IPA Freshness Hype

i think you missed mine. this thread is superfluous and irrelevant. no one is criticizing anyone for drinking old IPAs, and no one is upset that some people don't mind old IPAs. no one's even saying that expectation doesn't influence flavor.

however, hop oils degrade no matter how many blind taste tests you do, or pathetic self-conscious back-patting sessions you try to start on BA about how "freshness is overrated". this is something to be gotten over, not argued with.

 

I just had a Founder's Harvest Ale that was bottled 10-2-12. It was fabulous. Maybe it's the fresh hops, but whatever it is, it holds up.

 

Agreed, well said.

 

I used to think people made too big of a stink about the freshness of IPAs. However, two-month old KRBC Citra is a completely different beer than fresh Citra. Same for Sucks. Darker, maltier, less "juicy", and less hoppy. Also, from my experience, Enjoy By on its last week (while still very good) is noticeably different than the first.

On differentiating, I did a blind taste of Sucks, Citra, and Pliny (all fresh) and no problem identifying which was which.

In short, I couldn't disagree more with OP's claims.

 

I was only saying that he wasn't talking about how hops deteriorate, he was talking about tastings and the perceptions some of us have (including myself) and how it surprises us. I do get your point that "hop oils degrade" and do not disagree with it.

 

If you are like some of the people in this thread, and have a hard time distinguishing the hop flavors and aromas that fresh IPA's have, and enjoy the bitter as the main component, and don't mind a bit of a maltiness creeping in to what once were crisp, aromatic beers, than no, Alpine beers will be fine with a few months of age.

If you have a good palate, and love the wonderful aromatics and subtle hop fruitiness that a master brewer can impart into hop masterpieces of the caliber of those Alpines you mention, than the fresher you get them the better you will like them.

 

I disagree.

I had a 2 year old 90 Minute one time and it was undrinkable. An already heavily malted beer even more maltier with most of the hops faded out. No thanks, I'll take my 90 Minute fresh please. Same with HopDevil, the only way to enjoy that beer and the wonderful citrus on it is fresh, fresh, fresh.

I did exactly this 2 years ago with Pliny bottles. One was two weeks old, one was 8 weeks old. There is NO doubt you can taste the difference......and yes, I did it blind.

 

I agree with the HopDevil. Fresh, it is absolutely one of my favorite IPA's, but I find it falls off quicker than most other IPA's, perhaps because it is somewhat matly fresh, with age, it seems to fall off faster to me.

Some other IPA's I don't notice it as much.

 

A two month old Nelson is nowhere near as good as a fresh one. Nose is significantly less, flavors are more subtle, and the fruitiness diminishes substantially.

 

Lagunitas Sucks was the first craft beer I ever had. It opened my eyes to what beer could be. I had a hard time getting a hold of it out where I used to live so when I got my hands a six-pack I drank half immediately and saved the rest. The first ones were everything I remembered from the first time I had it. It was like that scene from Ratatouille. Two months later, I drank the rest to wash down nachos because they just didn't have the same citrusy "brightness" that they had fresh.

The last time I had 90-minute, I spread a four pack over a month-and-a-half. It seemed to stay pretty consistent.

 

Pretty simple....it's ones choice.

 

The fresher the better! Thats all...nothing wrong with wanting something as fresh as possible

 

Amen. The madness has to stop. Most people who make these assertions about how fresh IPA's need to be are just mindlessly repeating it and have never done the verticals. You are absolutely right about most people not having the palate to tell the difference.

Everyone is welcome to their opinion, but this is one fad that has gotten massively out of control.

 

Didn't read the thread.

Agreed with the OP. People take this shit way too seriously. It ain't dairy.

Enjoy!
Jeff

 

Didn't read either.

The aroma fades, you cannot argue that.

 

I had lagunitas sucks fresh and it was my favorite ipa ever. Bought two bottles a week ago that were months older and really did not enjoy it much at all. Maybe it's just me but I'm not usually one to go crazy over freshness of ipas

 

i say drink every beer as fresh as possible. and it also varies greatly from brewery to brewery depending on many factors. the larger breweries have way better quality control and can ensure a product that lasts longer on the shelf, and that goes for any style.

 

Wow. It's takes some kind of balls to fly in the face of science that proves that hop character (but not necessarily bitterness) diminishes over time and to such an extent that it is noticeable. But, again, I have no idea whether or not if you know "most people" and have definitive proof from something over than your own point of view and opinion to refute the science behind the breakdown of hop oils, etc. over a relatively short period of time, i.e., 3-4 months and beyond.

Good for you, man, to hold to your own assertions in the face of science and the experiences of the majority of BAs commenting on this thread.

 

All those breweries that invest a lot of time and money in bottle dating must be full of it too.