I went to open up a bottle of RR Consecration last night. The cork came out with a weak pop, which is not the usual deal. The beer poured with very little carbonation, and there was an overwhelming buttery diacetyl flavor that caused me to drainpour it. How often do people get bad bottles of this stuff? Is there a known bad batch of this floating around? I've probably popped open a couple dozen RR sours in my time and this is the first bad one I've gotten.
Bummer. Sounds like a fluke. I've had countless RR sours going back to the big bottles, and never even heard of anything like that.
I had Consecration about two months ago for the first time (don't remember the exact date, but it was a 2013 bottle) along with Sanctification and Temptation. It didn't occur to me at the time that it might have been a bad bottle, but I didn't like Consecration nearly as much as the other two. Sanctification was solid, and I loved Temptation. While I didn't have Supplication then, which is one of my all-time favorites, it was odd that I was let down by Consecration. I don't recall if the carbonation was weak, but I do remember that odd taste. I might have to try another bottle.
My bet is a bad cork/seal. Coincidentally I had a bottle of batch 6 last night (I think they date them now though) and it was excellent. I wouldn't let a bad bottle ruin the beer for you, it is one of the better brews out there. Still sucks to be out $15 but nothing much you can do unless you got it from a store with good CS policy.
the current (August) batch is much much better than the last batch (January) Im glad im not the only one who did not enjoy that last batch
Did you contact Russian River? You didn't say one way or the other. Maybe they read BA, maybe they don't. But if I was them (huh?), I'd want to know. If they do any kind of tracking on their products they can determine if it is a "one time" unlucky happening, or a larger problem.
If I was to get a bad bottle from a company I would contact the company, not blab my mouth on social media, but then maybe I'm old fashioned that way.
Thanks for the constructive comment, dick, but I was only trying to see if this was a known issue. I thought this was a forum for discussing beer, not social media, but thanks for being you, superior to the rest of us.
Not sure, the bottle went out in the trash before I could check it. I just bought it a week or so ago, so it was probably this year. The store I go to seems to go through stock quickly, so it may be the most recent bottling run. Can't say for sure.
If it was the most recent batch I would tend to think it was bottle specific. I wouldn't let it stop you from trying another one. Ive had a few bottles and a several pours from different kegs and honestly though it was the best batch of Concercration ive had.
It won't stop me, it's one of my favorite beers. Just wanted to make sure it wasn't more than just a bad bottle so I won't have to worry about buying more.