Today I went down to my local beer store and was lucky enough to pick up a cork-cage bottle of Mystic Saison Renaud. One of the reasons this made my day was the batch number on the bottle (batch 005). For one, this is really a special brew. How much does freshness matter to you BAs? Does a small-batch policy and a low batch number make all the difference to you sometimes?
It really depends on the beer. For example, Centennial IPA by Founders is fantastic fresh, but the hop profile drops off relatively quickly (noticeably at 3-4 weeks) and after about 6-8 weeks it becomes somewhat of a malty mess. Other beers, like most stouts, Belgian strongs, barlywines, etc, many people think the flavor improves over time. Since these styles don't rely on the strong hop profile, and hops are typically what drop-out with time, age really can't hurt them much.
As Tectactoe said, it depends on the style. Also, in my opinion, it depends on the store. Some places I go I don't trust to store the beer right - IPAs near a window, dust on bottles, (not storage perse, but not selling) green bottles such as Dupont on the top shelf where they are exposed to as much light as possible... That said, I was at one of those stores the other day and found a fresh batch of Maine's Lunch sitting there in a cut-off box. grabbed 2, drink one that night and it was the best Lunch I'd ever had. So you can get lucky sometimes, but you have to know what you're looking at and for.
“For example, Centennial IPA by Founders is fantastic fresh, but the hop profile drops off relatively quickly (noticeably at 3-4 weeks) and after about 6-8 weeks it becomes somewhat of a malty mess.” Maybe that explains why I have never had a Centennial IPA that I liked? I wonder why Bell’s Two Hearted Ale last so much better? A 6 week old Two Hearted Ale is still very, very tasty. Cheers!
Definitely possible. I live in SE Michigan, so many of the stores have fresh Centennial, but I've certainly had my fair share of old ones, and the hops are almost non-existent. I've heard Two Hearted lasts so much longer due to the way its hopped and the amount/type of hops used, but I don't know much about brewing finesse, so I couldn't tell you for sure.
“type of hops used” Here is the irony, Two Hearted is solely hopped with Centennial hops. My understanding is that Founders Centennial IPA is also hoped with Centennial Hops (solely or mostly?). I homebrew an all Centennial Hopped IPA. I have a batch I am drinking right now which was bottled on 10/8/12 so it is just under 8 weeks old. The hop aroma is starting the fade but it is still very tasty (still a fair amount of hop flavor). It is by no means a “malty mess”. Founders is overall a quality craft brewery. Why can’t they brew an IPA comparable to Bell’s!?! I just don’t get it! I apologize for ‘venting’. Cheers!
Haha, well that's interesting. Could it perhaps have to do with the amount of hops used, or the technique by which they are used during the process? As I mentioned, I don't know too much about brewing tactics, so I am just theorizing here. I agree, Founders should be able to make a longer lasting IPA. Overall I like Founders over Bells, but I'd still take Two Hearted over Centennial.
Freshness is, to me, of absolute paramount importance. Beer is like bread, and not like wine; the fresher the better.
Well, I have speculated in the past on the topic of “the technique by which they are used during the process” on why the two beers taste so different (to me). I didn’t consider that the hopping schedule/utilization would also greatly impact the shelf life of the beer. There are a number of ways that hop can be used in the making of beer. There are three basic additions: · Hop Bittering addition (often a done my hops additions at the beginning of boil) · Hop Flavor addition (often done with a few minutes left in the boil) · Hop Aroma addition (at the end of boil and frequently dry hopping for beers like IPAs) There other hop addition strategies beyond the basics above. I guess I am just not knowledgeable enough to know why Founders hopping strategy for Centennial IPA yields a beer that changes so drastically in what I consider to be a short period of time. In my opinion no IPA (or DIPA) should ‘degrade’ into a “malty mess” in just 6-8 weeks of time. I think it is reasonable to expect that an IPA would suffer from some hop fade (particularly hop aroma) in a timeframe of 6-8 weeks but a total degradation in that timeframe for an IPA is appalling! I apologize again for venting. Cheers!
