Old IPAs

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Russian River Brewing has strict rules that distributors and retailers must keep their beer continuously refrigerated.

They may have those rules...but how do they enforce them? None of the beer (including RR) we buy here is delivered on refrigerated trucks...

From:
http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/ipas-not-refrigerated.168929/page-2#post-2412449

 

I think most people are thrilled to find Pliny at all regardless of where it's sitting in the store... I know I rarely see it.

 

EASY...guess I should have prefaced my comment with "just a hunch" sheesh

 

This still floating around? Old IPAs suck, only extreme Barleywine lovers would like big Dipas with age on them.

 

meh. they *have* been canning for a long time. who knows?

 

I will always lean towards trying IPAs fresh. My experience has consistently been that they are best consumed fresh. Too many times I've had an IPA through a friend or a liquor store who hasn't paid attention to their stock and its become outdated and disappointed. Most recently I had a Satisfaction Jacksin which was obtained by a friend traveling in the area that was quite terrible. There is no date on the bottle, but I'm almost certain it had been sitting there too long. It deserves another try before I give it a definitive rating.

 

Sir,

This is an extremely important topic for us. When it comes to hoppy beers, especially IPAs or a nice Pils, the freshness is paramount. Of course beers like oak-aged sours or barley wines might benefit from aging but nearly all of the regular, core, session beers almost always will be better when fresh.

We wish all retailers and bar owners and distributors could be 100% aligned with the breweries protocols with ensuring freshness but managing that supply chain to the end user / customer is not always that easy. However if you have any direct feedback on how we can assist you we would be happy to talk about it.

cheers

 

I popped open my 75 minute IPA from Dogfish last week and it was bottled a year ago. No issues whatsoever from the aging. It's been a while since I'd had a 75 minute, so I can't remember what the first one tasted like, but I know this one was great and I'd have it again!

 

I was pretty surprised at the ...uh..."primitiveness"... of the manual (< emphasis on that word) canning lines when they first became popular, and while the Cask video says the oxygen levels are "acceptable", you gotta wonder... (go to 0:50 for the lid installation):

21st Amendment's cans are done at Cold Spring Brewing Co. While they have a new brewhouse and new name - "Third Street" - IIRC they are still using the same, relatively modern, canning line.

 

For what it's worth, I've had year-old Green Flash Palate Wrecker that still lived up to its' name.

 

Wow... primitive is right! And a whopping 8 cans a minute! No wonder "craft" beer is expensive! Those exposed, spinning can sealers look like a lost finger waiting to happen too...Call OSHA. If any brewer is using that can system, I'll take a bottle from Sierra Nevada, Victory, or Goose Island any day.

Sorry. It rubbed me wrong considering all the great information provided earlier in this thread by people who work in the industry. I would not have called you out in any other thread.

 

Sherry flavors are classic signs of oxidation. "Meaty" is typically a sign of yeast autolysis.

 

I'm going to venture a guess that @sierranevadabill just hasn't seen the thread.

 

The above video of Cask Brewing is for the Manual Filler (what I referred to as a cheapo canning line in my prior post).

Below is the video of their Automated Filler. There is mention that this line has the “Lowest air pick-up in the Industry” with a metric of 15-20 ppb provided at the 1:20 mark in the video. If this value of 15-20 ppb is in reference to air then the value for TPO is even lower.

In my mind, a can is a superior package to a bottle since once a can is sealed there is zero air (oxygen) ingress. This is of a great benefit to hoppy beers (e.g., IPAs) since this will aid in resisting hop fading as compared to a bottled IPA.

Cheers!

 

I agree. But, I will no longer assume all cans are created equally, and will be wary of cans from very small brewers who may not be able to afford one of better canning systems.

 

Given what you stated, I would recommend that you avoid Manayunk Brewing canned beers; those beers are canned by a mobile canning company called We Can (home location is Danville, PA). From a photograph in the Sept. 2013 issue of Philly Beerscene Magazine they appear to be using the Cask Brewing Manual Canning line.

Cheers!

 

good info... I had no idea there were mobile canning operations, but it makes sense now that I think about it. Danville, huh? Does Old Forge use We Can? Or is it just a coincidence they are based in the same small town?

Edit: Google is great... http://iwantcanned.com/clients.html (There's no telling how current/comprehensive the client list is though)

 

There was no mention of Old Forge in the article.

My local Homebrew Store (which is not very local to me) is Keystone Homebrew. They made arrangements to have We Can come to the store (this occurred recently: May 3rd) and you could have a batch of homebrew (5 gallons) canned. They were charging 40 bucks for this. Homebrewers are known for being a frugal bunch so I am curious how many took advantage of this offer.

I wonder how many homebrewers would do this if they knowledge of the TPO for this process!?!

Cheers!

 

Thanks, but know that, and I'm guessing here, most on BA are not in the industry but merely consumers. Much like the fine folks who started BA to begin with. But I appreciate the industry take especially in this case because it gives the consumer more info than they normally would have access to otherwise.

 

If Sixpoint stayed on the shelf long enough for me to worry about aging, I would be in touch. As it is, I have to restrain myself to make sure our customers are getting it first...before I load up for myself!
Seriously, I have no issues what so ever with your product, aging or otherwise. I am more interested in why consumers purchase fresh product and then sit on it. It is an interesting, and in my mind, ironic destiny for some beers.