Hoppy Sours

Discussion in 'Cellaring / Aging Beer' started by Dka67, May 2, 2016.

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  1. Dka67

    Dka67 Savant (1,032) Nov 27, 2014 California
    Trader

    Can they be aged. Or do they need to be drunken fresh?
     
  2. rocksteady726

    rocksteady726 Initiate (0) Jul 17, 2007 Massachusetts

    Depends on what kind of experience you are looking for. Typically you will see a shift over time as the hops fade and sour/funky notes increase. It depends a lot on the specific beer and the techniques used to make it, but sometimes it can be a fun experience to cellar a handful of the same bottle and open them over time to note the changes.
     
  3. SteveSexton203

    SteveSexton203 Initiate (0) Feb 19, 2014 Connecticut

    Depends on the souring. If its a Lacto & Pedio I perosnally wouldnt age. As stated about aging sours/wilds is a fun little experiment and may actually give you some amazing results.

    Brett IPAs. Yes, will fade over as all IPAs but with my experience from them they tend to keep the hop characters longer than say a NON Brett- IPA .
     
  4. djs467

    djs467 Initiate (0) Mar 1, 2011 Colorado

    Hoppy sours are a relatively new thing (for the most part), so I think the jury is still out. All I know is that hop flavor and aroma fades with time and wild ales can go any which way in time, so who knows.

    I generally follow these two rules of thumb with wild ales:
    If it's good fresh, hold onto a few for a year or so and see what happens.
    If it's bad fresh, hold onto one for a year or so and see what happens.
     
  5. thepenguin

    thepenguin Savant (1,215) Aug 8, 2010 Massachusetts

    I have not had success aging hoppy/dry-hopped sours. In any event, the brewers included a fresh hoppy character to the beer for a reason – why not try to experience it that way? These beers are not intended to be musty, funky gueuzes, so why treat them as such? Also, since the hops are already an integral part of the beer, you may simply end up with a ton of unpleasant old hop notes.
     
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