Hello folks,
"when did people start giving a shit about how fresh a bottle of imperial stout is" I remember moaning, probably in early 2013, after reading the "Drink fresh" advice on the side of a bottle of Kernel. Then, less so now, I was into collecting beers, storing them for a period of time and opening them to find a changed and often much better product. I still have a bottle of Eldridge Pope Thomas Hardy Ale which I bought in 1994, and a few other vintages, along with other strong bottled stouts. The last thing I would want to do is drink them fresh.
Having checked my write up of that post about the tasting am afraid there is no mention of my horror, but in the four years since I have started to hear more and more people comment, praise and rave even about the freshness of beers. As a libatious enthusiast, I have neither the time nor sobriety to look into "facts" or similar muddleheaded musings about the capacity of hops and malts to keep their flavours over long periods of time in a can or bottle. So instead am going to rely solely on observations, memories and, mainly, guesswork.
At Tramlines's I was in Shakespeares nursing a two thirds of Siren in the clock room, which I own. In came Rodney who I know from serving him at Archer Road Beer stop years ago. He was raving about two brand new cans they had at Hop Hideout. The Cloudwater N.W DIPA (I think), and the Verdant Further DIPA, were both brewed within the last ten days and this had made him very excited.
We looked at the cans and as a massive fan of both breweries I started devising plans to go up and sample some of the same at the earliest opportunity. I only bought the Verdant Further in the end, but that was absolutely fantastic. Did it matter that it was so fresh from the brewery? I would say yes. If nothing else, because of the style of beer produced - a hoppy, cloudy, fruity IPA.
There is no discernible price difference (although both Cloudwater and Verdant are "high end") so in effect you are now able to get the freshest beers straight from the brewery (almost). I think this improves the hops - their flavour, bitterness and citrus notes appear to be more noticeable, and the beer seems, at least, easier to drink. I know this may seem like a hoodwink kind of plan by micro brewers but I would buy their beers anyway, so in effect all that is happening is I am enjoying their beers fresher, and probably all the more.
The other evidence in between 2013 and now about freshness, bearing in mind of course that all cask beer needs to be as fresh as possible once tapped, is that IPAs don't seem to work well when kept for any period of time. Its simply a style that doesn't suit ageing. I remember years ago when Blue Bee aged their 6 or 6.5% Tangled Up IPA in cask for 6 months or so. I tried it twice and found that the astringency of the hops had diminished, and the beer although more rounded, was more like a strong English ale. That is not a flavour or style that I want from an IPA.
When Shakespeares had a Cloudwater IPA on cask at New Year 2015 it had been ageing in the cellar for a period of months. Many regular drinkers, not all of whom were IPA fanatics I should point out, noticed that it had decreased in hoppiness and wasn't as vibrant as when fresh. Cloudwater no longer do cask beer but their kegs always say drink fresh. Their beers are invariably excellent, as are Verdant and Kernel's output.
It seems therefore, that another notable benefit of the excellence of brewing in the UK microbrewing scene is that fresh ales are becoming more popular, and since thus far they cost the same (if sell out quicker) I can only see this as a benefit. And I still have numerous ageing dark or traditional English strong beers to enjoy when I want something heavier, for years to come.
Cheers!
Wee Beefy
It's fairly well documented that many compounds that come from hops degrade over time, they are delicate (essential oils etc, it's why hops are kept in the freezer!). The chemical changes that go with ageing beer are either driven by yeast still alive in the liquid (and they can do all sorts to flavour - either cleaning up compounds associated with off flavours, or contributing new ones from processes such as autolysis (yeast dying), and oxidation (too much of which is generally agreed to be a bad thing, but a small amount of which is part of the charm and skill of hitting a cask bang on its peak). So in summary, the drink fresh thing is typically hop driven, or lower ABV which also fares badly when aged. I used to obsess over storing beer for ages and cracking it open on special occasions (strong Belgians I still do this with), but having ended up in a number of times with rare/special brews having gone past their best, I tend to the side of drinking it earlier now. I'll miss out on the occasional bonus age improved flavour, but on average I'll get a better beer by drinking it sooner rather than later.
ReplyDeleteCheers
Hello Fierce Panda! (assuming it is you....) Thanks for putting the flesh on the bones of my claim, it is something that I "kind of" knew but wasn't well informed enough to explain. And yes, lower ABV beers also do not age well, am guessing because the lack of alcohol means the yeast lives less long? In agreement with your closing comment, I bought 8 cans from Beer Central at the beginning of the month and in days had drunk all but two, one of which is a bottle of DIPA I am keeping for a few weeks in the fridge.
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