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Aging and Hop Stability

xkred27

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Hey all!

I'm about to brew and age my first barleywine.  I understand that hops degrade if not stored properly, and all the stability discussions seem to concern proper storage.  This is my 27th brew in 13 months, and I've yet to purchase hops that weren't properly stored.  So I'm wondering if the HSI provided by Beersmith refers to storage or %AA after the hops have been used?

If the HSI refers to %AA post-brew, is it good practice to increase the additions by the amount they will degrade?  I intend to age my barleywine 6 months using Cascade (HSI 50%), Centennial (HSI 40%), and Chinook (bittering, HSI 42%).  Applying this line of thought, I increased my additions accordingly and my IBUs went from 92 to 128.  This is fine if the IBUs are indeed going to fade over the aging period.

If the HSI refers to storage only, how should I handle my hop additions?  I've had pale ales that completely lost their cascade flavor after only a few months.  Of course it could have been my hop profile, but I don't want to sit on this barleywine for 6 months only to have it taste like a bucket of malt.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
 
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