IPA inconsistency

Time sensitive brews, they turn malty quickly. Time and light kill these hoppy fruity grapefruit bombs.. Heavy dark piney/resinous brews last a little longer.

 

Well, it could be what you had to eat earlier in the day having a lasting effect on your taste buds.

 

I would worry less about cleansing your palate and simply be mindful of what you may have ate and the potential impact on flavor. It can be overwhelming trying to run around cleansing your palate all the time. Water works wonders, opt for carbonated water if you are serious about lifting flavors from your tongue.

To add to drtth's statement, avoid salt when consuming IPAs. Salt will accentuate the bitterness and in many cases cover up the citrus and floral flavors.

 

I also think you are drinking them too cold, which will subdue the fruitiness and accentuate the bitterness.

 

Yep, all of the above could be coming into play. Also, some smaller breweries don't have process nailed down and you can get huge differences between batches of the same beer.

Do What's Right.

 

I didn't know this. Glad I read it though, because I love to eat tortilla chips with an IPA.

 

Me too.

 

First. You store your beer colder than it's served at a bar. By several degrees. 45 is what you want. Second. Yes, you could also be experiencing the taste of beer showing its age and you are getting fresh beer and old beer taste, and this is logistic problem that the distributors have sometimes. But. Without knowing which citrus forward beers or beer this is in reference too. I'm going to be say that you serve your beer too cold. Lager might be fine with that much chill going in, but lot of the gusto of an IPA only emerges in the 50 degree range.

 

Low temps will keep hoppy beers fresher/more bitter. If your storage temperature is a constant, it cannot effect the flavor profile in two different ways. Drinking IPAs at that low of temperature is not ideal for appreciating all the flavors or picking out flaws but you can rule out temperature if you drink them all around the same one. What you eat just before or while drinking along with normal variations in your palate could be a factor. The most likely answer here is variations between different IPAs, differences between batches, and especially freshness. Unless you are noticing variations from the same six pack, this has to be it.

 

DFH, are you listening? I love, love, LOVE 60 Minute when it's fresh and bursting with hops flavor and bitterness, but this is twice now I've bought an entire keg of it only to be disappointed in how muted the hops flavor was (only 3 weeks old keg this last time). For some reason they just can't get that beer to be consistent. I wonder if it's because they produce so damn much of it.

Sorry to get a little off topic, but I am posting about IPA inconsistency....right?

 

DFE beers are inconsistently attenuated. Under attenuated hoppy beers turn malty pretty quickly. 90 minute is even worse

 

Salt should not increase bitterness perception. Chloride Ions in fact accentuate malt character at the expense of bitterness, as the ratio of Chloride to Sulfates increases. I can't speak to the effect on the aromatic perceptions though.

 

It does seem like more than any other style I notice fluctuations in IPA's, even within 6 packs. The only explanation that really makes sense is more or less what kzoobrew mentioned.

 

Salt actually suppresses bitterness and enhances flavors: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v387/n6633/full/387563a0.html

Al

 

Yeah DFH 60 used to be one of my go to IPA's when I first got into craft. A few months ago I got a case as I hadn't had it in ages and they all tasted like malt bombs....bleh. I can't remember how old it was but it was well within the best by date, I don't live that far from the brewery.