Kinda rookie question

[StevieB603]

I have been brewing for about 5 or 6 months now and just bottled an I.P.A. I brewed with my neighbor (a former semi pro brewer) about 4 weeks ago. Now my question is this, I have some of it in big liter brown bottles with the attached corks on the wire. Would I be able to cellar it until say Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years without losing too much flavor? Abv is at 6.8 according to Brewgr and ibus should be at 39. Thanks, Happy Brewing and Na Zdorovie.

 

[cyanmonkey]

Depending on how much oxygen got into the bottles, you should be ok. Expect some drop in hop flavor, but you'll certainly still be able to tell its an IPA.

 

[JimRausch]

Once it's carbed to your satisfaction, put them somewhere cold (fridge, cold cellar, etc.) The cold will help slow any degradation.
But, I'm going to step up on a soapbox here: I don't think the belief that hoppy beers lose their flavor and aroma quickly is correct. I'm basing it on sampling my beers at 6 weeks, 3 months, 6 months, 1 year, 2 year. They all tasted pretty good to me. Steps down off soapbox.

 

[cyanmonkey]

Once it's carbed to your satisfaction, put them somewhere cold (fridge, cold cellar, etc.) The cold will help slow any degradation.
But, I'm going to step up on a soapbox here: I don't think the belief that hoppy beers lose their flavor and aroma quickly is correct. I'm basing it on sampling my beers at 6 weeks, 3 months, 6 months, 1 year, 2 year. They all tasted pretty good to me. Steps down off soapbox.

But I think you'd have to admit they tasted different. I think part of it depends on where hops are added in the boil. 30 minutes, less aroma but flavor is more stable, 5 minutes less flavor but faster fading aroma, whirlpool all aroma and fades quickly.

Like I said, depends on how well you can keep DO out. I wish I could say I've tasted an IPA a year out, I'd be curious.

 

[Calder]

Your are good. Well made beers will keep for a couple of years or more. Just be aware, that this is a 'live' beer and will continually develop. The hop presence will gradually fade, but with a decent malt base, it will continue to deliver a flavorful beers for many years.

To minimize hop flavor loss, storing cooler will help.

Fresh vs 2 to 3 months IPA has a significant change. You lose the up-front hops, and the malt starts to come forward.

 

[h22lude]

Once it's carbed to your satisfaction, put them somewhere cold (fridge, cold cellar, etc.) The cold will help slow any degradation.
But, I'm going to step up on a soapbox here: I don't think the belief that hoppy beers lose their flavor and aroma quickly is correct. I'm basing it on sampling my beers at 6 weeks, 3 months, 6 months, 1 year, 2 year. They all tasted pretty good to me. Steps down off soapbox.

I think it depends on the style too. IMO, any IPA won't taste the same aged (even a few months). The hop flavor and aroma won't be as big. It won't be a bad beer. It will just be different. I see you live in ME. Take any NEIPA and let it sit for 3 months (even in the fridge). After 3 months go buy another can and taste them side by side. You will see a huge difference. The aged one won't be bad it just won't have that in your face hop blast that NEIPAs are known for.

I forgot about a bottle of a Trillium IPA I had from June. I drank it about 2 weeks ago. While I didn't mind it, it was no where near as good as it was fresh. After having that bottle I made sure I didn't have any others. I just didn't like the way it changed even 3 months later.

 

[StevieB603]

Thanks for all the input folks.

 

[Chrispy92]

So curious why this hop fade is so apparent in home brew beers but isn't a problem for commercial IPAs? I've had commercial beers sit for a long time with no significant change in hop hit.... What are they doing differently??

 

[BongoYodeler]

Related - I had a Pliny yesterday that was bottled mid July. While it still tasted good it definitely lacked the fresh hop punch that makes it such a special beer.

 

[Yooper]

So curious why this hop fade is so apparent in home brew beers but isn't a problem for commercial IPAs? I've had commercial beers sit for a long time with no significant change in hop hit.... What are they doing differently??

That's surprising. Even the bigger craft breweries recommend drinking their IPAs quite fresh, including Stone with their "enjoy by......." line.

An older commercial IPA tastes like an older commercial IPA to me, just like homebrewed ones do. They may age a wee bit better, because of their techniques to keep out oxygen post fermentation. We were at a large commercial brewery last week, and even though they don't make a ton of IPAs, they have water that has been deoygenated to push through their lines when done bottling, they purge their cans (and bottles) with c02 before filling, etc. They have many more tools to prevent uptake of any oxygen at all, and yet they still don't recommend aging any of the hoppier beers.

 

[TravelingLight]

That's surprising. Even the bigger craft breweries recommend drinking their IPAs quite fresh, including Stone with their "enjoy by......." line.

An older commercial IPA tastes like an older commercial IPA to me, just like homebrewed ones do. They may age a wee bit better, because of their techniques to keep out oxygen post fermentation. We were at a large commercial brewery last week, and even though they don't make a ton of IPAs, they have water that has been deoygenated to push through their lines when done bottling, they purge their cans (and bottles) with c02 before filling, etc. They have many more tools to prevent uptake of any oxygen at all, and yet they still don't recommend aging any of the hoppier beers.

I agree. I picked up some "nightlies" (pales, IPAs, easier drinking stuff) a few months ago. There was a six pack of Stone IPA in the bunch. When I poured one and started drinking it I noticed there was very little if any hop nose on the beer. Then I remembered the store I bought it from is notorious for keeping old beer. I looked at the date and the best by date was 6+ months old. There was zero hop nose. The beer still tasted fine. Not great, but drinkable. It just didn't smell like, well, anything! Hop nose is the first to fade on older hoppy beers, IMO.