Refunds for 2015 Regular BCBS and 2015 Prop

Same. I have 9 bottles just sitting in the drawers of my "cellar" fridge

 

I have seven. I just opened and thoroughly enjoyed a '13 BCBS stored in my Florida closet, subjected to 365 days each year of climate controlled room temperature. (No, mildew is not considered a cash crop here in the Sunshine State).

 

That's ridiculous. Nobody thinks "that there is some sinister plot to screw over our loyal fans." People are disappointed that beers they waited all year for, and spent precious time and money on, are infected, and that rather than deciding to make things right across the board, the company has had really inconsistent responses ranging from telling people the beer is fine to refunding others to sitting on their hands. Honestly, it would have been better to say, "it's barrel aging, shit happens," than dragging this out so long.

 

Kind of a bizarre statement, but I suppose it's encouraging that they are still considering doing something about this.

 

A lot of words to just say....WAIT.

 

I can see how you might think that, but there have been people in this and the Refund thread accusing GI of knowingly shipping out infected beer for any of several reasons, e.g., meet deadlines, etc.. Then there are others posting who seem to have the view that this whole incident is a result of ABInBev manipulation and cheapening the product to increase profits. (Not being a Facbook user I can only imagine what has been said there, but a few folks have mentioned similar accusations being made on the GI Facebook page and on beer related sites other than BA.)

 

Its just my gut feeling that GI will make up for this. Im not sure what, but going off that last statement release it sure seems they are aware of the uprising in the beer community.

GI knows they were at the top of the barrel aging food chain.....they come out with the new fancy bottles, release a full length movie about the beer....and then this happens? Rather embarrassing. I just feel they are plotting something good to make up for it and try to recover a bit of the goodwill they lost.

Mistakes happen, its how you deal with them that matters most. Im willing to give them time and see how this thing ends. Im assuming most of the delay is because they thought they isolated the problem with coffee and barleywine...then this happens. They dont want any more surprises down the road so they are doing their due diligence this time.

 

Yeah, there's no accounting for nuts and conspiracy theories on the Internet, so you're probably right. That said, suspecting that GI skimped on quality control and rushed to ship out product here, and that that might have had something to do with them being owned by a mega-transnational with a profit imperative, is not the same as thinking they were intentionally trying to screw their customers.

 

Yep. But then if someone thinks ABInBev controls whatever GI does, is all powerful, manipulates popular taste among the "sheeple" and is deliberately looking to sacrifice quality in exchange for short term profits....

 

Except for the fact that AB has one of the strictest and best QA/QC programs in the industry. We may not like the way the product tastes, or their approach to brewing and business...but you can't deny that they put a lot of time and money into making sure that Bud tastes like Bud no matter where in the country it is brewed.

 

I agree. For the record, I'm not saying I think that the buyout affected their quality control. I'm saying, even if someone does suspect that's the case, accusing them of believing the infection was "a sinister plot" is ridiculous.

 

I do believe the buy out affected the way they are handling this compared to other craft breweries.

 

Inconsistent and overly legalistic?

 

It seems like you're implying that they're dealing with it more poorly than they would have otherwise, but it seems more likely that it would be the opposite. Goose Island is a brand AB bought because they have a solid reputation among craft fans. I don't think they are going to cut corners just to make money in the short term. If anything AB can provide the financial security to address the issue - a public relations investment in the future of a reputable brand.

 

Just cracked a bottle of '15 BCBS, 10/1/2015, batch 1739. This is ridiculously good. I have bottles of BCBS going back to 2009 and this is one of the best I have ever had...bought at whole foods, NYC

 

from a different angle maybe 4 or so years back we had an on-going argument about the buyouts' anticipated effects. i do believe it has had an effect here. can't really say whether or not it's playing a significant role in how the : "What to do for customers' satisfaction" conversation is being handled though, i have no doubt there are likely more persons of influence who'd have to sign-off on & approve any relief measures now. that said, i feel it's likely the size thing has finally caught up to GI.

as predicted 2012ish when they jumped to the bigger barrel-house, i suggested they wouldn't be able to maintain their (at that time) barrel supply structure. it's pretty obvious they went from utilizing almost exclusively higher-end Heaven Hill barrels to acquiring whatever they can get their hands on these days. that's almost certainly a supply issue (relative to their current size) as opposed to them chasing lesser quality resources.

a reference point that may or may not be worth noting in 2012 GI was excited about their anticipated 'wheated' bourbon (Rebel Yell) BCBS that failed to be released. in that example, for whatever exact reason, they didn't bottle/sell inferior product ("not ready" or whatever was their final excuse was). this year they released beer that clearly had some early signs of issue. and before the etiquette police roll out, yeah i understand they felt confident they isolated & drained what they believed unacceptable. it's still a decisive failure & disappointment they either weren't able to pin down what fouled the pre-released product or they didn't pursue a solid conclusion before they went ahead with the release.

 

Ive had all of the 2015 bourbon county lineup. Not sure on dates but the only ones ive had issues with were coffee and just recently regal (tart, almost zero barrel) Drank the barleywines fresh so I probably got lucky with that. Im just ready to hear what this years lineup is gonna be!

 

To be fair though, just about every brewer and their brother is doing barrel aged stuff now. In 2012, that was not the case.

It's simply unreasonable to expect distilleries and cooperages to be able to handle the volume of requests they're getting for wood these days.

That's not an excuse or an explanation for what happened. Just saying, the quality (or lack) of their barrels is something that could be explained in a number of ways that don't involve the buyout.

 

The time stamp on that particular bottle was 0921.

 

I do believe they are handling it poorly. And as others have stated, I think the buyout means they are attempting to manage this more from a PR and legal standpoint then they probably would have back when they were a small craft brewery. Doing things like avoid to label the "pH issues" as infection and telling people to wait for press releases and paid podcasts.
..those are things I think come from a more corporate environment. Very different than how craft breweries like Funky Buddha, Grimm, and the Bruery have handled the issues.