Is an infected beer always bad?

Had an infected rabbid duck the other night and it was absolutely horrible. First time having an infected beee and I was not a fan. A bunch of chocolatey dark sour fruits that did not go with the RIS

 

Two Hearted had a run of infected bottles a few years back. Came off as a Belgian IPA before Belgian IPAs were all the rage. Not bad, really. I remember people looking for them in trades.

 

Yes! The infected version was much more of a delicious and funky sour than what they were going for. I drank the whole bottle quite quickly.

 

Decadence 2008 and Angel's Share Brandy come to mind. The latter is excellent infected, but most are just flat and not infected.

 

Dark Horse's King of the Forest started out as a porter and ended up a Belgian Sour that tasted like pears, delicious.

 

I think "infected" is tossed around too easily on this website. Off flavors don't mean infections

 

Much more local, but Craftsman made a beer called Ochre, which was infected by mistake, and ended up being an incredible sour beer.

 

Although the word, infected, is not a pleasant one; some infected beers can be tasty. And in certain instances, tastier in some people`s minds than the original recipe. It can make things more interesting anyhow.

 

The only experience I've had with infection was Boulevard Chocolate Ale 2011-1 Batch and it was awful. Absolutely awful complement to the chocolate taste. I got a refund from Boulevard easily though. And I used it to get some Double Wide IPA. Tasty taste.

WARNING: MAY BE DRUNK

 

Charliewine from Mammoth. You know the infected bottles because they turned the label upside-down and promote it now as a Sour Charliewine. That was one of the best un-intended American sours I can remember drinking...

 

Infections, regardless of whether they imbue positive or negative characteristics to the flavor profile are always bad. They are indicative of less than sterile/sanitary brewing operations, and more often than not result in revenue loss and disappointment. Sure you might get lucky and find it enjoyable, but that's due on part to our (craft beer drinkers) bias towards the new and unique versus the consistent and reliable.

 

I personally loved Pannepot Wild....

 

Infected Matilda > Matilda, and most other sours I've had

I really believe that if we could actually rate infected matilda it would have a rating in the mid-high 90s. it's incredible.

 

While it is not the norm, sometimes "infected" and "off-flavored" beers can be pleasant.
We recently saw some wholesaler mergers here in SE MI, and the distributor who acquired the Coors brands had to buy back all the out-of-code product the previous distributor left in the market.
Long story short, a friend gave me several bottles of Blue Moon Grand Cru in March (exp in Oct). It had gone lactic, big time. While fresh, this beer was mediocre at best, but the lactobacillus infection gave a sharp yogurty tartness that played off the bitter orange peel, resulting in an amazing beer!

 

I have enjoyed a few infected beers. As noted above Abyss was very nice when infected. My favorite that I have had would have to be a batch of Achel I came across a few years back at a tasting in MN. A couple of us there were sour fans and drank all of it because no one else wanted any. Speaking of WI brewers, the best beer I have ever had from Sprecher was an infected bottle of their pipers scotch ale.

 

I had an infected Duck Rabbit barleywine recently and I wonder if it was the same bugs that got yours. Also, I felt it was alright. I definitely felt it would have been better without the infection, but I enjoyed the sour/dark fruit tastes as they were in the barleywine. It was a situation where the infection wasn't ideal, but I'd bet with a bit of work they could make a really good big sour with a barleywine base beer if they tried.

 

I concur with this... I've reviewed close to 1,000 brews and the infected Matilda is top 10...

 

I noticed the same thing with Rabid Duck and Baltic Porter. Makes me sad, I love Duck-Rabbit

 

I just had an infected Boulevard Chocolate Ale and actually liked it. In fact, most of us liked it. Had a nice dry sourness and some nutty chocolate flavor. I'd probably buy it again as a sour because it reminded me of a tart raspberry chocolate dessert.