I bought a sixer of Dales Pale Ale yesterday after I checked the date on the bottom of the can and it said canned on 10/6/17. When I drank it, it tasted different than what Ive had fresh. When I rechecked the date, I read it wrong. The canned on date was 01/16/17. What surprised me that, although it tasted different, it was still quite good. It almost tasted like a good Belgian Strong Pale Ale. Dark fruits, malty sweetness, caramel, etc. Is this the norm? Or was this a novelty? Given Dales is not classified as an IPA, rather a Pale Ale. I'm wondering if SNPA would also be quite good at nine months old.
SNPA reaches Europe with quite some months on it. Maybe not 9 months but I assure you it still taste excellent.
Don't look to Dale's to find a dividing line between "pale ale" and IPA - it won't get you anywhere, in fact, SNPA has had some debate on this front as well... ultimately, it's not worth viewing them as two distinct things without overlap - they will never be that.
Yes, but would a regular IPA, i.e.: Stone IPA or Two Hearted age as well as Dales or SNPA after nine months??
Personally, I think that a lot of this comes down to eye of the beholder... so experiment if you're curious (or look for a store that puts old stock on sale). There are some "rules" that people use about aging - such as higher ABV, darker color, etc, and you could apply those here... but I also think that rules like this are generalities rather than guarantees. Also keep in mind that while there may be differences between those beers, there also may be differences in how well they are packaged. Hope that helps.
Actually, OB considers it an IPA. They named it the way they did because the thyme, adding "India" woulda ruined the flow.
I've done a few lowly experiments comparing months old (I tried 3 months and 6 months) to new, using local IPA's that I know for a fact are only weeks old in the bottle/can. I found that in all cases the hop flavours do seem to lose a little bit of "vibrancy" shall I say, but they don't really taste better or worse, just slightly different. Obviously, taste is a pretty subjective matter so your mileage may vary, but that is my experience.
At 6.5% ABV and 65 IBUs there is nothing only the letters i, n, d, i, and a separates Dale's Pale Ale from IPA. There was a time when a beer's sales where negatively impacted by having "india" or "IPA" in the name, so there some classic beers that would likely be IPAs by today's standards, Dale's Pale is one. See also Stone Arrogant Bastard, Troegs Nugget Nectar, 3 Floyds Gumballhead, and some others.
I agree, although I've never claimed to have a sophisticated palate. Don't even check the bottle date anymore because I've found that if beers are old, they don't taste bad, just different. I also find it slightly amusing that in beer geekdom some beers are just okey for aging while others are never to be aged under any circumstances.
Look at my post yesterday on WBAYDN. Had a really old DIPA, no date visible, but I could tell. I am not going to name the brewery because its not their fault its the restaurant's fault. I have had this beer many times and this was a bad example of it.
If you are actually looking for a pale or an IPA then an old one isn't going to hit the spot. If somehow you aren't put off by the taste of stale faded hops and the maltiness of a certain brew is your thing... Go for it.
Excuse my ignorance, but weren't IPAs invented for the purpose of preserving beer for months in non-ideal conditions?
I'm not sure how true that is (the resident beer historians will chime in I'm sure), but in any case, today's IPAs have very little to do with those beers.
The industry standard "Dalgliesh" graph shows both "Sweet aroma - Honey Sherry-like" and "Sweet taste, toffee-like aroma and flavor" increasing as a beer sits on the shelf for months.
That is true, but that was also almost two centuries ago and a lot has changed since then. Also, the goal was to preserve the beer, not necessarily the full flavor.
JK, you might be interested in knowing in that the 1977 paper (Flavor Stability) that Dagliesh wrote there were no dates on the x-axis: Chart Of Flavor Changes Occurring In Beer Over Time (C.E. Dalgliesh 1977)
That's a bit a myth. Beer historian Martyn Cornell covers it in this summary: http://zythophile.co.uk/false-ale-q...vented-ipa-to-survive-the-long-trip-to-india/ ...and provides more Pale Ale/IPA historical facts here: http://zythophile.co.uk/2010/03/31/ipa-the-executive-summary/
Most beers are intended to be drunk fresh, but some do improve with age. That can depend on storage; I once brought some beer still in date that had been sitting in a sunny shop window and that was most definitely off.
Well even if thats true, it was about preserving the beer and not about having a product with optimal taste. The IPA style wasnt created to give sailors in India dank juicy beers.
It seems some IPAs and APAs will age deceptively good (Celebration and Dales). I think not only a sufficient malt base but also the proper dose of hops are important here.
It's dependent on style, packaging conditions, etc. For instances. I've had Dales out of Colorado. Easily 5months old. Was pretty tasty. However, had another out of the North Carolina brewery that was fresh, three weeks from canning date. On draft as well. Beer was flat, tasteless and pitiful. I've also received a keg or two that was warm to the touch. And people commented that the beer was metallic.
I've had some pretty old pales and IPAs hopped with old school hops (cascade, centennial, etc.) and they have held up well. However beers hopped with newer, more tropical hop styles I have found seem to go off way more quickly. Has anyone else found that to be the case? I'm trying to have no more than 10 beers in the fridge at a time, so if I'm going to keep a handful around for guests, I'd like something that is mild enough for the uninitiated, goes well with food, and holds up if I don't get to it. SNPA and pretty much any amber ale above 5% seem to be good contenders. My experience has been that ales also hold up better than lagers, but I haven't had as many lagers lying around. Any thoughts?
SN beer holds up well. I have no issue buying 3 month old beer from them. I also really like 90 minute with years on it. Really. I had stone IPA from a keg a few years back and it was many months old, it was also very good. I think the newer fruity hop IPA goes south quick. Enjoy
I kind of quit drinking some of Oskar Blues hoppy beers due to this. I think it's more of a palate thing though in their defense. Pinner, in particular, to me, was all metal.
For being a relatively hoppy beer, brown shugga does well with some age. Loses it's bite, but gains a malty sweetness. I'm sure I've mentioned this before, but it fits the post. Idk if it's considered an ipa, but lagunitas makes everything ipa-ish from my experience.
I have no idea why I still have some Dales sitting in the fridge canned on December 8th 2016 (I think). What I do know is that I poured a glass the other day and it was not a bad beer at all. Still had a nice hop bite to it.
I have a few Dirtwolfs in my fridge that are over a year old. I keep telling myself to remember to dump them but now I am thinking I should drink one and see what it's like.
Don't be afraid of old beer. I've honestly had some beers that I thought were better with some age on them then they were fresh. In general, darker, high ABV beers age a little better than lighter, hoppier brews. With that said though, I've had a few bracingly bitter DIPA's that have rounded out nicely and were made more approachable with some age
The other day I had a large can of Wolters Pilsner which was over a year old. It still tasted quite good.
My beer store lady has given me old ipas when I find them in her shelf, and usually they are terrible. But they make for good "I'm tipsy and want just one more" beers. I wouldn't buy em but I'm sure as hell not gonna waste em.
Some of those old IPA's are awesome for boiling brats in. I did it with some old Stone IPA last summer.
