Hoppy beer (commercial) age

[banesong]

The question to ponder -

How old is too old for commercial IPAs and pales? Saw a case of oskar blues yesterday for $17.99, but passed up on it because it was marked on 9/25/15. About a month and a half old. Too old? I have also passed up stuff bottled a month ago. Am I just a snob?

 

[joshesmusica]

Am I just a snob?

Yes. If you want less than a month fresh, you need to be hitting up the brewpub, or be brewing it yourself. It's almost practically unfeasible to expect anything much fresher.

 

[banesong]

So... What is a 'reasonable' length of time. I really am beating myself up over this.

 

[joshesmusica]

So... What is a 'reasonable' length of time. I really am beating myself up over this.

To give you an idea, these guys are completely anal retentive about IPA freshness, and they're asking their groupies to complain about the freshness on these dates:

http://www.stonebrewing.com/freshbeer

The only one to be consumed fresher than 90 days (though still can be "fresh" at 37 days), is the one that is intentionally brewed to not last very long on the shelf.

Edit: that last sentence didn't make much sense. but if you click the link, you'll get the point.

 

[Calichusetts]

I love freshies. East coast market is saturated with fresh IPAs so its easy to get most a week or two old. With that said, 1-2 months is fine for many commercial IPAs.

 

[Brewenstein]

I was in Pittsburgh last month and went to a bottle shop. They had a section of out-of-date beers. Most were styles that I didn't want to take a chance on, but they did have some Founders Devil Dancer which is a triple IPA. The bottle date on it was 5/15/14, so it was a year and a half old. I've had it fresh and it is good. So I took a chance and bought a 4 pack. Chilled one down and tried it. Still had a good hop punch, not as much as fresh, but not bad. So I went back and grabbed another 4 pack. Threw it in a cabinet in my basement to age another year. It should develop into a nice hoppy barleywine. But a regular IPA, I would pass on something over 6 months old.

Best part of the deal? The 4 pack was half price, from $15 down to $7.50.

 

[banesong]

Yeah.. Triple IPAs are basically American barley wines.

Bottom line, need to allow 2-3 months for a commercial IPA.

 

[slym2none]

I think it depends on the beer. Stone's regular IPA tastes pretty good no matter how old it is (within their "best by" date) but I have had 2-week old Two Hearted Ale and 5-week old Two Hearted, and it is a night & day difference. I have also had 3-week old Pliny The Elder & 2-month old PtE, and again - night & day.

But you can't go wrong with fresher is better. I've had NODA's Hop Drop 'n Roll that hadn't been the can for a week, and it was something special.

 

[Natdavis777]

I'd buy that sh*t up. I had an IPA I brewed in Feb, which was judged in June, score an overall BJCP score of 41 (I was surprised)... Just saying that beers last longer than most say or expect.