Tag: IPA

In a world of beer cellars and “vertical slices” going back through 15 generations of a single beer, the beer age rage is strong. If you’ve ever had a properly stored beer with some age on it, you already know why.  If you never have, I highly recommend it. My first was a 3 year old Avery Mephistopheles that turned my brain into toasted porridge (I don’t know what that means either) and a high I’ve been hunting down since. I only have another year to wait for my next Mephisto!

While I have roughly 20 beers aging under my bar, a paltry sum compared to most enthusiasts, only one is an IPA. I know the initial gut reaction is to drop to your knees, screaming to the beer gods, “Why would you age an IPA!”, but a Dogfish Head 120 can handle the fall of civilization and still be drinkable by whatever irradiated overlords still roam the cracked husk know as earth (an 18% ABV can do that). Generally though, hoppy IPAs are meant to be drank and drank now. I think most IPA lovers know this or figure it out after trying that IPA they forgot about on the back shelf, but what keeps IPAs from keeping? Well, that worthless pursuit, “science”, can shed light on this cruel trick of nature.

Continue reading “The Why Not of Aging IPAs – Science!” →