Yesterday, while gathering equipment and ingredients for today's brew, I discovered something awful (well, something that was once delightful, but is now likely a total mess): a full case of bombers of an all-Galaxy IPA. This beer is at least a year and a half old. I'm totally ashamed, and have no excuse. I'm usually hyper-aware of all the beer I have in my basement (really, I can tell you all about the handful of cases of homebrew that really need to get dumped, but keep getting periodically "checked" for any signs of improvement). But this was a fucking tasty beer....tay-stee!!! The Galaxy hops were actually an Xmas gift, literally from an Australian homebrew website. So that makes it sting even worse. The shipping cost alone was probably higher than the cost of the whole batch, in terms of raw materials. Anyway, keep an eye on your shit. Drink 'em fresh. P.S. And yes, of course I'll try one before committing these to the drain....but let's be honest here...it's a light-bodied, lowish-gravity, hop-forward IPA.....it's gonna suck.
Don't think it will be as good as it was at its peak but, if it was real good to start, it should still hold its own after a year. I tend to clean the stock once every few months with a homebrew 'drunk fest' to prevent this from ever happening. "Yeah right!" I just like getting all the friends out of their element and slammed every once in a while, but it works for maintaining inventory too.
They might still be good. I wish I could find a lost case of homebrew in my basement. I seem to always run out before replacements are ready.
Not saying this to add any grief to your situation, but if you want to rebrew with galaxy hops in the future then be aware that they are available from some US hop sites these days.
Oh, no doubt. This was almost two years ago, and Galaxy hops weren't quite as big a deal as they are now.
I brew 10 gallon batches and so I always have 2 cornies of each batch. Many years ago I brewed a batch that truly sucked-not infected, it just tasted like shit. I turned the first keg into really excellent malt vinegar, but the second keg hid in the beer fridge for over a year. I found it, decided to pour it out, but first I tasted it and it was magnificent. So there are no solid rules in brewing, taste first, wait, taste again and then decide.
It is much harder to lose track of a keg. The only beers I bottle will generally improve with some age.
Typically hop-forward IPAs (IE focus on flavor and aroma rather than just a bitter bomb) lose their hop flavor and aroma over time. The rate at which this happens is based on a number of variables so it will be different for each beer, but generally you can expect to taste a difference in a couple months. (Again it's completely different for each beer and their are huge debates about how soon you can perceive a difference but I don't want to get into that never-ending story) Even after a year a hop-forward IPA could still be a very good beer, it all depends on your beer. Bigger beers with higher ABVs and FGs tend to age better however as the flavor mellows over time giving it a smooth taste. In other words, RDWHAHB
interested to see how this fared with some age on it... was any hop flavor still present, or was it all bitterness?
Good to hear cause honestly I was planning on producing a huge stock pile so i never have to wait for a brew to finish and mayvbe even aging some of them. I got a little worried that I ws giong to have to increase 1. my in take 2. number of friends that like free beer or 3. slow down production
Color code your caps. New friends are silver (wheats, IPAs, and beer you need to drink in the next few months) and old friends are gold, (RIS, Barleywine, Strongs). Otherwise code your bottles with a sharpie and don't be afraid to reorganize if it becomes too spacious or unorganized. It's like lots of hobbies that just need a little attention a few times a week.
Yeah this is what I was going to say. Start kegging and your problems of forgotten beer will be gone.
Ihave thought about this but being new to HB-the keg world is a whole other ball game... have not got this far into my joy of.. book yet. In short what hardware would I need for this and would you see if the "entry" point as for cost?
This is why I look forward to starting kegging (I swore this last batch was the last one I'd bottle). I'm tired of keeping track of all my bottles...
I was straightening up my equipment closet a few days ago and found a Grolsch bottle filled with I have no idea what stuffed in a box filled with 6 pack holders. It's sitting in the fridge waiting for me to build up the courage to find out what it is.
I'd say about $150 or so for a keg, CO2 tank, regulator, and all the hoses and such. Plus you need a refrigerator to keep the setup in. Check out this site. http://stores.kegconnection.com/StoreFront.bok
