Is there anyway to identify YB as authentic? Bottle code, cork, etc? Or is there anyway to identify how any fakes that were passed around were different? I understand this is a risky bottle to trade for unless it is coming direct from the brewery so I am hoping there may be some way of id'ing before I were to commit to giving up something big for one. Thanks in advance for any help/suggestions
Even an authentic bottle could have easily been refilled, which apparently has happened, so who knows how many are out there. Nobody short of Tomme would probably know the difference by taste at this point if it were refilled with another aged peach sour.
After the latest fake bottle debacle, I'd be unbelievably hesitant to trade my cellar away for one. The beer was unreal good. I know the one I had was real ;-)
Must look like this... http://beeradvocate.com/community/t...u-drinking-now-276.104601/page-2#post-1535290 ...and must say with love to Joel from Tommy. Honestly, I would not trade for one period unless it came from the source.
If you aren't getting some written letter of authenticity by Tomme Arthur then I wouldn't do any trade for YB.
i've heard musings that tomme arthur will help you identify if your bottle is authentic. basically the deal was, you send tomme your alleged bottle. if authentic, tomme will send you one from his personal collection. perhaps there can be some kind of three way trade involved. person with YB sends bottle to tomme. if authentic, tomme sends YB to you, and you send your box to the other person. i am not an authoritative source, this is what i've pieced together from reading the boards during the fake YB debacle, please let me know if i'm wrong.
With how few YB bottles there are, I'm assuming that he doesn't want to keep popping these bottles, especially if they are real. But I could be wrong. He did do it during the Joel fiasco.
I purchased two bottles from Mikesgroove a while back. I was concerned so i sent one to tomme and he did what was mentioned above. Those two were confirmed to be real. Once i told Mike that they were confirmed, he ended up having another bottle of YB(i now realize how suspicious this was and a an idiot for falling for it) which i purchased and it was fake. This third bottle is the one that was traded, and the start to the YB debacle. Highly doubt Tomme would do this again, as the number of YB left is too scarce.
if it came from the guy i traded the first one to its most certainly real. I purchased the fake one after already trading the confirmed bottle. So quite the opposite. and i already offered the guy i traded it to a refund of his bottles from our trade as i would love to drink another YB. It was amazing.
I've been fortunate enough to have had it before, years ago from a good friend and trading partner who worked there and got it from Tomme. I am certain it was authentic, it was extremely good, we had it at a tasting and there are likely reviews on site here from then. That said, I'd love to have it again, and have a potential trade set up for one currently. However, this is not from a friend, or someone I have traded with before. He can retrace it for me, but I do worry, esp given the history of the bottle in question. So I was hoping that via bottle code or something I could at least become a little more sure. I figure it was all bottled at the same time, though I understand that does not guarantee me since I am sure some of their other beers were put in the same batch of bottles. Is Tomme on site? Maybe I could message him and ask. I appreciate the input and messages from everyone.
The authenticity question is not just a problem with YB. Its a problem with almost all of the rarer Lost Abbey Bottles. I think the corks have the numbers on them dating back to Veritas 008 but the older Veritas series were not all numbered. I think it was expected that after you purchased the bottle, you numbered it yourself on the back label. So its always a risk trading for Veritas 007-001.
You don't even need to start with a bottle of YB to make a fake. It would be as easy as buying a bottle of Red Barn (or something similarly pale), peeling off the label, removing glue residue and letting it get dusty. Sadly, YB has been a whale bargaining chip for so long it's hard for anybody to authenticate. Who knows how many traders have owned that bottle since it left Lost Abbey.
Personally my favorite part of this whole spectacle is that Yellow Bus pretty much just has the douchebag tag all over it now. After Mikesgroove and Richie Rich, anytime this is going to be opened/traded for/ bought etc, those two will be brought up. I find it absolutely hilarious that a white whale can be associated with pure sadness and hilarity.
