Infected Barrel Aged Yeti

Did you ever think you should wait until you heard back from the brewery before flaming them in a public forum?

 

If it was infected it was infected. I hope mine is ok.

 

Did you ever think that one of the benefits of a public forum is being able to share your experiences and give helpful advice and warnings to the rest of the community? Assuming the OP a) knows what he's talking about and b) is telling the truth (and we have no reason to doubt either, as far as I know), I see nothing wrong with this post. Barrel-aged beers get infected all the time, there's no shame in it, but with advanced warning people in possession of bottles can make an informed decision about whether or not they want to risk letting a potential infection get worse.

If this is an isolated incident, then others will chime in with contradictory experiences, and the brewer can come on with a final word.

 

From the most recent batch? Maybe I'm not quite so bummed I wasn't able to get any this year...

 

Ok, then let me be the first. I traded for a bottle, and long story short, it got damaged in transit and leaked through the dented cap until by the time I received it there was a little less than half the bottle left. It still tasted great, and I'm very excited to get another bottle.

 

I thought the one I had not too long ago tasted a bit infected, but it was still pretty good. Then again, I've been tasting green apple in a lot of barrel aged beers lately, so either I'm getting "lucky" or my palate is off.

 

I'd say its the most recent one ('11), as i'm pretty sure the '09 only had 1,104 bottles.

 

some of the most recent reviews point to infected bottles.....

 

I guess my issue is more with the title and forum under which it is posted. A title such as "Infected Barrel Aged Yeti" posted under the Beer News forum would lead me to believe that Great Divide had come out and admitted to an infection issue. Instead, it is one person having a bad bottle, which, I will readily admit, could potentially be a sign of larger problems, but could also end up being chalked up to bottle variation. I suppose either way it's still a QC issue, I just think the title and forum are misleading, and a bit unfair to the brewery in question, especially before they've even responded to the OP's email.

 

I had read some less-than-flattering reviews before deciding to open one last week, but thought that the problem was due to some people not enjoying the balance of dry/roasted/ashy elements in the flavor profile... I found that the bottle (number not noted, unfortunately) I split with friends was not particularly easy to drink, and those who were familiar with regular Yeti noted the absence of anything resembling that beer's characteristic taste. There was a notable tannic component, and not much in the way of chocolatey/dark malt supporting flavors. I have had several servings of the '09 Abyss (draft and bottle), and found that I still enjoy even the most sour/cherry-forward samplings of that beer compared to this year's BA Yeti. I left a portion of my snifter pour out for several hours, and neither warming nor oxidation did much to change the undesirable characteristics; ultimately, it tasted like a Yeti with very muted flavors had been cut with a thin-bodied and mediocre tuscan red. Not the beer I was expecting, for sure.

 

We don't need the brewery to tell us whether or not something was infected, tbh. Although, this isn't beer news so I agree that this was a bad place for this to be placed. Probably best in just beer talk.

 

I think I know what I'll be bringing on Saturday.

 

It smelled terrible fresh but was so delicious.

 

Like i say, most beers are best fresh.

 

You've literally never said that. Ever.

 

You must not be subscribed to me on Beeradvocate.com.

 

he has some thoughts on barleywines you may want to brush up on.

 

chiming in the opinion that tasting an off bottle isn't exactly "beer news"; i also expected this would be a post from great divide given the section it's in.

that said, there's nothing wrong with reporting QC issues publicly. you don't want to slander people, but i don't think "my limited release BA beer is sour/infected" is that far-fetched a claim (probably not going to destroy great divide's name either).

also, not to make too big a generalization, but i don't think most people that would acquire such beers in the first place would really give enough of a shit about $20~30 to try to lie their way into a refund after enjoying a beer.

 

2 of the last 10 reviews, including 1 from the OP...none in the prior 40 that I saw
Let's hope they were the only two infected bottles