My 9 month old IPA

BrewSwag 728
Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
tom_gamer

tom_gamer

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 7, 2011
Messages
619
Reaction score
39
Location
Houston
So I am currently brewing an IPA, its in secondary dry hopping. I happen to find a couple of bottles of my almost 9 month old IPA. This was my first beer I brewed that I loved. This beer made me invest a lot into this hobby. Everyone I gave this beer to sample loved it.

So I decided that tonight I will drink one and it was disgusting. Besides me not cellaring it correctly, its been in warm temperatures for the last 2-3 month. It lost all of the hops flavor and its all weird malt. I also drank the beer at room temp, which usually doesn't bother me.

It's a sad day. I compare this too having a super hot girlfriend that got fat.
 
I was hoping that all the people saying it were full of it. I learned the hard way.
 
hogwash said:
IPAs don't keep long, especially if stored warm. Gotta drink 'em fast & brew another!
Click to expand...

False- IPA's where brewed in Rome or some where then Shiped around Afirca to India and wagon trained to Rome'n troops And Cezar. Not sure how long that took but it was at least a 3 month or better journey. That's how we got IPA's the fist batches went bad befor they got to the troops and the brewers knew that hops preserved so add a bunch of hops an sent it. Bus the time the beer got to the troops it had mellowed and changed.
So infact Sir the beer you had was closer the the first IPA than you have probably ever had.
 
Darkness said:
False- IPA's where brewed in Rome or some where then Shiped around Afirca to India and wagon trained to Rome'n troops And Cezar. Not sure how long that took but it was at least a 3 month or better journey. That's how we got IPA's the fist batches went bad befor they got to the troops and the brewers knew that hops preserved so add a bunch of hops an sent it. Bus the time the beer got to the troops it had mellowed and changed.
So infact Sir the beer you had was closer the the first IPA than you have probably ever had.
Click to expand...

I think you're a couple centuries, countries and Cesars off on your history, but the moral of the story is right...
 
motlekj06 said:
I think you're a couple centuries, countries and Cesars off on your history, but the moral of the story is right...
Click to expand...

I think its from England and they made it for their Indian colony. Same journey almost.

I am not a fan of malty beer. This beer reminded me of a malty Belgium beer. Like one of those abby 12 or whatever it is. I hope I don't offend anyone by saying this but if that were the only beer in the world I won't drink beer. I'd probably be making moonshine instead of beer.
 
motlekj06 said:
I think you're a couple centuries, countries and Cesars off on your history, but the moral of the story is right...
Click to expand...

LOLlerskates. :D

And for the record, historical IPA tasted much different then what we consider to be an "English IPA" today. (BJCP training for the win.)


Back to the OP, I hear ya on the old IPA thing. Just keep drinking and keep brewing! :mug:
 
Have you ever drank an Ipa that old? They are not good, I don't care how the story goes.
 
blkandrust said:
Phew,for a moment I thought you had named your 9 month old,IPA;)
Click to expand...

That would be awesome, but the kid would hate you. Lol

I just bottled my new IPA, can't wait to drink it.
 
Last night I had a bottle of a Citra IPA I brewed last August (bottled November, so it is 8 months), and I was really surprised at how good it tasted. It still had tons of hop flavor. I'll grant that it had probably lost some of the hoppiness, but there was certainly still plenty there.

Maybe you have just gotten better at making beers and have a more discerning pallet now. Try leaving a bottle of your latest IPA for 9 months and see how it fares.

IPAs and Pale Ales will last. They just change. I recently spent 3 weeks in England, I was surprised to find the "Best By" dates on beers (bitter, Pale Ales, IPAs, etc) were all in 2013. It seems Commercial brewers believe their beers can stand up to time.
 
Calder said:
Last night I had a bottle of a Citra IPA I brewed last August (bottled November, so it is 8 months), and I was really surprised at how good it tasted. It still had tons of hop flavor. I'll grant that it had probably lost some of the hoppiness, but there was certainly still plenty there.

Maybe you have just gotten better at making beers and have a more discerning pallet now. Try leaving a bottle of your latest IPA for 9 months and see how it fares.

IPAs and Pale Ales will last. They just change. I recently spent 3 weeks in England, I was surprised to find the "Best By" dates on beers (bitter, Pale Ales, IPAs, etc) were all in 2013. It seems Commercial brewers believe their beers can stand up to time.
Click to expand...

You are probably right. I think my mistake was that it wasn't kept at proper temperature. So the beers were at room temp for 9 month and I live in Texas. What temperature did you store your beer?
 
My beers are kept in my basement. Stays between 60 and 70 F all year.
 
Calder said:
My beers are kept in my basement. Stays between 60 and 70 F all year.
Click to expand...

That's what I figured. We just participated in a 9 month experiment and didn't even know it.
 
I still had a good few ipa/pale ales over a year.
They lost most aroma but really conditoned out nicely.Pretty clean and tastey really.Extract and partial mash batches.Stored between 57-68 during the year in the basement.
 
tom_gamer said:
That's what I figured. We just participated in a 9 month experiment and didn't even know it.
Click to expand...

Probably not a good experiment. You said it was your first beer. Mine was somewhere around #200. I know my beer was excellent, and would stand up against SN Torpedo (it was citra after all), and any other major IPAs.

I know temperature does age a beer quicker, but I suspect you are getting better at brewing and have a more discerning taste than you did 9 months ago.
 
So what's the life span of the ipa I brewed yesterday once bottled?
 
benzy4010 said:
So what's the life span of the ipa I brewed yesterday once bottled?
Click to expand...

For me it was 6 month. This was also the time the beer didn't go much over 70. Now after 3 month of 80+ temps it went "bad". Again that was this batch.
 
As I am reading this thread I am wondering how long one could an IPA at optimum temperature, and what would that be?
 
Darkness said:
False- IPA's where brewed in Rome or some where then Shiped around Afirca to India and wagon trained to Rome'n troops And Cezar. Not sure how long that took but it was at least a 3 month or better journey. That's how we got IPA's the fist batches went bad befor they got to the troops and the brewers knew that hops preserved so add a bunch of hops an sent it. Bus the time the beer got to the troops it had mellowed and changed.
So infact Sir the beer you had was closer the the first IPA than you have probably ever had.
Click to expand...

I literally LOL'd at this. Rome? Cezar? Wagon train?

Not_sure_if_serious.jpg
 

Similar threads

F
faith amercian ipa autographed 4 pack
Replies
1
Views
211
lumpher
lumpher
Clint Yeastwood
Dry Hopping: Covering up Beer's Best Features?
Replies
5
Views
873
Clint Yeastwood
Clint Yeastwood
corncob
Bucket heater cut 30 minutes off my brew day
Replies
0
Views
267
corncob
corncob
Clint Yeastwood
Prose from the Pros
Replies
6
Views
466
DBhomebrew
DBhomebrew
P
What happened to IPA?
2
Replies
49
Views
3K
Clint Yeastwood
Clint Yeastwood
InkBird 300

Latest posts

Back
Top