Green beer > aged beer?

[Ultrazord]

Greetings all. About 3 months ago I bottled a batch of belgian IPA from extract. 2 weeks after bottling it tasted really really good, and kept that similar amazing flavor for a couple months. I only have about a 6 pack left, but the ones I've drank recently tasted slightly worse than the early brews.

Most posts say age the beer for better taste...can anyone think of a reason why aged beer would degrade in quality? It was stored in a cold garage in the midwest, so no light/heat degradation.

 

[bcryan]

from what i've read beers like ipa's taste better young. the hoppiness will fade over time. best to drink fresh.

 

[Zak]

The flavor of hops can lessen over time, so if your IPA is now lacking due to less of a hoppy flavor, the issue could be time has lessened the impact of the hops. I would imagine since that one of the key points of IPA's are the hops, the hop flavor fading could be why it doesn't taste as good

 

[Ultrazord]

It was a belgian IPA but felt more belgian than IPA. Not nearly as hoppy as I would have like it, but still a nice ABV and smooth as hell. It's nothing I can pinpoint....Just the first few I had were a 9.5/10 and now it's like an 8/10.

I'm mostly worried if I should drink / give my recent bottlings early to save taste or if it's a fluke or maybe just some people prefer newer beer.

 

[JLem]

Different styles/beers come into their own at different times. As others have said, hop-forward beers like IPAs are best when on the young side. In general, lighter and hoppy beers don't age well, while darker, maltier beers tend to age well. Higher alcohol beers may also need some age to mellow out any hot alcohol flavors.