Is something wrong with Loose Cannon?

someone switched labels...i just bought some nov 2011 that tasted exactly what you described. are you sure its 2012? that stupid punch system can be pretty sketchy

 

I had one in md a few weeks ago and it was as delicious as usual. Great fruity citrus hop aroma as always as well. Maybe it was just old.

 

I would hesitate before blaming the brewery. Once it leaves the loading dock, they have no control. Given our record-breaking temperatures this summer, it seems likely that some beer could have gotten overheated during transport or storage. Not saying it's common, just that one truck could have broken down or a warehouse might have suffered a power outage.

I would wager that your next Loose Cannon (from a different/later source) will be delicious.

 

Fwiw, my brother, who is not on BA, contacted me last night to see if there was info on an infected batch of Clipper City IPA. Apprently he bought it in Cincy this past week

 

It is certainly Clipper City's fault no matter where it was brewed. That said, FX Matt seems to have some kind of shitty version of the Midas Touch, as this would hardly be the first time that a beer brewed there came out with questionable quality. I don't know - maybe their water just doesn't work right for good beer...

 

What other beers have they botched?

 

To keep up with production some of the Loose Cannon is brewed in NY. But as far as I know there is a brewer from Clipper City on premises for every batch. So that shouldn't be the issue. Same brewers, same recipe.

 

Well, there's Saranac, which isn't a great start... It's not botched so much though, just beers that get contract brewed there never seem to impress. They've contract brewed at one time or another for probably half the breweries in the northeast, and you frequently hear people say "this beer doesn't taste quite like I'm used to this year for some reason", with the reason inevitably being that it went to FX Matt. I don't think I've ever heard somebody say "this is the best batch of X ever!", where beer X was done there...

Basically, this thread has happened dozens of times.

 

.....and not brewed at the same location, thus a real possibility of some difference. Water, facility, equipment, ingredients etc, etc can make a beer taste different.

 

Never heard of it, I assume its a regional beer?

 

There are plenty of beers contracted by FX Matt that people aren't complaining about though. It may seem like every beer that gets contracted there is reduced in quality because those are the only ones getting talked about. If there's no change in quality when the beer becomes contracted would anyone bring up the beer is contract brewed?

Examples of contracted beers that seem to be of the same quality: Brooklyn, Harpoon, Long Trail, Cisco

Also wouldn't it be the responsibility of the brewery that is brewing the beer to get things dialed in on a different system? If they can't get the beer to be consistent then maybe they should rethink contracting at that facility.

 

You're totally right that it may be confirmation bias.

That said, the local water can have a huge impact on the flavor of a beer, so the very nature of contract brewing makes it almost impossible to produce an identical product. I tend to think that some recipes will work better than others in a contract brewing scenario.

 

True, but a different facility and different water shouldn't produce the flavor, or lack thereof, that the op stated.

 

I'm not a fan of contract brewing at all.
Cisco Indie Pale ale(one of my favs.) brewed by FX MATT is just not the same,IMO,same for Whales tale pale.

Smuttynose had them brew their pumpkin ale the last couple years,which I love and that beer def. wasn't the same.
They were also having some Old Brown Dog brewed there as well.

Sad to see this year FX MATT is brewing Cisco's Summer of Lager now,and basically canning all the Cisco offerings.

Smuttynose stopped all that though,they themselves said that they were not happy w/ the quality of the beer.
Looking 4ward to drinkin smutty pumpkin this year that is actually brewed at the brewery!Yum.

Cheers

 

+1 to the quality of water.

Cheers

 

This is great news. Smutty pumpkin is one of the few pumpkin beers out there that tastes like pumpkin instead of pumpkin pie spices, but it has definitely lost its mojo.