Do most of yall that have brewed this really keep it in primary fermenter for four weeks as the OP recommends? I kegged this after 2 weeks primary plus a few days cold crashing, and now that it's nice and carbonated it tastes great but definitely still has a bit of "yeasty" aroma/flavor. Wondering if I should have let it go a bit longer, or how long I should abstain from the tap until it improves. Have always heard IPA's should be drank "fresh", so I guess I'm wondering where the sweet spot is. Used nottingham, btw.
Yes, you should have given it more time.... you kinda proved it for yourself.....it's "yeasty" because you didn't give it time to condition, for the yeast to clean up and then flocculate out.
The "ipas should always be drunk fresh" thing is one of those chestnuts that noobs and others repeat without thinking too deeply about, and oversimplify, without applying any modicum of common sense to. And keep perpetuating over and over and over.
It simply means that ipas aren't meant to be cellarred, that they don't age well...that they lose "punch" over time.
WHAT IT DOESN'T MEAN IS; "drink a beer while it's still green and unconditioned." If you want a great tasting beer you STILL want to let the beer finish fermenting and give it time for the yeast to clean up after itself and condition, like any other well made beer.
I still after over a decade figure out how come this is so hard for folks to grasp....I think it just feeds into the natural impatience of brewers, especially noobs. We want instant gratification, and anything that seems to rationalize our impatience we jump on....and then wonder why our beer sucks.... human nature.
But good beers have a natural conditioning cycle, regardless of what it is...and an ipa is STILL a relatively highish grav beer- it's the same grainbill of other beers- still made of grain, water, yeast and hops- no different than any other beer,
so they still need the same amount of conditioning as any beers we make, wouldn't you think? You still want a good beer, don't you?
The only difference is that hops fade with time, and ipas are hop driven, it's not a big deal in porters, stouts, etc...because they're more malt forward. But we want out ipas to be hoppy.
SO if you simply dry hop the final week the conditioning phase you won't lose that hop aroma, and taste, especially if you do a lot....but you'll still have a tasty, well conditioned base beer underneath....one that's not green or "yeasty."
