Recent Quality Control

St. Arnold did it a couple years ago for the first batch of Santo:
http://blog.chron.com/beertx/2011/08/no-go-on-the-first-batch-of-santo/
http://beerpulse.com/2011/08/saint-arnold-brewing-dumps-11000-gallons-of-beer-announces-santo-delay/

 

Much smaller, but Freetail dumped a batch of Yo Soy because Jason was not satisfied with the quality.

 

WTF is BTBAKP? something Krunkin Pumpkin? and whats the story behind it? Sorry, I try to stay as far away from Houston threads as possible

Edit: Disregard, saw the Karbach thread that got locked and glanced at the last page. Got it.

 

Buffalo Trace Barrel Aged Krunkin Pumpkin.

C'mon, man. Get with the acronyms!

 

Krunkin Pumpkin is a bad beer to barrel age. The wine version sucks, and can't imagine this one being any good? That being said, quality is a huge problem across the board in every local that has a beer scene. I can't tell you how many bad Bruery beers I have had. Not infected, just flat out bad quality, and/or inconstant. Same for Lost Abbey, Cigar City, etc. If we are just talking about Texas beers, Jester King, Southern Star, Deep Ellum, and Ranger Creek (just to name a handful) have some of the worst quality control in the state (JK, basically limited to keg/cask on this end). There are probably more bad "craft" beers than there are good. This goes beyond inconstancy and infections. To just plan mediocre to bad breweries. Not saying those that I specifically mentioned are bad, cause they all make amazing beers, but have had more misses than hits from all of them. Especially lately. Part of the problem is the amount of people, again, especially lately that can't tell the difference between good and bad beer.

I know my opinions are probably not very popular, am going to get flamed, and I am not going to rant more. Just don't get me going on the music scene, my head will explode. I have not been this much of a downer in a long time, for me that is saying something

 

Fuck I can't spell

 

Didn't want to say that out loud but I'm glad the opinion is shared. Not saying they have bad taste, it's more that haven't truly tested their palate and can't give an informed opinion. The throng of people getting into craft pressures the brewers to keep putting out new beers to try and get the consumer excited, so it's a seemingly repeating cycle.

 

Agree with both of you. On the other side, there are many beers available to us that are true to style and great examples but get shit on because they're not put in a barrel, brewed with unicorn tears, not limited, etc. Ultimately all that matters is what sells though.

I'm somewhat guilty myself. There are tons of beers I like that are unbalanced, way too sweet (ie Creme brûlée, many Bruery beers, etc) that I enjoy but really aren't "true" to style.

 

Agreed, far be it for me to tell anyone their tastes are bad. Though, there are many popular, or rare/hyped/limited beers that I just scratch me head at, as to why people like them or line up to buy them?

 

Exactly why my trading has slowed down and when I do trade most of it has been for off the shelf beers I can't get here but are "tried and true" IMO.

 

authenticity is overrated, is it good? and do you enjoy it?

this isn't to say there shouldn't be quality control protocols, but I think that's best left to the brewer to determine.

barrel age everything!

 

I disagree. I'm kinda over the whole barrel aging thing. It doesnt fix every mediocre beer, although brewers seem to disagree. For most stouts that have a BA and non-BA version, I find myself liking the non-barrel version better: the true flavors shine through, and dont just get overrrun by booze. Just my $0.02

 

I'll take a coffee or vanilla stout over anything barrel aged any day. But I have discovered that I like partial bourbon barrel aged beer.
And let's not forget that sours are more often than not, barrel aged. And for that, we thank you. Sours all day long!

 

I'm the same way...I'm not a boubon lover and the BA versions are sometimes too boozy for me. I enjoy a BA beer but often times I can only handle one glass. And yes, sours rock. Awesome that we have some good ones close by.

 

Barrel-aging is an art form. It should enhance and compliment a beer's underlying qualities. If it's made to "fix" a mediocre beer, the brewery is doing it wrong. Example: See CD#6... Makes me crave any and all wine-barrel aged brews.

 

so you disagree with barrel aging everything? i could care less if its barrel aged, that was more of a joke. do you agree with the first part of my post or do you disagree with that as well?

 

I think it's important to be authentic, but it's also a lot of fun to experiment. I love brewing beers to style. When I nail a recipe down that compares to highly rated versions of said style, it feels great. Most of us here on this forum have had a lot of different beers and seek out new and exciting things, however most consumers I've noticed are more interested in specific/authentic styles. Some breweries take it upon themselves to educate consumers about specific styles, and occasionally that consumer needs to adjust his/her palate to truly appreciate the art of that beer. And now there are breweries in Texas that are pushing the envelope of taste buds of the consumers. Many of them have never had a sour beer and are unsure how to critique it. I think it's important that breweries educate their consumers to understand what they're drinking. Some consumers just don't care and will drink whatever. But those that enjoy a well made, craft beer, want to know about it.

 

i'm not disagreeing with its importance, i just first care about if its good, it can be authentic, but if it isn't good (to me), i could care less about it.

education is always important, and the more education and information the consumer has the better.