We have received a bunch of questions regarding this topic so we gathered our thoughts and made a video response. The magic of New England India Pale Ales (NEIPAs) is the wonderful yet delicate hop aroma and flavor and it takes large amounts of hops to produce this magic.

Due to the substantial hop additions, as compared to traditional beer styles, NEIPAs are extremely susceptible to the effects of oxidation. If this type of beer comes into too much contact with air during the packaging phase, its appearance can change dramatically and its hop aroma and flavor will suffer.

Watch this video as we discuss tips to reduce oxidation in NEIPAs:

NEIPA Oxidation Reduction Tips

  1. Keg your beer – a typical homebrewer bottling process presents many challenges to keep air out of the packaging stage. Kegging provides a easier process.
  2. Follow a closed transfer approach – Move the beer from one CO2 filled container (the fermentor) to another completely CO2 filled container (the keg). One closed method approach is to fill your keg with a non-foaming sanitizing solution, then push the solution out of the keg using CO2 from a canister. Lastly, use the CO2 from your canister to push your beer from your fermentor to your purged keg. (We’ll explain in a video)
  3. Keep your beer cold – After transferring, get your keg into a refrigerated space ASAP. Your beer will stay fresher longer cold

There are some “miracle cures” being tossed around out in homebrewing circles to best fight this scourge of NEIPAs. Mike discusses some of the science behind them and why they may not work. We think that the real way to reduce oxidation in your NEIPAs is to be extremely buttoned up during your packaging phase.

BREW ON!