scheffehcs
Member
Hello All.
Long time reader, first time poster. Please forgive any n00biness.
My brewing buddies and I have been extract brewing for about a year now; we meet up once a week and usually brew 2 or 3 five gallon batches a month. Back in July we decided to concentrate our efforts on making a great, original IPA recipe. We brewed 6 batches (which we lovingly dubbed our "Spearhead IPA" or SI) from July to September. The first batch was our base recipe, and every subsequent batch had one variation (different hop schedule, different specialty malt, a couple with different sugar sources, etc). We were very pleased with our results, and even won a local homebrew competition which featured a few of these IPAs.
We polished off most of the beer as we brewed, but kept 6 bottles of each for a future taste test. The first taste test was last night, and we were quite surprised at how our IPAs have aged.
The first problem was not too surprising: the AWESOME hoppy aroma that was prominent within the first month of bottling was no longer there in any of the beers. I have yet to try a commercial beer that REALLY captures that super fresh hop aroma, so it wasn't a shock that we lost it too.
The second problem arose at last night's tasting: the aroma was almost completely gone in the first few batches, and significantly diminished in the later batches, PLUS, the hoppy bitterness in all the beers was dramatically reduced. It felt like we were drinking different beers, like weak pale ales.
Since the 6 batches were brewed over a two-month period, we concluded that the reduction of both aroma and bitterness was due to age (SI-6, being the most recently brewed and bottled, was the most bitter and aromatic - the others decreased in hoppiness with age.)
Here is the bottomline:
Is there anyway to preserve that amazingly fresh hoppy aroma that leaves after the first few weeks of bottling?
More importantly, is it normal for IPAs to lose their bitterness and aroma after a few months of sitting around?
Thanks in advance for any sage advice you might have, and apologies if I left out any relevant information.
Brew on!
Long time reader, first time poster. Please forgive any n00biness.
My brewing buddies and I have been extract brewing for about a year now; we meet up once a week and usually brew 2 or 3 five gallon batches a month. Back in July we decided to concentrate our efforts on making a great, original IPA recipe. We brewed 6 batches (which we lovingly dubbed our "Spearhead IPA" or SI) from July to September. The first batch was our base recipe, and every subsequent batch had one variation (different hop schedule, different specialty malt, a couple with different sugar sources, etc). We were very pleased with our results, and even won a local homebrew competition which featured a few of these IPAs.
We polished off most of the beer as we brewed, but kept 6 bottles of each for a future taste test. The first taste test was last night, and we were quite surprised at how our IPAs have aged.
The first problem was not too surprising: the AWESOME hoppy aroma that was prominent within the first month of bottling was no longer there in any of the beers. I have yet to try a commercial beer that REALLY captures that super fresh hop aroma, so it wasn't a shock that we lost it too.
The second problem arose at last night's tasting: the aroma was almost completely gone in the first few batches, and significantly diminished in the later batches, PLUS, the hoppy bitterness in all the beers was dramatically reduced. It felt like we were drinking different beers, like weak pale ales.
Since the 6 batches were brewed over a two-month period, we concluded that the reduction of both aroma and bitterness was due to age (SI-6, being the most recently brewed and bottled, was the most bitter and aromatic - the others decreased in hoppiness with age.)
Here is the bottomline:
Is there anyway to preserve that amazingly fresh hoppy aroma that leaves after the first few weeks of bottling?
More importantly, is it normal for IPAs to lose their bitterness and aroma after a few months of sitting around?
Thanks in advance for any sage advice you might have, and apologies if I left out any relevant information.
Brew on!