White Chocolate possibly infected; Patrick Rue responds

I thought the slight tartness on the back end of the WC '12 is what made it so damn tasty. I would not describe it tart like any of their sours by any means, but just a touch which I assumed was a quality of the wheat wine (I have never had a straight wheat wine). Looking forward to trying the '13.

 

I hate to rustle more jimmies, but has anyone tried Windowsill yet? Because I caught this new label approval on BeerPulse: http://beerpulse.com/beer/the-bruery-windowsill-sour-ale/
A Windowsill "sour" ale??

 

I was a bit confused by this as well honestly.

 

windowsill should have been soured in the first place imo.

 

The timing is pretty questionable. They never mentioned a sour version previously, and I hate to be that guy but it seems like things could have gone wrong and they decided to innocuate it into a full blown sour... hopefully Pat can sort this out for us!

 

It will be on tap at the tasting room on Monday, but I don't think the sour aspect should be any sort of surprise. Directly from TheBrueryStore.com (with relevant sentence bolded):

 

Additionally, here's Evan's blog post from July, which includes the following relevant blurb (again, bolding is mine):

 

It would be pretty shocking if a beer that's supposed to taste like fruit pie weren't intentionally sour.

 

Just seems strange that the actual label didn't mention this, but it does make sense for the rhubarb part. I still want to try this of course!

 

Had a bottle of 13' WC last night that tasted infected. I've had the '13 multiple times so far and it was fine. Going to suck for the select few that get bad bottles.

 

Ah yes, the same brewery that bought back bottles of Ebony and Oak knowingly sold tons of infected $30 bottles of WC. Makes perfect sense bro.

 

13 was/is sold online

 

https://www.thebruerystore.com/p-97-white-chocolate.aspx

 

6/18

 

I will cry blood tears if this is infected.

 

6/17 for the one I mentiond. A regular trader just popped open a white chocolate that he says is tasting sour, also a 6/17 bottle date. A little worried, all the ones I have were bottled 6/17.

 

Same. I like the bruery and they sort of fixed E&O, though didn't cover my shipping cost. That being said, if the WC bottle I open is indeed infected it will always be in my mind. Doubt I renew my HS if it is. 2 in a span of a month is just too much for the $ IMO. Plus they know they sent infected E&O, the email prior to getting the shipment pretty much says so, then all of a sudden White Chocolate is available online? Come on man!

 

Just cracked a bottle myself, about a third of the way thru - wouldn't normally try to drink one of these all by myself but this thread compelled me.

Anyway, so much for hoping I'd have a definitive opinion - for the most part I agree with the first review posted by FeiJai in this thread, initially the flavor is just a bit of a shock because it's not quite what you are expecting. It does have a slight tartness and a heavy carb. and just doesn't feel like it tastes the way I remember '12 tasting. I wish I could open my bottle of '12 now but not sure if I'd wake up afterwards.

It also tastes exactly like Patrick described in his earlier post - light tartness, very carbed (not a typical trait of a high ABV bba strong ale) and pretty dry. When you think of how White Oak tastes (or White Oak Sap, which I've only had once so I don't exactly recall) I can more easily imagine where these flavors are coming from, if that makes any sense. ETA: Also if you keep reminding yourself that the style of this beer is a Wheat Wine the flavors make more sense too.

And the more it warms up, the easier I'm finding it to drink - So while I really do not think it is infected, I still just don't really like it (wasn't a huge fan of '12 WC either for what it's worth). And while I think a description of "dirty rotten apple juice" is pretty harsh, to be completely honest if I strain enough I can sorta see where that person is coming from.

That being said, I'll finish this bottle with a smile on my face and an eagerness to do a side-by-side with the '12 in the very near future.