I Contacted Community About Bottle Dates...

I just picked some up from Spec's Downtown in Houston and could not find a date on the bottle. Guess it is from an older batch.

 

Did they have logo caps?

 

Yes.

 

The bottles are not dated yet, just the cardboard case that holds the six packs.

 

The bottles are dated. The most current batch I've found is 12/16/14. (As mentioned above).

Then again, maybe you are referring to how the older batches are dated...in which case, I believe it is the CASE box that is dated, and not the 6pack holder.

 

I found 12/31 bottles at Whole Foods Park Lane a couple days ago.

 

Personally, I'm hoping it's just for this batch. I liked it a lot better before.

 

Shit, my bad. I guess I misunderstood the OP.

 

No worries. Just cracked one and it tastes fine. This is the first I have had since they amped up the ABV and it has a much larger malt backbone than I recall. Honestly it reminds me quite a bit of Rodeo Clown now.

 

This would be a hassle for TABC label approvals, no?

 

From what I was told by the sales guy, they didn't change anything, but the TABC approval was from teh first test batch and they believe it likely has been stronger as they get better efficiency on teh big batches. Flavor shouldn't be changed as this was not a recipe change. Could be completely false, but that is what I was told, the change came b/c TABC only allows a .5% variation in testing.

 

Recipe never changed whatsoever, just an FYI.

 

Then I guess it's always been bad. It tasted like a much "bigger" beer the last few times I tried it. Sticky, heavy malt, boozier, etc., which isn't how I remembered it from early on.

 

That almost sounds like an old bottle.

 

Perhaps. But I'm pretty sure it was no more than a month old. I'll have to try a fresh one again. I hope I'm wrong. It used to be a go-to IPA for me.

 

Higher efficiency = more fermentable sugars extracted from the same malt bill = more alcohol.

 

Drinking a bottle right now and it's good as ever. Though the last 6 pack I had was what you described as it being a stinky and malty.

 

currently rated a 95 by the bros, but perhaps you're right- maybe it has always just been bad. Who knew.

 

This is exactly correct. The yeast strain has become attenuated and more efficient at consuming fermentable sugars.