[troybinso]

I'm brewing my first attempt at an English IPA tomorrow, with a recipe based on the Meantime IPA recipe listed in the IPA book by Mitch Steele. It sure takes a lot of hops to make this beer, so I guess I can understand why you would want to age it. I am making a 10 gallon batch split in two carboys. I am hoping to age one kind of briefly and start drinking it in a couple of months and then save the other one for posterity. I don't bottle often anymore, but I wonder if I can bottle this beer for aging. I am not sure I can spare a keg full of beer for a couple of years. I suppose I would lose the fresh dry hop aroma if I bottled, though. Sorry, rambling a bit.

[troybinso]

Oh by the way, half will get WY 1968 and half will get WY 1099. Which one should I save for long term aging?

[seajellie]

Can You Brew It does a pretty good session on Meantime IPA, with a 30 min or so interview w/ the brew master, an American guy. The business starts about 15 minutes in.

Meantime is bottle-conditioned, so you certainly can bottle it up to age it; sounds like the owner wants this brand as an authentic representation of history, so go for it.  Meantime comes in a cork bottle btw, so it definitely gets oxidized at least as much as your bottles will get.

How'd your brew session go? I plan to do a ten gallon batch here soon as well, and leave five in a keg for as long as I can stand, and drink the other immediately. Sounds like they hit this beer with every technique possible: FWH, bittering, late adds/whirlpooling, hop back, and dry hop. Although the only Meantimes that I've had, had very little aroma - probably old. I plan to hit my aged keg up with a dry hop when the time comes to drink it.

I kind of like that idea for american styles too. I'm going to let my IIPAs age a bit this season in keg, and then hit them with the dry hops when I think they're ready. Usually, I just dry hop and start drinking, maybe before the beer is really perfected....