Freshness Question

Well my rule of thumb is anything under 30 days is still great and most is still really good at 60 days. They will probably start to fall off after that. This is only if they are kept refrigerated.

 

DEPENDS ON THE BEER.

Seriously. Assuming you are keeping them stored as cold as possible, then I say just try and drink them as quickly as you can/ want, and pay attention to see how the beer fades/ changes over time. From my experience, some beers DO fade very quickly while others don't.

Out of what you've named, I've only had Jai Alai, but I've had it between super fresh at Cigar City's Brewery and 6 months old. I think the fade on that beer is a bit more noticeable than, say, Carton 077xx.

I also think it fades kinda like the half-life for radioactive particles, which is to say not linearly: 1 day old, 2 days old, 4 days old, 8, 16, 32, 64, etc... The drop off slows down. Just a theory.

 

Stating the obvious here, but the fresher the better, and YMMV on different beers. Typically I'll buy something I want to drink if it's under 3 months, and will stretch further if it's something I've never tried. I don't buy into the "Beer X really drops off at day 17 dude."

If you have a fridge stocked full of tons of hoppy stuff, maybe work through it before buying more. But doesn't need to be over-thought.

 

Freshness can be incredibly overrated at times. I've seen people say a beer can drop off significantly in two weeks. I've yet to have anything that fresh that I thought was any different than it is at 4-5 weeks and pretty similar even longer.

Perhaps others ability to detect the most subtle flavor changes are just that much more sharp than my own but I personally think it's much ado about nothing.

Now if you want a pro, who has his own hashtag about the topic at hand @LehighAce06 can come in and talk about #Lehighfresh LYMI Kevin!

 

As @tkdchampxi posted: it depends on the beer.

I bought a very fresh case of Jai Alai (less than 2 weeks old) and over a period of 1-2 months I drank it. After about a month I noticed a recognizable hop aroma/flavor fade. I should note that I stored the case cool in my basement. That beer would likely last a bit longer if it was continuously stored cold (i.e., refrigerator temperatures).

Hoppy beers from Sierra Nevada (e.g., Celebration Ale, SNPA, etc.) seem to hold up better with age.

Cheers!

 

Yeah, I think this is a case-by-case decision for me - Some IPAs and DIPAs fade real quick and I want to knock 'em down within days/weeks... While others absolutely hold-up for 30-60 days and perhaps beyond.

Probably also depends on how you buy them - Straight from the brewery often gives you a good idea of current freshness, and any can/bottle with a DATE on it helps too. But some brands at some stores... You just never know how many weeks you've lost already.

Question about the "kept refrigerated" and "stored as cold as possible" - Do we find that this has a huge impact on freshness? I know keeping them in a cool & dark place is best practice for all beers (limiting fluctuation in temps, etc etc), but do we find that refrigeration drastically affects IPA freshness?

 

It does depend on each individual beer... Every brewer uses different products, equipment, and procedures. If they have a great bottler that avoids oxygen pickup, the hop flavor will last longer than somebody that is bottling on a budget bottle filler. If they use hop oils, the flavor will be more stable than hop pellets. If they bottle condition, the shelf life is theoretically better. Ideally, follow the brewery freshness dates if they are available.

 

Depends on the beer... I've had Jai Alai cans and bottles that's been left in the fridge in Florida for 6-8 months that I thought tasted fine (not exactly fresh, but still good, and the cans fared better than the bottles), and Surly Furious that was about 5 months old in the can, hiding in the back of the fridge that totally died.

 

Short answer: Yes, storing hoppy beers cold will increase the beer’s shelf life.

Longer answer: Hop fade is an oxidation process. The rate of chemical processes like oxidation processes is slowed via cold storage. The rate is defined/quantified via the Arrhenius Equation. For every 10 °C colder you store the beer you double – triple the best by timeframe. In other words a beer stored at 40 °F (4 °C) will last 2-3 times longer than a beer stored at 57 °F (14 °C).

A graph of this can be found here:


http://www.thebruery.com/careful-cellaring-part-2-the-importance-of-temperature/

 

As others have said, it depends on the beer.

I actually think some hoppy brews have a "sweet spot" instead of fresher = better. Personally, I think Nugget Nectar's sweet spot is at around 3 weeks after bottling. SN Celebration's is (to me) 2-3 months after bottling. Maybe I just really enjoy the malt profiles in these brews?

Beers like Carton Boat & 077XX, and Fat Heads Head Hunter taste consistent when super fresh and at around a month or so out (even a bit longer).

But for something like Lagunitas Sucks or Bell's Hopslam, the fresher the better in my opinion.

So to me, anyway, there is a wide variation in freshness' impact on quality. In general, fresher is better, but there are definitely exceptions. And store those hoppy brews in the fridge!

 

I try to drink hoppier beers within a month or two of bottling or canning. I don't worry as much with stouts or porters, as they tend to hold up for a while.

 

Like others have said, it really depends on the beer. I've found that Sucks and Hopslam seem to lose some of hop flavor VERY fast. With that being said, there's no way of knowing how that beer was stored/transported before it reached the store's shelf.

 

If I buy a hoppy bottle, the intent is to consume it either as soon as I get home or within a week, so this shifts the question to "What is the oldest hoppy beer you will purchase?"

The answer is 8 weeks or less. While the beer may still be "good", the hop bite I'm specifically looking for when I buy a hoppy beer will, in my experience, have faded by this point.

 

I also try to drink the hoppier beers up front, so they don't stay too long in my fridge. That said, I've had beers sit for a couple months and I noticed no significant difference.

 

I agree with what others are saying here, it really depends on several factors. If being stored in a fridge, within 30 days is the best, but depending on the brew, it can last a lot longer. I just had a Wild Hop IPA from SN that is supposed to be a 100 day shelf life IPA. I had it at about 112 days and it tasted great.

Another example is my favorite IPA Schlafly T-IPA. I have had it a couple weeks after bottling and it is awesome. I have found that up until about 2 months after bottling, it remains this way and is relatively unchanged. The crazy part though, is it seems like if you cross the 2 month old mark, it begins dropping off very quickly. Almost like someone flipped a switch, it begins immediately declining.

I learned this as I was nearing the end of a 6 pack as I crossed the two month mark, and I have to say that those last two beers were much less flavorful than the first 4. Still good, but the flavors are not as alive and a lot less prominent.

 

For several hoppy beer brands that has been my consistent experience as well. The hop fade becomes more noticeable from month 2 to month 3.

IMO, Stone Brewing has their best by timeframe of 3 months just right!

Cheers to Stone Brewing!!

 

It seems to me filtered hoppy beers change the quickest, while unfiltered ones seem to last longer.

 

Fire the Wave Motion Gun!!!!

 

Lots of good threads on freshness with some science behind them.

But I had an experience with Sculpin lately. Had one that was 32 days old then one that was 44 days old. The 32 day old beer was much better so I figured that the Sculpin freshness window was somewhere between 32-44 days. Two weeks later I had another of the 32 day old beer (now 46 days old) and it was still bright and delicious.

My point is that there could be batch to batch longevity issues or the older beer may have had a tougher road to my fridge. Too many variables but I will keep drinking Sculpin until I solve the mystery.