Too Fresh

I bottle my beers. For a hoppy beer like IPAs I ferment/dry hop for about 3 weeks. After 2 weeks of bottle conditioning, my IPAs are carbonated but they really benefit from 1-2 more weeks of time in the bottle. My IPAs are ‘better’ with about 4-5 weeks of bottle conditioning/aging.

Cheers!

 

I find that for almost all of my beers, they're carbed at two weeks but don't actually taste right until at least three weeks. I have an IPA at 3.5 weeks right now. At two weeks with was good, but the bitterness was just about overpowering. The one I had on Friday was much more in the zone and the balance I was going for with C40 and CaraPils was more apparent. I'm predicting that next weekend will be a high-IPA consumption weekend for me.

 

I feel the same way.. I need about 2-2.5 weeks in the keg, and slowly carbing in the "set it and forget it mode".

They usually hit their stride by the time the keg is close to kicking, obviously.

 

You talked about "shake and bake" vs "set it and forget it". I've found particularly with IPAs that it is much better to "set it and forget it". Shake and baking an IPA will help volatilize the hop oils found in the beer. We've recently had lots of discussion regarding "scalping" flavor from IPA as it is in transit from a brewery to your fridge; violently shaking a keg has to be the same or worse regarding this scenario.

Some beers are better fresh, some are better after a while. Too many variables to determine which will be better for which beer in my experience.

 

I don't think you are going to make any enemies with this thread. I find that 95% of my hop forward beers don't start to hit their stride until about 3-4+ weeks after the last dry hop charge is pulled from the keg. They typically peak for about 4 weeks before any noticable decline in the hop flavor profile and are long gone before the hops really start falling off.

 

I have found beers that are too fresh are just too bitter and the hop flavor hasn't started to really come through. I normally combat this by doing a low bittering addition (or no true bittering addition) and back load the boil, whirlpool, and dry hop. Normally it takes about 3 weeks to get the beer to the point that it's ready to carbonate, and then it takes a few more days for the flavor to mellow out and be ready to drink.

 

I'll keg after three weeks but will not tap them for a month. It does not matter to me what style the beer is in my opinion they all taste better after eight weeks.

 

Most of my IPA's never make it to two weeks in the keg. Catching that flavor when hop flavor pops out is what has kept me homebrewing for over 10 years - I like fresh hop flavor so much, I drink my Ipa's after 3 days of dryhopping while its carbonating, drink about half the keg off in the next 4-5 days, then re-dry hop it again, wait 3 days and drink the rest off.

IMO hops like citra, mosaic, and simcoe bloom to full tropical fruity flavor within 3-4 days - other hops (centennial/amarillo) seem to take up to 7 days to ring clear. Definitely some muddy flavors abound until it blooms - one of the "faults" I have experienced many times with breweries that make hop forward beers. YMMV.

 

I have also found that my hoppy beers take longer than expected to get to peak flavor. Maybe 6 weeks. I make a lot of 5ish% high hopped beers. This has been my experience with most of the popular american/new zealand hops. I have also been surprised how long the hop flavor hangs around. I keep my kegs at about 35 degrees.

 

OP, your comment makes me wonder about the differences (processes or otherwise) between really good commercially brewed IPA's and their homebrewed counterparts.

I'm drinking a Red's Rye clone right now that is really just starting to come into its own. Brewed back in late December.

On the other hand, I've never sat in front of a freshly poured pint of Duet at Alpine's Brewpub and thought "damn, I really wish they had let this beer sit for another 6+ weeks".

 

Care to share that Reds recipe?

Cheers!

 

DubbelMan, I'm at work now but I'll be happy to post it when I get home tonight.

 

It seems pretty universal that the hoppy homebrews need some time to settle down. My brews usually sit in primary for 2 weeks off the hops, get dryhopped for a week, get racked onto hops for a secondary dryhopping of 7 more days, then bottle up for at least 3 weeks, They hit their stride around week 6 in the bottle.

 

I have a few theories on that one... Water chemistry is paid closer attention in commercial breweries, final pH level has a big impact on flavor perception (http://www.braukaiser.com/wiki/index.php?title=How_pH_affects_brewing#Beer_taste), a lot of commercial craft breweries use hop extracts which typically provide a cleaner flavor due to less phenolic compounds being present, many homebrewers boil more vigorously than commercial brewers, a lot of times the hops that homebrewers get are not as high quality as commercial brewers (many times hops have been exposed to oygen, which can make beta acids more soluble in wort which can then effect the bittering characteristics), and if hops are being pulled into the fermenter from the kettle, that can have an effect as well.

 

As beer clarity increases, I tend to perceive a more balanced flavor. This holds true for my hoppy beers, and good clarity for me doesn't occur until maybe 2-4 weeks in keg.

 

I"m experiencing this now with an ipa, that was kegged on the 12th, put in the fridge and on gas the 18th (30psi), I lowered the pressure down to 11psi on the 21st, and I poured a pint last night and it had LOTS of foam, but the beer was still a bit murky and just didn't have that hop twang yet. I't seems like the beer just doesn't have enough Co2 in suspension and that's what makes it seem flat or dull to the buds, and I know that come about day 14 on in the fridge all bets are off.

 

Most of my freshly kegged big IPA's peel the skin off my tongue until they have had at least 10-14 days to settle. The optimum age varies wildly depending on the particular beer and the success of my somewhat haphazard cellaring habits, but there is a sweet spot around 6-8 weeks post-kegging. This assumes good storage conditions.

I have been privileged to help out at the Alchemist brewery a couple of times and have tasted a few beers from fermenters and brite tanks. Usually not ready for prime time, though already better than most other offerings out there. John Kimmich prefers Heady Topper at 4 weeks after canning; obviously, it's not too shabby on canning day either.

Right now I'm drinking a Stone Gotterdammerung 17 IPA bottled on 7/27/13, picked up on a clearance shelf down in DC. 'Best by' 11/27/13 but still a great beer with a wonderful delicate aroma. It's hard to predict what IPA's will do sometimes.

 

I am not gonna bee your enemy, I do not Keg or dry hope. Just hope to learn something from you

 

If I'm going for more of a "hopbursted aroma driven ipa" then the fresher the better in my opinion. In those instances, I like to be drinking the beer within 10-14 days after brewing it. I liken it more to "hop juice" as it's low in carbonation and lacks "crispness" in some sense. So I here what the OP is saying and can agree with it. Now if I want a more balanced ipa, then 21-28 days seems to allow the flavor to stabilize somewhat at the expense of the aroma dialing down significantly.

Don't get me wrong, the hopbursted beer still has plenty of aroma on weeks 3-4 and I don't feel that the loss I'm describing can solely be attributed to oxidation. It just doesn't have as much aroma as a beer that is being served days after coming off of two short dry hopping cycles! Stone seems to somewhat agree with my perception with regards to hopbursted beers, as the "Enjoy By" DIPA pushes retailers to serve it as fast as possible. Now I have no idea how long Stone goes from brew day to shipping those kegs out to retailers, so "somewhat agree" is definitely the proper word choice on my part.