Refunds for 2015 Regular BCBS and 2015 Prop

People have identified off flavors in some draft stock of the beer, so... I'd say that rules out the bottling line as the source of the infection.

Most likely scenario: Some of the barrels got infected. Probably a specific area of the barrelhouse, those stored closer to it were worse off than those that were farther away.

 

I still believe that it is improperly sanitized bottles or maybe even a lone bottle filler that wasn't properly sanitized. Either could've harbored this new strain.

 

Should they be held to a higher standard (because they're inBEV) or should we all be accountable in full?

 

I'm not sure what "we" you are referring to there. I think all brewers should make their customers whole when they purchase a defective product. Since Goose Island/AB InBev has virtually limitless resources they should be in a better position to do this.

 

A 14% beer is not going to freeze at 30°.

 

Word. Guessing this one would freeze closer to 25-26*F.

 

Post of the year. Thank you for the in-depth analysis. I'd like to have beers with your group one day.

 

Haven't run into any off reg BCBS. I'm very skeptical to say the least, but maybe I'm wrong.

 

Thanks, bud. A BCBS of mine has never seen the fridge.

 

I haven't either, but there are many BA's on here that have. I believe it. Seems that many instances are from Florida and from certain dates.

 

But neither would have had an effect on the keg stock, which we've determined is showing signs of infection at this point as well.

Most likely explanation is that the beer was infected before it was packaged.

 

Can someone please start documenting the alleged infected kegs?

I've read of some barleywines that were off, maybe in Minnesota?, but not any regular or other variants. Every BCBCS I've had on draft this year has been perfect and locally I haven't heard one complain out of any kegs.

 

But no reports on BCBS kegs yet?

If different batches/beers are involved there could be different sets of things that went on. This whole thread has a lot of "munging" together of information about what may be two different scenarios.

 

You guys are freaking me out. So I had to do a little test over the weekend. I've only been cellaring for about a year, so I'm still figuring out what to look for with age. Unfortunately (or fortunately) we didn't get any other variants than BCBS here in NorCal for 2015. So here is what I have on hand.

BCBS
18Sept15 1233 13.7% Purchased Black Friday
18Sept15 1239 13.7% Purchased Black Friday (I went to two different stores that day so I assume that's why two different batches. I didn't pay that close attention at the time)
20Oct15 0826 14.3% Purchased in December (lucky to come across this place that still had inventory)
20Oct15 0927 14.3% Purchased in February (really lucky to find that the same place still had inventory)

For reference I did a side by side back in December when I got the first batch of 14.3% mainly to see what the difference was with the ABV. Not paying attention to the date or batch. At the time I noted that the 14.3% had less heat than the 13.7%, which seems counter intuitive, and that the 14.3% had more fruit jam flavors. Everything else was pretty much the same.

So this past weekend, I started with the 20Oct15 0927 14.3%. This was the last batch I purchased and even though it was in a climate controlled store, it was on the shelf and not refrigerated until I put it in my cellar. Smelled great. But it has almost no chocolate/fudge flavor or fruit. I get a raw sugar sweetness with an alcohol tang. Not a drain pour, but not what I remember experiencing in December.

The next day I opened 20Oct15 0826 14.3%. Fantastic all the way around. Lots of fudge and fruit and almost no heat.

Just to double check myself, I opened another 20Oct15 0927 14.2% with the same result from a couple of days before. Smells right. Tastes bland. Almost no chocolate or jam. Some Bananna and vanilla. Lots of heat and raw sugar.

So to round it out, I opened a 18Sept15 1233 13.7%. Again, smelled great. This is still hotter than 20Oct15 0826 but it has some chocolate, vanilla, and bourbon.

I don't get any sour or tart flavors on any of these. So, correct me if I'm wrong, I don't think these are infected. But I can definitely say that batch 0927 is off. Actually, they are all different from each other. But why? Is it due to the blending? Or the storing conditions?

 

Opened a new one, different time stamp

Seems a little sour, but nowhere near last one. Drinkable so far. I feel like this thread is screwing with me. Without a "good" one to compare to it's hard to figure out for me.

 

I also opened a new one tonight, and purposely chose a different date bottle. This was an October 22nd bottle - I believe all the rest of mine have been in November and all have been stellar.

This was tart and sour from the get go on the nose. I held out hope, as I had heard prior comments about the taste being OK even if the nose was off. I tasted it, and it is definitely tart and not a good bottle.

I plan on contacting them in the morning...just trying to decide whether to do it via phone call or e-mail. I'm not expecting them to do anything right away, but hopefully they at least take the data and know there is yet another bad bottle out there.

 

i believe 0927 is just the time stamp. 9:27AM.

each batch is going to taste different, hopefully mildly but the swing can be noticeable/significant. that's why in some ways it's a bit difficult to generically buy into "2012 is superior to 2013/14" etc. without defining which exact batches/bottling runs are being compared it's just someone making a broad ass statement IMHO.

 

I think its actually a good bottle, probably just alittle hot still. After sipping for an hour or so i think no infection

as the first one warmed, it became undrinkable and sour

this has mellowed out and smoothed out, think its good

06nov15 0932 bought at jewel southport black fri

 

I find it interesting that a popular local taproom has had BCBS on tap for over a week. When they last had it in December and again in January it only lasted a couple of days each time. Wonder if folks are being cautious? I suppose they might have multiple kegs, but suspect that if they did they would have waited a few weeks between kegs.

 

Summer may also be a factor. Heavy stouts are usually more popular during the colder months.