Equilibrium Brewery

They took a step backwards putting that guy on the label. I don’t think they will sell a single can.

 

Picture says a 1,000 words: "This will not age well"

 

Ouch! That's one way to get banned from the trade group.

 

so... just a question.. and yes i've emailed EQ on this.. and yes... i suppose i'm to blame... i've got some older EQ cans... i've not been able to keep them in the fridge at 38 degrees.. they have become rock hard and when they are opened they are effervescent as all hell and do not taste good.. i'm not sure what the issue/cause is.. but i don't have this happen with any other places beers sans maybe like a jream or answer joose if you don't keep a fruit beer cold etc and it'll re-ferment and become a rock hard grenade can

does EQ use some weird carb approach.. is there an "infection" or something going on since they do wild beers too i figured i'd ask...

look i know i'm basically to blame here, as i didn't keep cold and drink fresh.. but to me that only carries water so far... something is going on and i'm curious if anybody else who may have some older EQ that they didn't drink fresh and keep cold has noticed...

also these aren't being stored in like a fucking sauna.. they are in the basement at basically upper 50's/low 60... any other ipa cans i have do not have this happen

 

Wound up at As Is Bar last night.There and Back Again Blueberry and Sexual Fluctuation are insanely good. Awesome showing for NYC Beer Week by these guys.

 

Article in the NYT featuring Equilibrium and the economic impact craft breweries have on their local communities

 

It's been brought up before, and it basically comes down to keeping them cold. Several months ago some guy posted in the EQ trade group that he had cans of Photon explode and a couple people chimed in that they had cans that were very foamy after being at room temperature for a while.

 

I'm not expert, and am guessing here, but could it be that the beers are lower attenuation (if I'm using the term correctly), i.e. are not fermented fully dry, leaving some unfermented sugars to give the richer mouthfeel... so, similar to fruit beer like Jreams or Popsicles, there is the same risk of secondary fermentation when not kept cold? curious to hear.

 

Different brewery with a whole bunch of additional variables at play, but I had this same thing happen with a can of Hudson Valley Amorphia that I received in a trade. I can't speak to the conditions in which it was stored before I received it (though the trade was in-person, and the guy handed it to me cold), but I kept it in my fridge for a few days.. Never warmed up.

Anyway, I noticed the same thing as you... Can was super hard as though it were about to burst. Hissed like crazy when I opened it, and poured like over-carbonated seltzer (huge, soapy bubbles that dissipated in seconds). Taste was very acidic and lactic, and carbonation was incredibly loose--even a small sip filled my mouth with gas. All in all, it was pretty undrinkable. Reached out to the brewery on multiple fronts to inquire, but no response...

I checked Untappd and such and didn't see any reports of similar occurrences, so I just wrote it off as some sort of anomaly. But I am still curious as to what causes this... Sounds like @njcraftfan could be onto something, as Amorphia was, if nothing else, a very sweet and 'juicy' beer.

 

yeah that is what i'm thinking.. i mean i get it.. they've warn me on the can... and sure it's my fault i didn't drink them fast enough or keep them at 38 degrees.... but still... seems if you have to go about getting a desired result for a beer to have this be a potential issue if somebody doesn't follow your instructions that maybe things should be done differently... the beer really becomes like selzer like somebody else mentioned... if you try to drink it it's like fizzy lifting drink from willy wonka.... you become a gas man

while i know now if i get EQ it must and i mean must be in the fridge like a jream or answer.. they are the only place doing canned IPA's that i've encountered to be this bad... i'm at the point now where unelss i'm out of EQ cans i won't be buying more... plenty of other options that aren't going to go all crazy on me.. it's not just one kind either.. had it happen with fluc/fractal/vulgar display/mc2... it's an issue

 

I dunno... I figure if I have so many fresh IPAs that I can't fit them all in the fridge, then I probably won't be able to drink them fast enough before they fall off anyway... but avoiding such a problem is easier said than done with this hobby!

 

Anyone know how the carbonate their beer? May give some insight into a reason there are issues with the cans popping up. If they naturally carbonate in a bright tank, may be some unexpected leftover priming sugar making it into the occasional can that the yeast continue to munch on.

 

I've sadly not consumed my beer fast enough nor kept it cold enough where i know it's not an occasional thing.. i'm ashamed of my self for the end result... i'd rather not have to ask these questions and have just kept everything cold and drank them quickly to have never experienced a problem bc i do very much enjoy their beer... what i don't enjoy is having to dump them bc conditions weren't met... even if it is my fault.. i'd just like to know why it happens... if they could oblige and say what their process is so me, or anybody else that experiences this doesn't have to speculate that would be grand... obviously it's my fuck up... not blaming EQ... regardless there is a reaction occurring and them being MIT scientists or whatever i'd figure they of all people could explain it to me

 

I haven't had the issue you speak of but the style has a short lifespan. I bring a rolling cooler with me to EQ. and from the moment cans are handed to me until I pop one to drink they are never unrefrigerated. I also don't restock unless present stock is low/gone, as you suggest doing.

 

Looks like the weather pushed back the third release to next week

Drive safe!

 

yeah... i know it's my foul up... what i'd still like to know though is why is it happening... it does not happen for any other IPA's i buy so to me that shows me it's unique to some process EQ is using either in canning or brewing or something.. sure ipa's will go "stale" become malty... not hoppy etc but they don't blow up like fruit beers

 

Lol, you didn't left your cans outside the fridge and didn't drink them fast enough and you assume that something is wrong with the cans? I usually fridge all my cans but sometimes have some EQ cans left outside and never experienced what you described in your three posts. Moral of the story, keep your IPA cans cold.

 

Where did you see that?

 

It's on Facebook.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=id%3D1714563548607250%3Btype%3Dpost%3Buser%3DEquilibriumBrewery

 

thanks for the moral of the story... my real take-a-way is that i believe that something is up with their process and if i buy any EQ i especially have to make sure i keep my cans at 38 degrees like the can says... no fooling around with EQ and their cans... like the other guy says... right into the cooler into the fridge....

never had that happen with other ipa's from other spots.. sure i shouldn't not put them in the fridge but if i didn't they don't become like seltzer