Hoppy Beers only good for a month at best

[ctagz]

Hey guys, Im finidng the beers I'm bottle conditioning are tasting best after 2 weeks and then on the downhill after a month. These are hop Forward beers pale ale and IPA types. Is there anything I can do to prolong it? Is this something to do with colloidal stability, would White labs clarity ferm in this department. Or really is it a case of fresh is best?

Will hop shots work better?

They are stored in the shed in an esky to keep temp constant. Commercial beers seem to fare better, however I have started trying to buy the freshest... Did anyone notice the difference when Uncle Dan was selling Feral Sly Fox on the cheap and there was bulk fresh supply, it was like a different beer.

TL;DR How can I prolong shelf life of hop forward beers

 

[timmi9191]

Fresh is best but noticeable diff after 2 weeks shouldn't happen. Take a look at brew dogs methods, eg their punk ipa is bursting with hops well beyond 2 weeks.

I'd be looking at variables such as time and amount of hop addition and yeast strain first of all.

 

[ctagz]

when ive dry hopped in the keg it smells and tastes great for the first week or two and then drops off... removed the hop ball after 3-4 days. Ive been using pretty clean yeasts US-05 S-04 also WLP090. Solid fermentations, oxygenated wort, always hitting the high end of attenuation values.

Ive got the brew dog book and will look thru and try the punk IPA recipe.

Has anyone used the WLP Clarity Ferm? My dad is celiac so this stuff keeps sounding better, also my beers all have chill haze. So could this be a miracle all cure?

 

[fdsaasdf]

Oxidation is the enemy of hop aroma and flavour. I would be looking at your kegging techniques - e.g. splashing during filling and removal of whatever you use for keg-hopping.

 

[ctagz]

I use a hop ball on the chain that hooks onto lid.
ill deffs keep it more in mind about oxidation.
Atm im having a run on lagers and more malt driven beers so until next time, ill keep looking at my process

Cheers Guys

 

[doctr-dan]

What hops are you using, I was told the other day that hops from NZ aroma doesn't last as long as some others

 

[Black Devil Dog]

I leave my hops in the keg until it blows. No loss of hop flavour or aroma.

 

[ctagz]

Black Dog, you dont find you get grass? people report grass if left in too long... and correct me if im wrong, if the temp is very low (ideal serving temps).

not sure i believe it about the nz hops... interesting none the less

I guess i gotta work on storage of my beer too. Slowly but surely working towards perfect beer

 

[indica86]

I find my hoppy beers improving around the 3 or 4 week mark.

 

[Black Devil Dog]

Black Dog, you dont find you get grass? people report grass if left in too long... and correct me if im wrong, if the temp is very low (ideal serving temps).

not sure i believe it about the nz hops... interesting none the less

I guess i gotta work on storage of my beer too. Slowly but surely working towards perfect beer

I never get grass. Certain hops will give it though.

I keg hop with anything from 30g to 80g depending on the beer.

 

[gaijin]

I bottle condition my beers and have a process similar to ctagz and find that the hop nose starts diminishing after about a month. I've just started cramming as many bottles into a spare fridge as possible and it seems to be making a difference in prolonging the fresh hop nose. My uneducated guess is that the oxygen in the head of the bottle conditioned beers is the issue and that refrigerating them slows the process of the oxygen diffusing into the beer. I'll do a comparison of room temp vs refrigerated with my latest pale ale and report back here with findings in a month (if I remember).

I think the reason that commercial beers don't have that issue is because they are properly oxygen purged when filling.

RE dry hopping; my last dry hopped beer was made almost undrinkable from dry hopping for 7 days compared to my usual 3days. 4g/l of mosaic and galaxy. Like someone had waterboarded me with grass clipping juice. Bleh.

 

[Dan Pratt]

Dissolved Oxygen is the reason for hop aromatics to become lower over time. Brewerys spend alot of money to control/reduce and monitor the levels of DO.

On a homebrew level it can be reduced, there are a few sites that talk about ways to do so. I'd add them but I'm on my crappy phone.

 

[MHB]

D.O. certainly plays a roll, as can Auto-Oxidisation of higher alcohols mostly caused by the LOX enzyme. As can not fully dried hops, stale hops badly stored hops, same for malt (especially crushed malt that is exposed to air/moisture) there are varietal effects I find Saaz (as much as I like it) and Chinook when dry-hoped can cause grassiness. Incomplete boils and inadequate evaporation too high a beer pH....

Well a host of less than ideal brewing practices will contribute to formation of off flavours and less stable beer.
Stability isn't only about haze formation as a bunch of brewers who are too lazy to boil properly, separate wort carefully, pitch enough yeast, manage fermentation properly... would like to think. Stability also refers to flavour stability, its harder with very hop forward beers (and banana in wheat) but good brewing practice will make the beer more stable and keep the hop flavour up front longer.

Mark

 

[mr_wibble]

Black Dog, you dont find you get grass? people report grass if left in too long... and correct me if im wrong, if the temp is very low (ideal serving temps).

not sure i believe it about the nz hops... interesting none the less

I guess i gotta work on storage of my beer too. Slowly but surely working towards perfect beer

Yeah I did the same - but have only done so once.
I must say - absolutely no grass. Tea-ball packed with amarillo pellets.

I don't have a hook to chain it up, so (I assume) it just sunk to the bottom.