Refunds for 2015 Regular BCBS and 2015 Prop

Maybe it is not either or, maybe some bottles are infected and some suffering from unintended oxidation.

 

i know some of you analytic guys were keeping track of dates (batches too) but can 1 of you confirm or refute this. the bottling order (of variants in question) seems to go in this order based on what little i could decipher :

1. BCBSC
2. BCBS
3. BCBW

is that accurate? does anybody have their bottling dates handy for Prop, Regal & Rare? wondering if Coffee was the very first variant bottled or if any others were bottled prior.

 

Couple data points
Regal 27OCT15
Prop 18SEP15

 

Thanks!!

assuming i had the others correct to begin with, it sounds like Prop went on a day after coffee. and Regal a day before BCBW?

so:

1. BCBSC
2. Prop
3. BCBS
4. Regal
5. BCBW

 

And Rare 21SEP15

 

I've got 27OCT regal & 21SEP rare

 

I'm worried about my regal. My BCBS (21OCT) was definitely wrong. Opened it at a bar with 2015BCBS on tap to compare the two. From the keg the beer tasted true to its traditional profile but the bottle was substantially thinner and somewhat sour.

 

so then as best we or at least i can tell, the correct bottling order went this way:

1. BCBCS
2. Prop
3. Rare
4. BCBS
5. Regal
6. BCBBW

EDIT: out on bail & fixed for the acronym authorities.

 

BCBCS
BCBBW

 

Hmmm, seems odd that while I've not had Prop and I've yet to open Regal, the Rare was the only bottle I picked up in FL that didn't exhibit those sour/metallic characteristics.

 

Pretty darn good: 22Oct15 0946 -- 14.3% -- Chicago area, stored in box in basement

 

I just had another infected Bourbon County. (Plain stout, not Barleywine.) This was again a 12 OCT 15, 1238. Bought in DC, stored properly. I've had a LOT of Bourbon County since 2012 so I know what it is, fresh and aged. This one was infected. Slightly metallic, with a sour cherry taste. The sour cherry part was actually kind of good, but overall it's not what Bourbon County is supposed to taste like and it will likely only get worse. I still have a bunch of Bourbon Counties, so will report back if I open any others that turn out to be infected.

 

Had another 10/21 Florida bottle tonight. Fridge-stored since purchase. Still delicious. Fingers remain crossed.

For those who have bad bottles: I just discovered some really good news--there is refund program in place!!! It's actually referenced on the bottle itself. If you live in CT, ME, VT, MA, NY, IA, OR or HI you can take your empty infected bottles to certified collection centers in your state and you will be guaranteed a refund of $.05. For those in MI, you get $.10 (no doubt due to legislation lobbied for by the sympathizers at Bells (Black Note), Founders (KBS), and Dark Horse (BBPT5)). So much for the AB-In Bev Bureaucracy conspiracy theory!

 

There were many reports of BCBCS gushers. I suspect the regular just has a less aggressive infection which isn't causing over carbonation as of yet.

 

Sadly, I think this is as close to a refund that anyone if going go get for regular Bourbon County. Based off the social media responses and emails I have seen posted, Goose Island is still giving the company line of "Take any claim of off flavors seriously. Looking into this..." and even sometimes out right denying claims and deleting comments of such claims from their social media sites

 

Yeah, in that little sub thread, I was focusing only on the BCBS reports in this larger thread and the idea that one of the pretty common symptoms of a beer contaminated with "bugs and/or critters" is gushing, and that there seem to have been no reports of that in this thread. Which, as you suggest, raises the possibility that there are two different things going on with the two different beers. One of those things may indeed be different subsets of "bugs and critters" but the other(s?) may not involve "bugs and critters" at all. Since this all began this year I've seen more than one "how to brew" source that talks about some of the different off flavors and how they can happen even when there are no "bugs and critters" involved. This seems to me to be one of the reasons that being sure whether it is an "infection" or not calls out for lab testing (as did the folks at Grimm) and determining whether there are any "bugs and/or critters" present and which they may be if they are there at all.

 

Been a lot of that, certainly, though the instagram response I quoted did refer to an "unprecedented" situation, which is telling me that they know they have it, and they know it's big (and bad).

 

I didn't think they've been denying it lately (there did seem to be some instances of that in the beginning stages of these reports, though), but rather giving the line that you mentioned about looking into it. But, I could be wrong. If they are looking into it, you have to know that it will take time, so I'd suggest being patient. At this point, the best thing for people to do is to contact them letting them know of the issue and give them as much bottle information as you can. As far as deleting some of the comments, I saw some of the comments and I probably would've deleted them too. As well all know, comments sections in social media bring out the worst of people a lot of times.

All that being said...you could be right that there may not be any refund process for this. The reports seem so scattered (although one date sure seems to have a very high rate of being bad), that I'd be intrigued to know what they are considering. I'd say a full out refund similar to BCBCS and BW is out of the question....but, what do I know.

 

So who is getting fired over this mess?
btw have had several (diff dates) all were tasty
Is this just a ploy to get me to drink my stocks so I can get the full refill next year?