Bottle Aging- how long?

[fourlambs]

All,
I recently brewed a ripper NEIPA which I was super happy (hoppy) with on opening the first bottle, about 2 weeks in…. The aroma and flavour was stunning and as good as I could get in a craft beer bar…..

However, now about 2 months old and all the aroma is gone, the flavours are muted, colour is darker and overall I am disappointed, it’s still drinkable (not sour), but I am wondering where all my hard work has gone?

l reuse brown PET bottles, well sanitized and they are still gassed when I crack them….. thoughts?

 

[Markbeer]

If you google hops and oxidation you will find your answers. Hoppy beers seem to oxidised more quickly.

It's a problem that plagues all brewers and led to closed transfers and fermenting under pressure to try and eliminate oxygen.

Other solutions include storing beer as cold as possible, dosing with metabisulfite, purging bottles and headspace with CO2.

Or drink them quickly.

 

[fourlambs]

Thank you Markbeer
I suppose my next question is, if this is my process and I cannot use kegs, is there another beer style I should be targeting which is less prone to oxidation?

IPA / West Coast IPA / other? What is it about NEIPA formulations that make them so fragile?

Any links to using meta bisulphates, methods?

thanks

 

[duncbrewer]

There is a lot on this on the us homebrew forum, can't remember the thread, talking about amount of bottle filling as well as Sod met, ascorbic acid, counter pressure filling with results of bottles opened at various times.

 

[BrewLizard]

If I went back to bottling, I think I'd go to PET bottles instead of glass. You can squeeze all the air out when capping, allowing the CO2 to reinflate the bottle. Gash on YouTube did a classic vid on squeeze vs. no squeeze with beer turning brown just from the tiny headspace in a bottle. It's poor-man's counterpressure filling, where the pressure comes from your hand.

 

[Markbeer]

I've yet to find a solution that works for me other than cold storage.

 

[yankinoz]

There is no one solution because several processes are at work.

Hop oils degrade through oxidation, true, but if one bottle carbonates the yeast soon take up oxygen in the head space. Not soon enough to avoid some aroma loss, but much sooner than two months. So that is not your only problem. If you can't bottle under CO2, keep head space small. Do not eliminate it.

Yes, k.eep it cold after carbonation. Hop oils undergo chemical and biological changes in storage, even absent oxygen. Cold storage nearly stops biodegradation and slows chemical change. For a technical discussion see (PDF) Investigating the Factors Impacting Aroma, Flavor, and Stability in Dry-Hopped Beers

 

[Baron von Rhap]

My PET brewing bottles have vertical striations below where they start to neck like the nylon lining inside is splitting. They are getting on, but. Maybe time to change them up.