Infected Barrel Aged Yeti

I find it humorous that so many people seem "worried" about tarnishing the reputation of Great Divide. C'mon folks, we all know they have put out some of the best beers available to us (as far as the Yeti series goes, not to mention Old Ruffian, Hercules, and Hibernation ale)... I personally don't have access to BA Yeti in Ohio, so I can't chime in on the specific beer issue at hand, but I do know that every so often there will be beers released with infections. Yea, it's not cool when it happens, but we live with it. Hopefully they continue to improve their QC procedures so this type of thing doesn't happen again. I'll continue to support GD, as they brew some of my favorite stouts.

 

Let me reiterate... infections are not always bad. The CCB rum barrel Big Sound that got infected was AMAZING. As for the BA Yeti, it was amazing fresh and I have one put back that infected or not, I'm looking forward to drinking.

Are there certain numbers that are known to be infected?

 

I'm confused. Should we only review the intentions of the brewer? Why bother with the actual beer then. Just ask the brewer what he or she meant to do.

 

I think you are in the minority of folks that enjoyed the infected Rum Big Sound. A 74 is not a very good score.

 

I'd say that unintentional infections are always bad. If I want a wild ale I'll drink one, but if I reach for a big barrel-aged stout, that's what I want to taste.

Not only that, but I've yet to have an "accidental" infection that didn't taste like absolute crap.

 

The Boulevard B2 Imperial Stout was great early on with the Brett infection. I didn't get to try it as it progressed, however.

 

i had an unintentionally infected unibroue terrible that i thought was better for it. i'd guess infected matilda is better than normal matilda as well.

that said, unintentional infections ruin beer most of the time.

 

Agreed, for the most part. The only exception is

Agreed, for the most part. The only exception I have had is the infected '09 Abyss. As a disclaimer, I knew of the infection issues prior to receiving it as an extra (which is the kicker on not being offensive).

Otherwise, if a brew is infected and I paid for it (i.e. '09 Mirror Mirror) it is quite irritating.

 

Blech. I suppose part of the issue is that the bulk of these infection issues are with stouts, & the combo of roast/stout & sour is just nasty to me, even the handful I've tried that are brewed that way on purpose.

I finally had the, ah, opportunity to try an infected Matilda a couple weeks ago & it was undrinkable. Other palates were kinder to it.

 

Quick question:
If you have a potentionally infected bottle in your cellar, like BA Yeti or '09 Abyss, is there any way it could contaminate other nearby bottles?

I realize this may be a stupid question, so I'm prepared for smart-ass answers

 

It is quite unlikely. The contents of the infected bottle would somehow have to co-mingle with the contents of the other bottles.

 

Hey, you don't know how promiscuous his bottles are. Zapp, tell those guys to wear a raincoat if they wanna play in the rain.

 

Infected matilda was pretty awesome.

 

My cousin and I had 2 bottles between us. Reporting that his (#3596) was infected, while mine (#3763) fortunately wasn't.

 

i received a response from great divide. they are going to take care of me but they did not have any specific information either confirming or denying infection in the '11 BA Yeti other than acknowledging the possibility of infection as an inherent risk in any barrel aged beer.

 

I just popped bottle number 3700 after reaing this thread. All I have to say that it is fantastic with no signs of infection at all.

 

Refund?

 

Had a bottle yesterday that was definitely infected and not in a good way. It literally smelled like garbage sitting out in the sun and tasted like the smell. Huge letdown considering the relative rarity, but I definitely thank the provider anyways. My favorite unintentional infection is far and away Guava Grove, that stuff was killer.

 

Thanks for the answers.. Sorry it took me so long to reply, but I was putting jimmy hats on all my cellared bottles.

 

I can say the same about #4260.