Aging effects on IPA's

[HopHeadHarry]

So everyone says that an IPA is best drank young as with time the hop signature tends to diminish. I am a big IPA fan and am loading my pipeline so in a few months there will not be a shortage of drinkable beers.

In your personal experience what is the 1) optimal age to drink an IPA? and

2) Is there an age after which the characteristics of an IPA are simply missing ? ie:Like saying I would'nt brew it unless I was going to drink it in......3months, 6months?

3) Also is there any difference in longevity of bottles v.s. kegs?

 

[Virant518]

1) As soon as you can

2) As time passes, the bright hop character that defines an IPA fades. I would try to drink it all well before 3 months, although it would probably still at least resemble an IPA at that point.

3) Whatever you store it in, keep it dark and cool.

 

[Yooper]

1) As soon as you can

2) As time passes, the bright hop character that defines an IPA fades. I would try to drink it all well before 3 months, although it would probably still at least resemble an IPA at that point.

3) Whatever you store it in, keep it dark and cool.

I agree.

1. I drink most of my IPAs at 3/4/5/6 weeks old, but notice that the hops aroma fades by about week 5 some and is noticeably less hoppy and on the decline by week 6.

2. Well, you could try making it when you need to, and then dryhopping only a week before packaging, and that would help. But I wouldn't make an IPA unless I was going to be drinking it in 6-8 weeks.

3. You can always re-dryhop in the keg. I did that to bring a couple of kegs with me to Texas this winter. I kegged up the beer as usual, but dryhopped later on. Dryhopping also seems to take longer in the keg, but seems to last longer also, if that makes sense, since dryhopping at cooler temperatures (fridge temps) takes longer.

 

[phenry]

I'd say about 1.5 months is when I really start noticing my IPAs to start dropping off in hoppiness. For me, any IPA aged past 2.5 months is delegated to "end of night" beer, as in it really doesn't taste anything like it should anymore. I've gotten pretty good at timing finishing a batch right around when a new one is finished carbing up now though, so that usually isn't a problem.