Bourbon County Coffee 2015 - Gusher?

For sure the lower the temp, the longer the time growth happens. What is optimal temps though? I'd assume the barrels are at cellar temperature (50F) at the lowest. So six months in a barrel with bugs is going to taste bad if the bugs were already in the barrel.

 

How likely is it that time stamps that are a single minute apart (or 2-3 mins apart) suggest infection (or lack thereof). Since I have a number of different time stamps, I will just make up an example. If I have 2000 and someone says that 1998, 1999, 2001, or 2002 are infected, does that suggest at all that mine is infected? Or do I have to look for the exact same time stamp from others for any kind of probative advice. The time stamps are just the bottling time.

It would seem to me (from my amateur brewing attempts) that a bunch of sequential time stamps would all be derived from the same batch (e.g., 2000-2150 were all sequentially bottled from the same batch). But with a big operation like GI, does the same time stamp really mean that they came from the same batch? Or maybe they were bottled at the same time, but came from different batches (parallel processing of different batches; 1 infected batch is bottled at 2000 and 1 non-infected batch is bottled in parallel at the very exact time at a different bottling station).

Has there been any reporting of an instance where 2 people had different results from the same time stamp?

 

If only that were the case for all infections. However in some cases it might take 5 and a half months for a few bacteria from deep in the wood to work their way to the surface of the wood and out into the beer. And if there only a few....

 

It would be unfair to assume that without knowing for sure that this was a bottling issue. Best bet is to stick to the latter point and only assume yours are infected if you share numbers with someone.

 

I just updated my post....thinking out loud made me speculate other questions. haha

I wonder if sharing numbers is really a good indicator as well.

And I dont think I was assuming a bottling issue. I was assuming a batch issue and wondering how that translates to the time stamps.

 

I didn't record the BCBCS or the BBS I've had from this year's batch, but they've both been great. If we're comparing, I liked the coffee stout from four years ago better (I think that was the 2011 batch) than this year, but my tastes might have changed in that time too.

I recognize I'm not bitching though, so please pardon my good-heartedness about a tasty ass beer.

 

I thought I saw some people with time stamps that were either the same or very, very close to each other that had different results, so I just assume it's a crapshoot at this point. Although, I thought it was mentioned (somewhere amongst the thread derailments) that time stamps above 2000 seem to be performing well.

I'm sure someone will now chime in with a stamp above 2000 that had an infected bottle!

 

not disagreeing with your thoughts here. something to at least consider though. the barrels are 53 gallons each. let's say 2 out of every 50 barrels had some light bacteria present, the other 48 outta' every 50 were fine. large # of good barrels were blended/vatted with very small number of suspect barrels and then bottled with a very small percentage of bacteria at that time, not detectable to taste (then). now your bottles (much smaller quantity), have been floating around since early October & then in your possession possibly multiplying whatever minute amount of bacteria they started off with.

 

I did.. I believe it was 2116, but would have to check the bottle at home.

 

For any bottles slowly getting infected, if refrigerating the bottles slows the infection down, could lowering the temperature further to just slightly above the freezing point effectively eliminate the bacterial presence? With this alcohol content we could take these down to maybe 24 degrees - not sure what the freezing point here is, but it's below 32. Just a few degrees before the bottle cracks - could this be a possible solution, or do you guys think it will just delay the inevitable? Also, I'm assuming this could work (if at all) only for the bottles which haven't turned yet.

 

Even prior to the issues at hand, wasn't the explanation for the overall decreased availability of coffee this year because of an issue that that GI DID find, resulting in dumped beer?

 

The cold would only render the offending bacteria inactive. They would "boot up" again, so to speak, as soon as you warmed the beer back up.

Edit: layperson's answer. Would love to hear from someone more knowledgeable than myself.

 

Thats a shame because thats a damn good beer

 

Exactly.. Yields were low because of dumped product.

 

It would be like putting a bee in the freezer for a little bit. It'll go to sleep, but wake back up once warmed.

 

Story followed by question(or two). I tried a bottle at a share and before the sample, the guy gave me a sad look and told me the bottle was infected(it was a different coffee stout). It was massively carbed(I had to wait a minute or two to actually get a liquid at the bottom of the glass), but I could still taste that it was a coffee stout. It was not sour to my taste buds, maybe a slight tart if anything.

If a beer gushes, will it also taste off? And can an infected beer just taste off and not gush? Is it the same type of infection for both indicators?

Secondly, it is possible that an infected beer is more readily noticeable by some than others, correct?

 

To answer your questions in order:

If a beer gushes, will it also taste off? - Not necessarily. Though a gusher would imply some level of carbonation issue and that will affect the taste. Gushing itself is not an indication of infection.

And can an infected beer just taste off and not gush? - Yes. In fact, this is probably the more likely scenario with an infection.

Is it the same type of infection for both indicators? - Not necessarily.

Secondly, it is possible that an infected beer is more readily noticeable by some than others, correct? - Absolutely. Everyone has a different palate and some folks aren't even aware that what they're drinking isn't what it should be.

 

I feel like I'm the unlucky person who is super sensitive to them. I swear the infection in my BCBCS was so noticeable I could even SMELL it. I had a tough time getting my taste buds to taste anything else, especially as the beer warmed. I could taste it at the front end all way to through the aftertaste. If I let the beer sit on my tongue, I started to pucker up.

Granted, it is also possible, I got a really bad bottle.

 

Will be interesting to see what GI announces...but for some reason I have a feeling this announcement is months away

 

I'd be surprised if it wasn't in the next week or so - every untappd check-in seems to mention it. At the beginning of the week, I was thinking 'give them a chance, they've been on holiday too' but it is Thursday and I am a little surprised there hasn't been something. I would thing next week for sure - I would be surprised if this sat on their to-do list for more than a week...