Hop, degradation in taste/smell after botteling

[Nembrionic]

Hi there,

I was having a little discussion about my newly bottled Double IPA.
It's going to be tasted at a contest at the end of May, start of June(so 6 months away) and some guy said that by then I would have lost most of the hop flavour and smell.


Now, I'm thinking to myself that that's nonsense. I'm going to brew a new batch before entering the competition anyway in about 2 months time but I just don't think there's such a short lifespan for these hops.

In my experience, my previous beers actually tasted the best after 6 months(especially when it comes to hop)

Is there any data on this?

 

[Lucky_Chicken]

data... probably, but I don't have it. However I have noticed the hop flavors do mellow with time, good or bad they do.

 

[JJL]

Beers typically lose hop aroma and flavor the longer they age. This is especially noticeable in very hoppy beers (ie IPA's). You will taste more of the bittering hops and less of the flavor and aroma hops over time.

 

[Nembrionic]

Yes, I know that "over time" that happens

What is "over time"?

I wouldn't say that a beer has lost "most" of it's aroma and flavour in 6 months after botteling, which was claimed.

 

[Zamial]

The 1st to go is the aroma and then the flavors. They do not fade but actually very slowly convert into a tiny amount of bittering, the way I understand it.

I have an IIPA that is over a year old and there is still a little flavor left but not much, aroma is gone completly. I brewed it with wormwood and that was a BAD idea. Maybe this beer will be ready in another year. The tannins are just starting to let up to the point where it does not feel like someone squeezing your throat...but they are still very "up front". The strange thing is it is actually fading into a nice wood/oak like flavor. I bet it will be perfect about 5 minutes after I am dead...time will tell.

 

[Backporchbrewery]

I have some Ranger IPA that I bought fresh in July, and now it just pretty much sucks. The aroma is almost completely gone, hop flavor is weak at best and seems slightly more bitter. This is all compared to a really fresh one of course. Anything hoppy I would say is best as fresh as possible. Just save a bottle to compare it to your next fresh batch and I'm sure you'll like the fresh one better.

 

[Yooper]

Yes, I know that "over time" that happens

What is "over time"?

I wouldn't say that a beer has lost "most" of it's aroma and flavour in 6 months after botteling, which was claimed.

Oh, I would! I would say that much of the aroma is gone in weeks, not months, and much of the hop flavor fades nearly as fast. An IIPA is often past its peak by month 3.

A forum member sent me his DIPA which he called something like hopsickle. It was about 6 months old at the most. It was a great beer, but I thought it was a barleywine as the hops aroma and flavor was very subdued. And he had TONS of late hops in there as well as dryhops. That's how fast it changed. I had no idea it was supposed to be a DIPA- but it was a fabulous barleywine!

 

[Nembrionic]

Oh, I would! I would say that much of the aroma is gone in weeks, not months, and much of the hop flavor fades nearly as fast. An IIPA is often past its peak by month 3.

A forum member sent me his DIPA which he called something like hopsickle. It was about 6 months old at the most. It was a great beer, but I thought it was a barleywine as the hops aroma and flavor was very subdued. And he had TONS of late hops in there as well as dryhops. That's how fast it changed. I had no idea it was supposed to be a DIPA- but it was a fabulous barleywine!

Hmm dang that's pretty quick

 

[Andrewjl]

I've absolutely experienced this as well. I did an APA with simcoe, and aroma dropped off quickly after a few weeks or so.

 

[bob1852]

Saw a cool presentation at NHC about this. They pull a headspace sample from beers of various ages by injecting a needle through the cap. And yes, there's data to show the rate of loss of hop aroma compounds that are lost to headspace and the material in bottle cap liners. I'll try to find the data...

 

[tesilential]

IPAs are best consumed immediately. I've had 1 month and 2 month old Jai Alai side by side and it was kind of shocking.

Fresh= floral, bright aroma

My liquor store has 3 month expired latitude 48 deconstructed. Since I work there I had some for free and it wouldn't even classify as an IPA. It is more like a not aromatic pale ale or even a plain American blonde. Fresh latitude 48 has more apparent bitterness (making it distinctly IPA-like) than possibly anything I've had.

 

[dexter05]

That' s really sad. I have some bottles of an AIPA I did 2 months ago... When I bottled it using sugar, I keeped them at 60 degrees, and the aroma was fantastic after 3 weeks. Otherwise, some bottles I keeped out of the refrigerator, at a higher temp, the aroma was completely gone... We must drink this kind of beer as soon as possible, but I believe low temperatures help prevent the volatilization of the aroma...

 

[ZombieBrew83]

I made Yooper's Dogfish Head 60 min IPA clone a few months ago. The beer turned out fantastic! However, I felt like the aroma and flavor peaked around week three or four in the bottle. I find that there is a noticeable deterioration of hop essence week to week. Got to drink those IPAs when they're fresh!

 

[dexter05]

''Researchers report:

“the major mechanism for the loss of hop aroma compounds from beer appears to be chemical degradation. The most likely pathways………..are reaction with oxygen in the headspace of the bottle and acid hydrolysis”

Because we can do nothing about acid hydrolysis, a diagnosis points to a rigorous elimination of oxygen from beer packaging, particularly the headspace in bottles.''

http://www.brewerschoice.net.au/html/hop varieties.htm

That's why the aroma does not last in primming bottles folks...

 

[Piratwolf]

If you're reallytrying, I'd suggest you flush your bottles w/ CO2... But why not just make smaller batches so you drink 'em all before the oxygen kicks in? It has the added benefit of brewing more often, which let's us hone our skills and processes!

EDIT: btw, JZ repeatedly refers to an industry paper he read that points to a 50% decline in hop flavor/aroma after 6 months even in the best situations.