[dannyjed]

I made my IPA and it tasted great the first few weeks in the keg and now it's not so good.  I put it in a competition and the judges ripped it for being solventy.  So I came home and tasted it and I could see where they were coming from.  It did not taste that way a couple weeks ago, in fact, my wife and I thought it was great. I know IPA's should be consumed when they are young or fresh, but it seems that mine have a small window when they taste good.  This fact has made it hard for me to get the timing right for competitions.  Has anyone else had this problem?  Am I making too big of a deal out of this?  What could make this beer have a solvent flavor?

[erockrph]

Maybe the hops covered the solvent notes when the beer was super fresh and now that the hops have faded it's starting to show through a bit more? How's your fermentation temps?

[tomsawyer]

+1 High ferm temps are the most common cause of solventy beer.

[dannyjed]

I didn't think of that.  It fermented at 66.  I bottled 1 gal for the competition and it was in the 80's while I was bottling - could that be a problem?

[tomsawyer]

No but maybe if the room was 66F then the beer got up into the mid-70's from the heat given off during fermentation.  Also maybe the spot it was sitting in was a little warmer than 66.

[majorvices]

Sounds like possibly oxidation to me. I'm not exactly sure about the science but seems like I remember reading somewhere that oxidation can cause solventy notes, especially when coupled with higher fermentation temps. But empirical evidence suggest to me that oxidation alone can cause this, even with low fermentation temps. I've seen this happen in some of my beers as well, especially in IPA's. I also wonder if the hop compounds can become oxidized and cause the flavor you speak of.

[dannyjed]

Sounds like possibly oxidation to me. I'm not exactly sure about the science but seems like I remember reading somewhere that oxidation can cause solventy notes, especially when coupled with higher fermentation temps. But empirical evidence suggest to me that oxidation alone can cause this, even with low fermentation temps. I've seen this happen in some of my beers as well, especially in IPA's. I also wonder if the hop compounds can become oxidized and cause the flavor you speak of.

I was thinking along these same lines.  Last year about this same time I had an IPA get oxidized (I think), I forgot to purge the keg and I dry hopped in a secondary without purging the carboy.  That one turned out to be a very harsh bitterness after a few weeks in the keg.  So I was thinking if the hops (Columbus, Amarillo, Cascade) could also contribute to this flavor.  I also dry hopped with Columbus and Cenntennial.