a long aged product ...and not just because of the storied long trips by boat from Blighty to India (there are indications that the Ales and Porters that went to India were usually already quite well aged even before they made the long ocean journey...and that far more Porter than Pale Ale actually made that trip).

Of course, over time tastes change and evolve, and economics factor in is as well: properly aging large amounts of beer, ale, or porter ties up space and time and both of those factors =money. Most small brewers don't have the time or inclination to long age most of their products (especially IPA, the market for which has radically expanded in the last 20 years). In the past, long aged brews sold at premium prices. Nowadays brewers (especially smaller ones) are more interested in getting product out the door as quickly as possible.

I think that a truly well brewed and properly aged IPA would be a real revelation to many modern drinkers of the style.

 

I have no doubt that some craft beer drinkers would appreciate this beer you described.

The majority of craft beer drinkers that enjoy drinking American style IPAs appreciate the wonderful hop aroma/flavor of modern day hops like Centennial, Citra, Mosaic, Amarillo, etc. These sorts of beers are best consumed very fresh before the hop aroma/flavor fades.

Cheers!

 

True enough, Jack. Wholesale and Retail distributors do operate independently, but I also have a wholesaler a half mile from my house and whenever I drive by, the big bay doors are open and you can see kegs and palettes of cases and sitting out on the floor. I'm gonna guess that space isn't refrigerated, given that the doors are almost always open during business hours. I'm sure you're right that some brewers have enough clout to insist that their beer remains refrigerated (or at least they're told that it is). But I still say that even if the wholesalers keep it chilled, it then needs to move through the chain to buyers, and that same level of care is not shown at the retail level.

 

I agree 100% that the same level of care is not conducted at the retail level. There is an old saying that a chain is only as strong as its weakest link.

Cheers!

 

*sips 2 week old Community Mosaic*

ahhhh...you ain't kiddin!

 

Not saying it's a golden rule, not saying anything old is worthless, not saying you're a fool to think otherwise, but in most cases, a 1-2 week old ipa is a thing of beauty. Last nights 11 day old Wormtown Be Hoppy only confirmed this.

 

I notice a big difference in freshness with Lagunitas Sucks. It loses a lot of hop bite when it's not fresh. I tested one that was about 30 days old vs one that was about 90 days old.

 

I had a beer brewed out of LA called Heal The Bay. My friend bought a 6 pack the day it was canned and I drank it that night during a visit. It was a thing of beauty indeed.

 

Just because the brewery suggests one thing, everyones taste is different. Try the beer and make up your own mind. Don't rely on others to make it up for you.

 

I would agree with many that there is a difference in fresh vs. less fresh...months and months old is a different story. But being less fresh that isn't always a bad thing...some beers mellow out and balance better. It's all in the eye of the beholder.