I made a point early on of clearing the stash of anything hop forward. They just don't age as well. Recently, however, I came into possession of this five-year-old bottle of Ska's imperial IPA. Would it buck the curve? I reckoned that 10% ABV made it a contender for transformation into a lovely barley wine once the fresh hop character faded out.It still smelled quite hoppy, a bright kick of orange and grapefruit. That's backed, of course, with toffee and booze, but as such not so different to the fresh version. Strangely the malt is not especially prominent in the flavour and it's tannic and quite dry rather than sugary sweet. There's plenty of hop bitterness, but it's not harsh, coming across smooth and zesty. There's a real touch of Negroni about it: that kind of fruity warmth with a herbal complexity on a dry base.
Looking back at my notes on this beer previously, it seems it has mellowed significantly over the years. The floral side has gone, though it's taken the sharp intensity with it. Maybe the recipe has changed but I think it's entirely possible we have a rare example of a new world IPA that improves with age, and it is definitely still a hop-flavoured IPA, not a barley wine.
