Bottle conditioning time fresh IPAs?

[DreadPirateWestley]

Theres a lot of conflicting information about IPAs, oxygens ill effects on hop compounds, the dangers of bottling beers with a lot of flavor and aroma hop additions, and when is the best time to consume a bottled IPA. Initially it appeared to me people found their IPAs required longer conditioning in the bottle versus a less hop forward beer. More recently I’ve been reading that these beers should be drank as soon as they’re carbonated. My comparisons and observations are far from scientific but my experience has been the former. I brewed a Grapefruit Sculpin clone (NB pulpin extract kit) and was disappointed. Its been just over 4 weeks now and finally the flavor seems balanced and fully developed, my only disappointment now is that I consumed half the batch before it was ready.

I normally wait patiently for conditioning but I assumed my disappointment was the result of my process and oxygen so I thought it would get worse not better. If nothing else this was an educational batch… where do you think the sweet spot is? Do you think IPAs require longer or shorter conditioning, and is their shelf life any shorter than other basic homebrew styles?

[squeegeethree]

There is nothing in hop forward beers that keep them from carbonating. The aroma does indeed start to fade rather quickly but with a single oz of dry hops your kit is subtle on the dry hop front to begin with.
With a total of 3 oz your kit is not going to turn purple from oxidation.
With time you will find your sweet spot with regards to aging and your brew practices. Personally I like to drink a beer early and late and taste how it changes. I have never had a hoppy beer that gets better with extensive aging. So putting them in a beer vault is pointless IMO

[DreadPirateWestley]

Thanks for the response! Yeah I definitely would not think there was any reason a hoppy beer would have carbonation issues, never even heard it mentioned until now. The question isn’t if I should age IPA extensively, I’ve gathered that much, but rather where should I expect a dropoff in return? 3-4 weeks in the bottle they taste much better, but will detriment outweigh benefit after 6 weeks? 8 weeks? 12 weeks? Etc

[brew_cat]

They will still be good beer even after 8weeks. I’d say drink them within a month after carbonation for freshness

[brewmanchu]

I wouldn’t even touch a bottle before a month had gone by when I bottled. I keg now and tend to wait at least 2 weeks to taste mainly because I use the set it and forget it method for carbing. I brew all IPA’s and have had some on for 6 months and still drank fine. I dry hop in the keg for the most part and it seems as though the flavors and aromas are roused with each pulled pint. @squeegeethree made a good point in your hop amounts and subtle aromas therein as well as trying your beers at different stages.

[sneezles61]

Aging (lagering) in the keg and how well it stays tasty has a direct correlation to how much O2 you leave out… Sneezles61