IPA Freshness Hype

3 weeks may just be the magic number for canned ipas...

BTW, had the pleasure of drinking some NoDa while in the Charlotte airport last year; certainly a nice surprise to find a local brewery with hoppy canned offerings at the airport. Oddly enough, I actually saw their distribution/brewery van while driving to the airport and thought huh, never really heard of them. Hour later at the airport, I am drinking their IPA... weird shit.

Shoot me a BM when you try the 3 week old can, I'd be curious to see what you think.

 

For those still paying attention to this discussion, if you want to learn something about the brewing science and engineering involved in keeping beer fresh I would strongly encourage people to read through this discussion: http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/old-ipas.177842/
It starts getting good around page 2 when several professional brewers chime in with a lot of detailed information. In particular, look for posts from @Starkbier (Victory), @Peter_Wolfe (A-B), @sierranevadabill (Sierra Nevada), @bulletrain76 (Firestone - I think), and @JackHorzempa (an all around knowledgable guy).

 

Or you could have stated JackHorzempa (independent)!?!

Cheers!

 

My personal experience has been that some IPA/IIPAs age well, and some do not. There are so many variables in a single bottle (or can) of beer and freshness is one that you can control to some extent.

 

I just came across this thread and although I didn't read through 7 pages, I have the general idea here. I would have to agree that it is a personal thing. I would also agree that there is science behind how long hops/flavor etc lasts. But again...personal. How well are you attuned to the aromas and tastes of various beers. There are reviewers and there are drinkers. Just like there are people who love to wear jewelry and those who appraise it. The diamond necklace you love maybe be deemed crap by the appraiser.
But that being said, I have to take my own personal experience into account here; with overall experiences in craft beer drinking and forum participation in mind.

Before coming here I just drank craft beer and loved it. Still do. And I don't usually detail it to death. I would try various beers and either like or not like them. The beers I liked I would buy often and I never paid any mind to dates or bottling or where I was buying them, how long I kept them or even what glass I drank from. Yet, I still enjoyed them all and never had a problem with thinking a beer tasted any different than the last one. Now, suddenly, I have a cabinet full of glasses, I am checking dates, wondering about shelf life and how I store my beer....geez! Bottom line? I'm beginning to wonder why because it all still tastes the same.
Again...Personal experience and opinion.

 

Meh. I think quite often a beer that is packaged, or kegged and consumed the day it was packaged is too fresh and I like it a few weeks in so that the balance has a minute to balance itself and the flavors have some time to settle in with one another. Beer is a living vessel, and I like some malt with my hops except for when its a fresh hopped one.
And also, beer that is stored outside of the recommended temperature range is going to be very very different than beer that is. Hops are living things as well, and one years hop harvest will be different than the next one, and hops (regardless of storage) that are older, and from a previous season that are still getting used are going to present a very different beer than one with new hops. If the brewer isn't being conscious of this while on the brewdeck, and continually adjusting the hop additions to that reality, the beer will always be different.

 

Same thing happened to me. About a year ago, a friend brought some back from FL, and it was just past 3 months old. Incredibly underwhelming, very malty, with none of the citrus I had heard so much about. The friend swore it was amazing when he had it on tap.

Fast forward to my trip to Tampa last month. Went to a good shop and got some 3 week old cans of Jai Alai to give it a second chance. It was very very very good. If I tasted them blind side by side, I don't know that I would have guessed they were the same beer.

Try it again, trust me.

 

I can admit I have fallen victim to this "hype," well rhetoric... Having a belief that I am slightly more enlightened than the average squirrel I am always looking for a way exactly and my palate and knowledge; so I have cellared and demanded the freshest and I can honestly say I feel there maybe is a happy middle.... I've had 8 y/o 120 and hated it (well I didn't really understand what I was having...). I've had 1 y/o 120 and enjoyed it thoroughly. I had Rye of the tiger 3 months after expiration and loved it but out of the same pack had one i hated because temp wasn't right. With all beer, as it is a living product, conditions must be stable... So my conclusion, pardon my neurotic flow, is drink what you like! Do the blind taste test, buy a 4 pack drink one the day you buy and drink at 3, 6, and 12 months.. Write it down. I feel like it depends on the beer and the balance that already did/did not exist.

 

Most American IPAs are designed under the premise that they should be drank within a few weeks after packaging so they may not hold up to aging as much as the beer could hold up if otherwise designed. However, that does not mean each beer drinker's peak enjoyment of a beer is necessarily minutes after packaging.

 

Having homebrewed some of Ron Pattinson's historic recipes for British IPAs, I can say that when those are young they are almost undinkable due to the high tannin content and vegetal mater from large charge of the low alpha bittering hops. With age (sometimes almost a year) they clear, and become very balanced. Not much hop aroma unless you dry hop again. The malt and earthy bitterness from the British hops go well together.

If you have not read Pete Brown's Hops and Glory you should as he has a part of the book dedicated to his experiences of have a historic recipe brewed, put in a cask, and transported on ships to get to India. The beer was said to have changed for the better, as it was very dry and refreshing.

The design of a British IPA differs from an American IPA.

 

“The design of an historical British IPA differs from an American IPA.”

A minor fix to the above statement.

My favorite contemporary English style IPAs are Meantime IPA & Fuller’s Bengal Lancer IPA and in my opinion both of those beers are best consumed fresh.

Cheers!

 

Just have had the Bengal Lancer, nice beer.

 

I agree Jeff!

Cheers!

 

Both are great beers and your definition of IPAs is simple but fair.

 

I like Stone Go To, in fact I had a keg at home of it for summer drinking. But after drinking it for a few weeks I found myself craving deeper flavor.....malt. Go To is like hop water and it gets boring after awhile without the malt adding complexity and depth. I now have Ithaca Flower Power on tap and it's a super well balanced super hoppy IPA that is just outstanding.

 

I just had two cans of Deviant Dale that was canned December of 2013. Juicy and not malt forward, Very tasty. I guess some DIPA's and IPA's age better than others.

 

The revelation of IPAs and Pale Ale freshness is working its way into the beer drinking public in the last few years, like our revoltion against European "skunked" beers that were very common from the 1990's and older in American stores. Most Euro beers I get these days aren't skunked. I suspect some day, we may be able to avoid the 6 month old stale IPAs on store shelves as well.

 

For those who cannot taste the difference between fresh & not-so-fresh IPA, I must say, you are truly blessed.

 

Fixed.

 

Cosign the above 2 posts... The notion that someone can't taste the difference is, in my opinion, ridiculous. Perhaps you are indifferent to the change, or even prefer the change, but it is there. Ipas age differently, but I defy anyone to find me, say an 8+ month IPA, that I can't discern the difference in. In general I feel like Firestone IPAs (which I don't like BTW) age perhaps the most gracefully of what I've tried. I had like a 5 month old Double Jack that was Stoll pretty good