IPA Freshness Hype

I have seen multiple people who claim to be able to tell the difference between two weeks and a month of a particular IPA fail to notice a keg that was tapped, taken off, and put back on six weeks later tasted any different. There are a lot of old kegs that get tapped, but no one ever seems to notice those.

 

Is there a difference between 1 and 6 months old? Yes.

Can people discern the difference between 2 week and six week old IPA? I doubt it.

 

Doubt all you like, but many of us certainly can taste that difference. Especially with some of our favorites. Hell some pales/IPAs/DIPAs will even change in appearance. Often it changes a beer dramatically to the point that it is not worth purchasing (Lagunitas Sucks comes to mind).

 

Idk..maybe I'm an alcoholic (yes), maybe I drink more IPA than 95% of the people on this site (yes), maybe I'm such a hop head that even the slightest reduction in hop profile pisses me off (yes)... But I can fully discern. 2 weeks to 4 weeks? Usually not except for the ones that deteriorate quickly... 1 month to 8 months? Absolutely......And I'm willing to wager some good brew on my end if someone can stump me. If anyone TRULY thinks they can stump me, msg me. I have an idea for a test...stump me, and I'll send you a box. My $ is where my mouth is. Cheers

 

I agree that some IPA's and DIPA's age better than others, the fun part is "testing" to see which ones hold up.

Surly Abrasive actually holds up very well as does Furious imo, lots of "testing" too.

 

I can most certainly discern the difference between 2 week and six week old IPAs.

Cheers!

 

I'm just not that picky....
It wasn't that long ago that some of you were quite happy with your budlight/coorslight/millerlight.

 

The fresher the better, The end

 

Buy a fresh six pack. Drink one tonight, and then one every 3 months following. Get back to me on what age does to ipas. There is nothing worse than an ipa that is an over the hill malt bomb.

 

This is just like the "BMC" blind taste theory...

Many will say they can "easily" tell the difference, but then cruel cruel reality sets in.

 

I love hops but I hate Session IPA's, Hop Juice is about right, without some malt they are just annoyingly bitter and they kill my palate. Don't think I could drink more than one at a sitting defeating it's purpose for living.

 

Lately I'm trying to really only drink IPA on tap. With most bottles neglecting the "bottled on" date, I'd rather play it safe. It's not about snobery or anything like that. It's about enjoying the product the way it was intended to taste. With so many beers available, only the best will be drank multiple times. This makes it really important for the first impression to be a good one.

 

THIS. I can't imagine the number of bottled IPAs and DIPAs I dismissed early in my craft exploration as either mediocre or unpleasant while paying no attention to the date. I'm pretty much with you on buying bottles less and going with IPA on tap whenever possible. I'm very lucky to live near a great craft beer bar and work near one of the best hoppy breweries in the west (Cellarmaker).

 

Definitely. Sculpin has got to be my worst experience with this. I got it as an extra in a trade and I was so excited to try it. I haven't met many IPAs I didn't like, but something was just... off. The hop aroma and flavor was so muted. I believe there's no way that's how it typically tasted to the thousands who've rated it so well.

 

How do you know how old the kegs are?

 

I know what you're saying, but I've personally poured 5 month old Double Jack and had people go "ah yeah, finally some fresh double jack, this is what it's supposed to taste like!"

Beer in a metal container, that's been refrigerated the whole time, is going to be in better shape than glass bottles room temperature, from the same batch. I'd gladly pay the same money for a 32oz fill of double jack, as I would for a 4pk.

 

I don't. I'm not even sure how well hoppy beers hold up in kegs vs. bottles. But the few bars I go to are pretty busy and pretty craft-centric so the kegs wouldn't last more than a week or two. How old they are when they get to the bar, I'd have no idea. On average, they have to be fresher than the IPAs sitting on the shelf.

 

If you're like me, you know what to look for on tap every week because you have a facebook account for the exclusive purpose of keeping up with beer releases. I know to go for it on something like CM Tiny Danskter (released 2 weeks ago) and to pass on something like Aroma Coma or Cafe Racer 15 (released 2-3 months ago).

 

I am by no means a very experienced homebrewer, I have just started crafting my own IPAs not too long ago, so take this FWIW:

In my mind there is no doubt that one can decidedly taste differences in certain (or most) Hoppy beers by age.
Homebrewing has furthered this impression- my beer will change flavor consistently over spans of days/weeks throughout it's span on my kegerator. Sometimes within 24 hours it tastes pretty different to myself and several other test subjects.

I don't think you can take a sip and say 'this is bad because it has aged three weeks' like some exaggerations I see on here, and I don't think everything is a malt bomb immediately...but....
To say hoppy, live beer where hops, yeast and malt flavor perceptions are all in flux does not change over time is just preposterous.

 

As was mentioned above by @Prince_Casual , one advantage of the keg is that it is continuously (or should be) stored cold. The fact that it is a completely sealed container (impermeable to oxygen) is also another plus.

Cheers!