Refunds for 2015 Regular BCBS and 2015 Prop

October 23 2015 bottle (14.3% avb) definitely went sour after opening one tonight. Very disappointed in the QC issues.

 

October 30th 0852-0854 definitely soured. October 30th 0828 off taste . October 30th 0921 fine.

 

Sorry if I'm getting off-topic, but I'm beyond sick of Highbrow and others shitting on one of the first (and the most successful) BA Stouts for weeks on end as if they know better than the company which has been successfully doing so (judging by sales, ratings, and the buyout) for a decade. Have you considered that, given the resources available to Goose, they have more information than your armchair judgement/criticism? Or, according to you versus a company worth tens of millions of dollars, are they completely incompetent, throwing away nearly two decades of expertise to make a quick buck by selling "known infected product"?

 

On the same hand, the "local Goose guy at my takeover" (who is usually an employee of the distributor, rather than a Goose employee; and even if so, is usually not a brewer) shit along the lines of "he told me they dumped a bunch of BCBCS/BCBBW this year" garbage has to end. People need to learn who attends tap takeovers and bottle releases. Hint: They aren't Goose Island brewers in 99% of cases.

 

Presuming they implement in-bottle pasteurization, do they do this before the label is applied? Thinking the pasteurization process might be a bit hard on the label, which on a beer like this they probably want perfect, so they'll label after it cools and dries following pasteurization. That could be quite a change to their production line - adding pasteurization and drying.

 

Flash Pasteurization, pretty much the industry standard method for beer, is usually done before bottling. No water or drying seems to be involved.

http://www.livestrong.com/article/503958-how-does-flash-pasteurization-work/

 

OK - I had read somewhere that some breweries pasteurize after bottling by heating the bottles for 2-3 minutes with 140 degree water. Sounds like flash would be quicker, hence the name.

 

If they're reusing some of last years barrels I'd assume they would take safety precautions after the ass kicking their taking.
Wonder if Gamma sterilization is possible, then it could even be bottled and cased. I used to work for a medical supplier back in the day, and funny enough to they employed this on contract basis to boxed and frozen chicken to eliminate bacteria.

 

I think there are some who still do it that way, but flash seems to be the way many do it. (I suspect it's the more established folks using it rather than the new kids.)

 

I am curious if you cultured up a plate to find out its a lacto infection. Thats a pretty big jump...

 

GI had it done (it was apparently quite hard to culture) and reported it in a Podcast. It's a strain of bug that was not previously thought to cause problems for beer. (Which may partly account for why, with the BCBS, there was a longish delay between bottling and when reports of problems started to surface.)

 

So they're advancing beer science here!!!!!

 

Seems like they've taken one for the team, and I suspect other folks with barrel aging programs are both anxious and waiting with bated breath for the end results.

 

I think any info/knowledge about barrels is good and that is what Highbrow and others have been discussing, what is the possible source of the L. Acetotolerans infection. If you have some info about it to share perhaps you can add it.

IMHO talking about infected beer is not 'shitting on a successful stout', but I am sure you have your reasons for that comment so I won't challenge you on it.

 

They sold infected product. That is a fact not an opinion. How much they know it didn't know is up for debate.
Now that their customers are complaining about waiting in long lines, camping out and paying top dollar for their defective product, they are turning a deaf ear to their customers.
Not sure what part of that you think is highbrow or is unfair criticism.

 

Agreed with Sammy -- ignoring the problem and turning a blind eye to a well-reported problem appears to be more than pure negligence on their part re infected beer issues. Totally unacceptable. Certainly would not pass in any other context where products liability could arise.

Also, "decades of experience" (i.e., blind trust and/or prior history) has nothing to do with the 2015 infected batches. Admit to your mistakes and move on.

 

I had bad bottles of the three variants but was relieved to have a good regular bottle last night. 22Oct15 1533. It actually had a little more heat than I would've guessed by now and more than my draft experience have had. I don't have to look at my other 5 bottles in the wine fridge with quite as much anxiety for now lol

 

Yup - if you've kept them refrigerated, if they were bought at the same time and have the same date, and if you've confirmed one is good, then you are probably OK with the others.

 

BCBS is one of my favorite beers and I look forward to its release every year. There's not a better BA stout on the market with the distro footprint it has. That said, Sammy is right- they sold an infected product. We'll never know the full story of what they knew and when they knew it, but I find the cover story a little suspect especially with the uber rareness of coffee and barleywine this year. I haven't had any infected reg this year, but both bottles of Prop and barleywine as well as the single coffee I had this year were infected. What is bothering me now is the lack of any sort of update on regular and prop in the month since the podcast they did. There is a measure of armchair quarterbacking on this issue because it wasn't handled well, which is not up for debate either. I know several people who still haven't received checks. Granted, this is an unprecedented issue but they're failing in my opinion.

Having said all that, Rare and Regal were fantastic this year.

 

Only have had BO 11/04, all have been good but i consumed mine way faster than i wanted to because of concern for infection(prefer BCBS with 2 years on it), Just received an 11/04 as an extra in an IP Trade, this was definitely sour upon first smell, taking a sip and tasting zero trademark GI BA it was poured down the drain, im lucky all i bought were good 11/04 but now getting an infected one the problem is real IMO, so those with bottles unopened of BCBS will most likely have infection maybe not but the issue is real and GI seems to want to ignore this issue.