IPA - hop heads - question

I've only made 4 "hoppy" brews (IPA, Pale Ales, Calf Ambers) and so forth.

Something I have noticed is that after 3 weeks carbonating I always have 1 bottle and EVERY TIME - it has tasted AWESOME.

But then I try one 2 weeks later (5 weeks bottled) it's gone down hill.

BUT - give it another month and it has changed back to the original goodness (but different of course).

Have you noticed that hoppy brews go down hill for a few weeks after the initial peak?

Mine have all seemed to get better with age... I've not yet noticed a downward trend at any one point.

My cream ale kit, my first brew, was great at first (week 4-8), then my hop taste disappeared - nothing but a sweet malt taste. After week 8, I had to throw in a hop pellet in each beer to drink it, and bring some balance back.

End of my kit days. On to real recipes.

I have had the "I am excited to taste it for the first time, oh it looks good and is fully carbed!" moment when having the first brew from a batch. Then the next couple are not so good as I realize they are still a bit green, so I let it condition for a few more weeks and then they are tasting good and near peak. I would say this happens more with my hoppy beers, but I generally brew pretty hopping beers so....

Grinder12000 said:

I've only made 4 "hoppy" brews (IPA, Pale Ales, Calf Ambers) and so forth.

Something I have noticed is that after 3 weeks carbonating I always have 1 bottle and EVERY TIME - it has tasted AWESOME.

But then I try one 2 weeks later (5 weeks bottled) it's gone down hill.

BUT - give it another month and it has changed back to the original goodness (but different of course).

Have you noticed that hoppy brews go down hill for a few weeks after the initial peak?

Click to expand...

There might just be some perceived imbalance at that age. I think IPAs are best fresh, so I don't like to sit on them too long.

I've noticed that one of may IPAs tastes really dry and bitter when I first pour it, but then after is sits in the pint for a while it mellows. could be the ABV kicking in though.

I would think that IPAs could sit too long and lose some of the hops flavors and aromas. I'm not sure why they would seem to taste great at first, then go through a not-so-good stage before coming back to tasting great.

I know that the keg of IPA that I purchased back in October is pretty much worthless now. It tastes like bitter grapefruit. No aroma. No good beer flavor. Just grapefruit and bitter. It WAS a good beer at first. I would bet a bottle would have lasted longer, but I think I would try to drink up any IPA within the first 5-6 months to avoid it losing hops flavors and aromas.

I just had a pint of my IPA from week 2.5 and to me the hop aroma is going down, but the flavor is still there. We are just looking at a slight loss of that smell, but there are still the coating oils and that resinous flavor. I will be finished with it soon though so it matters not.

Grinder12000 said:

I've only made 4 "hoppy" brews (IPA, Pale Ales, Calf Ambers) and so forth.

Something I have noticed is that after 3 weeks carbonating I always have 1 bottle and EVERY TIME - it has tasted AWESOME.

But then I try one 2 weeks later (5 weeks bottled) it's gone down hill.

BUT - give it another month and it has changed back to the original goodness (but different of course).

Have you noticed that hoppy brews go down hill for a few weeks after the initial peak?

Click to expand...

Ok im still kinda new to brewing but why is this so bad?

Oh - it's not bad - it's just something I noticed.

Perhaps it's all in my mind like one guy said - the excitement over the 1st brew taste.

I noticed a lot of the fresh hop flavor and aroma disappeared from my IPAs after 6 weeks. You can still taste them of course, but it's just not "in your face" hops. On my last few hoppy beers I've been First wort hopping and this helps out quite a bit. I get a longer lasting hop aroma and flavor, and in general just more hops. I get almost as much aroma from FWH as I do from dry hopping. YMMV

It could be the balance is not set yet and you're tasting the progression to max awesomeness.

Starts out with fresh, heavy hops flavors that have not mellowed, so they stick out. Then the fresh heavy hops flavor has mellowed a bit, but the malt flavors have not yet matured and are a bit harsh. Finally, the whole thing meshes the way it was always intended.

Just a theory, but I've noticed I go from loving to hating to loving beers at times. Usually when I look back at the "hate" period, I remember the malts just tasting a bit muddy and harsh.