Odd Side Black Friday Bottle Release

I've merely offered to educate upon how a beer might change given the temperatures it is exposed to.

Whether or not you choose to learn and apply is your own choice. Granted, it seems you already made your choice, but maybe you'll reconsider doing yourself a favor.

 

I'm also guessing there is "unwanted" (and unknown) yeast in their BBA stouts that is continuing to ferment. Odd Side said nothing about "consume by" a certain date, keep refrigerated, and a 5 month shelf life is pathetic. I'll speculate they had no idea this would occur. Why would they offer replacements for Morningwood and then ignore the other beers?

 

Preach , u are 100% correct

 

It's crazy, I had a bottle of BBIMM less than three weeks ago and detected absolutely zero hint of an infection. My bottles have all been stored in a case on the floor of my basement since I got them. Same story with Hipster, and I had one of those about six weeks ago.

I guess I'll see about opening another of each this weekend or so and see what the fuss is all about.

 

I had a Hipster about a week or so ago and it was fine. The BBAIMM last night was a drain pour. I might as well start burning $5 bills if the Hipster has turned like this as well. I haven't bothered to contact OSA because they have told everyone else I know the same canned response. It will be very easy now to not buy anything from them anymore.

 

Might change? We're not talking about a gueuze or barrel aged American sour. We're talking about an imperial stout that should not have any live bugs in it, and where any aging should either smooth out or dull the adjuncts, not infect the beer.

Seriously, I don't know how to respond to your comment in any other way without being condescending or vulgar.

 

So what does the canned email say?

 

We've done panel tastings....blah blah blah...sorry it's not up to your standards...tasting great to us...blah blah blah.

 

Been enjoying the hell out of BBAIMM, Hipster, and Hazel's over the past few months (more or less been drinking one of each about once a month). Bottles have been kept in a nice stable room in the basement (fluctuates between 52-60).


I will not, however, complain about shorter lines to get their world class beer .

I guess that's one approach to take...

And I'll gladly take more of their beer from the others who are no longer impressed.

To be honest, I cracked a Hipster yesterday after work (about this time). It was starting to develop some tartness, but frankly I thought it made the beer even better - almost a slight fruity taste on the finish. No excessive carb, no smell that would indicate anything being off, just a slightly fruity/tart finish.

Can't say that I have ever personally brewed beer, so I don't know all of the aspects about it. Having been a lead chemical blender for a larger chemical company for a few years, I know that the variability in materials (ingredients) is scary; then you throw said liquid into a barrel to age for X amount of time... Shit happens.

I know this will sound bad, but Odd Side Ales would do just fine without any of us as customers (not something that I'm advocating FWIW). I have a tough time writing off any brewery because a beer didn't age well, as MOST breweries have had similar issues with barrel aging (and MANY breweries never acknowledge such...).

 

That's not true. Pasteurization is the process in which the bacteria are killed. OS, didn't pasteurize these beers. Why wouldn't there be live bacteria after bottling?

 

I've had a Hipster each day since Monday. Considering the recent posts, it's hard not to be biased before drinking any of them, but it's also easy to tell that, in BA terms "it's a shell of its former self". The depth of the chocolate is nothing like it was in November and there is a slight tartness in each. I still have a case and a half left and was hoping that these would last until this year's release. Not going to happen. I'll be passing these out like Halloween candy trying to get rid of them before they go over the edge. Of course I'll let everyone know what's going on and they're on me. I'm out over $100 just on Hipsters. It would be amazing if some of us from BA could meet up at Oddside and join their "panel" with our beers (Hipster, Morningwood, & BBIMM) and get a true consensus of what's really happening with these brews. Whether their batches and ours were one in the same, totally different, or a drain pour, we'd find it out together. They'd learn from it too and it would make them better. Until now, I really liked where Oddside was headed with last year's releases, but with the "I" word or "off taste" coming into play without them not owning up to it, they'll lose some of my respect in the barrel-aged side, but they won't lose all of my business with some of the regular brews.

 

So goose island refund on coffee and barley wine was them just wanting to give free money to random people ?? Nope. Beer went bad, they didn't say oh it's changing or evolving into Something good or bad...

 

Sadly, they have rejected offers to sample/test bottles purchased by the public. In their words, once the bottles are in the public domain, they cannot control the storage conditions and thus are not held liable for how the beer "develops" over time. They want nothing to do with this mess.

 

This is not a bacterial issue, there is no bacteria in the beer. It is an undesirable strain of yeast that continues to consume the sugars and produce off flavors.

 

Just when I thought I was free and clear of the GI refund/off bottles, this one pops up! I think one of my Hipster Brunch will be consumed this Friday.

 

Well, I hope Oddside does the right thing and acknowledge this issue and does something about it. I enjoy their other beers but I'd probably avoid purchasing them in the future if my bottles have issues. It's just too much money (as well as time and energy) down to the toilet for me to stomach. I'll be checking mine soon.

 

I'm not saying Odd Side shouldn't do something about or acknowledge this, but I can't help but be a little intrigued by the juxtaposition of attitudes within a community that, on one hand believes 3 months to be a maximum-acceptable shelf life, but also thinking that a brewery should be accountable for the state of their beer 4 and 5 months after release.

Disclaimer: I know that we're talking about two different stylistic areas of beer and that those seemingly contradictory opinions are possibly held by different individuals.

It's still interesting to me.

 

Yeah but, me personally, I've been drinking this style of craft beer for 5-6 years and craft beer in general for around 10 years..other than the goose island issue this year I haven't had a beer do this let alone three beers from the Same brewery in consecutive releases...they own the morning wood infection but not these other two beers. Strange? It would be a huge hit to them I'm sure. I personally have 10 BA Mayans, and over a case of hazels. That's about 200$ in beer that ten bottles are bad and over a case could and likely will go bad based on the other releases ??

 

not trying to add any fuel to this fire, but the Mokka Munt I had about a week ago was not the same 'mint chocolate chip coffee' flavor I remember from black Friday, definite tart/sour feel to it.

 

I wish IPA's would stay infinitely fresh-tasting.

The fact that "most" BBA Imperial Stouts have lengthy shelf lives is what makes them appealing and why people don't have an issue dropping $100+ for a case for something they should be able to enjoy for a year or more.

I bet a 4-5 month old Citra Pale Ale has held up better than the BBAIMM I had the other night.