Surly Abrasive Release Info

Good to hear.

Here are some of my personal conclusions/findings from reading about all of these issues:

1. Date is printed on some and some have no date.
2. It seems most cans have some sort of indent on the bottom with a number (somewhere between 30 and 40).
3. Cans dated 1/13 are obviously seeing the most problems but there are some people saying that cans from this date are as good as ever.
4. Cans dated 1/12 are receiving mostly good reviews.
5. Cans dated 1/9 are receiving mostly good reviews as well.

Again, this is what I have gathered so far and the only reason I've posted this is because I wanted to put it together for myself as a guide and for other Abrasive fans. If anything I've posted is contrary to what has been presented earlier or you have a different experience, PLEASE let me know.

Excited to get my hands on it this year!

 

It would be good to hear from Surly on this issue.

@GaryNicholas - any comment?
thanks.

 

I sent an email with general questions. Waiting to hear back.

 

I drank a can dated 1/10 yesterday. Definitely low on the carb, but still delicious.

I'm going to wait a bit before sending some off to my regular Abrasive-loving trade partner.

 

Don't wait too long, my liquor store was told that they are only brewing Abrasive until the end of February. In other words, they are sticking with the normal schedule even though it came to market late. Has anyone else heard this?

 

Good to know.

 

I sure as hell hope not!

 

Got 2 four packs at 1st Grand in St. Paul with no dates on the bottom. Cracked one and it was perfection.

 

Man. I got cans with 1/10 and 1/13 on the bottom from 2 different stores. Both seem much flatter than usual.

I think since I spent more than $100 on 7 4packs I will will be returning it... I don't want to be drinking flat Abrasive for the foreseeable short term future... So disappointing I have been drooling over this beer release for the past 2 months.

 

1/13/15
Flat
I love this stuff normally but I'll be looking for more Grapefruit Sculpin.

 

have a 4pk 0f 010915 and 011315 both have had superior great taste and carbonation cans and both have had cans at lower carbonation with a great taste.. its strange to me that in the same 4-pk some were so good(carbonation) others were low carbonation but in no way were they flat

 

many post of low carbonation on Abrasive on here so if this is a line issue should we not see other Surly products with low carbonation has anyone noticed this on newer cannings of other styles? Or is this just Abrasive and its recipe this year also lots of great posts on carbonation

 

I was just in the middle of responding to the e-mail that @Connortripp sent to the brewery, but I’ll jump in here instead.

As Todd mentioned in his reply tweet to one of you, the vast majority of Abrasive cans out in retail are fresh. If you find someone selling cans from last year, please please please e-mail us: we want to know. The Abrasive we’ve shipped to the market as of this moment is all from the same batch, which was brewed at the new location and canned & kegged over several days. The O1 you’ve seen on the line below the canning date is the batch number.

As for the main event, yes, it looks like there are some flat cans of Abrasive out there and yes, it sucks. We always check CO2 volumes at the beginning of each packaging run, and the Abrasive wasn’t flat in the tank: if it had been, all of the cans would be flat and we wouldn’t have shipped it. We’ve had numerous starts & stops as we’ve made line adjustments during this start-up phase, so we’ve been especially vigilant, checking carbonation levels during the runs to make sure that our counterpressure was performing properly. We’re also checking can seams, pulling multiple cans off each seaming head, and the seam checks have all been spot on.

What we think happened with the flat cans is that some empty cans tipped over on the infeed conveyor or depalletizer, and the body flange deformed just enough to prevent a tight seam. Generally, we notice these right away and toss the cans off the line before they’re even filled, but apparently we missed some. If they were leaking liquid, our fill height inspection system would have kicked them out, but if they were just venting the CO2 headspace, the opportunity is there for them to slip past us as we case & palletize them. As for the undercarbonated cans some of you have reported, the cause is less clear and we’ll continue to investigate.

I’m not about to make an excuse for either condition. It would be embarrassing for it to happen on any packaging run, but particularly so when it is a high-profile brand like Abrasive. Putting our own professional pride aside, this affects us as consumers as well: we pay full price for Abrasive 4pks from stores, just like you do.

The most important solution has already been implemented. Packaging lines run best when they operate in a steady state, with all the equipment moving together as an integrated unit. It has taken a lot of work and long hours, but the packaging team has the new canning line running pretty smoothly this week. Will it be perfect? No. Will we keep a close eye on it? Yes. And when we fall short, we will work to correct the situation. If you had a flat can of Abrasive, we’re sorry. We genuinely are. We look forward to Abrasive as much as anyone else, and it sucks to trip over the last hurdle like that.

Let me quickly touch on two other items I noticed as I read through the thread. The indentations that many of you have noticed on the bottom of the cans (31, 33, 36, etc) are manufacturer marks and aren’t indicative of anything that happens on our line. The empty cans show up to the brewery with them already embossed. If memory serves, the numbers identify which die or cupping mold was used when the stock aluminum disc was pressed into its basic can shape. Also, we’ve been dialing in the printer head placement of the date coder and the trigger timing so that the printing is in the correct spot and is legible. There were stretches during each of the canning runs when either the printing head came out of alignment or the trigger sensor wasn’t adjusting to changes in line speed, so there are some undated cans out there, but they are from this year.

Gary Nicholas
Surly Brewing

 

Yeah,a couple cans of Furious from 1/7/15 were very flat.

 

@GaryNicholas
Thank you so much! That clears up a lot of things!

 

Just opened one of mine, 1/13/15 date and it was definitely flat. Very little head, almost no bubbles in it, flavors were still really good. I got two four packs, same dates. Are others returning these to the store? I love this beer but at 16.99 a four pack in Rochester and they may or may not all be flat, it seems like a big waste of money! I am planning to trade away two cans of this on Sunday but I don't want to trade away a sub par product. Love Surly, but not worth it for flat beer!

 

I took a chance on the 1/09 batch, from a different store.
Same results.
Flat.
Disappointing.
But it's nice to know that the flat, undated cans, were definitely from this year.

I returned my first 4 pack, and will return this as well.

So I'm 2 for 2 with bad cans.
If the vast majority are fresh, as @GaryNicholas stated, then I must be extremely unlucky.
So is my friend who is 2 for 2 with bad cans as well (different stores - 1 was from the same place I bought one of mine).
Doesn't prove anything but, from my experience, I believe the problem is much bigger than which was stated.

But I respect that Surly has admitted to the problem rather quickly.

My thread in the Trading Help was reported, and taken down, due to the fact it was already covered in this forum.
Whatever.
The only reason I posted in the Beer Trading Talk & Help forum was from the result of the conversation I had with a (respected) trader last night.
He knew about the quality issues with Abrasive, and basically told me he wasn't going to say anything to the guy on the other end.
That just didn't sit very well with me, so I wanted to warn people there was an issue.

Think what you want.
I love Abrasive, when it tastes like Abrasive should - that's why I gambled on the 2nd purchase.
When they fix the problem, I'll be back for more.

 

Thanks for the response! No need to refund or return product, just promise us another batch to buy in lieu! Kind of like this was a sample batch and not counted towards your total batches of Abrasive for the season! What say you…Seems a reasonable compromise

 

Are you suggesting that people who got flat cans should just suck it up and wait for the next batch?

 

I'm suggesting a compromise! We are the guinea pigs, they are working through the kinks! We want more Abrasive! Please