Latest Pipeworks Releases and Updates (2018)

haha, I thought the same thing when I saw the press release.

 

hosers, eh?

 

Sounds like you're fine drinking them, and if you think it's off, they'll give you a new bottle or will refund you.

 

Ohhhh no. Well, nothing to do but crack all three in one night and see if I get offed on flavors.

 

I understand it as @HawksBeerFan suggests as well.

My plan is to open the bottles over the weekend, and if they taste good I'll drink them and no harm. If the first pour tastes off, I'll recap remaining portion of the bottle and bring to Pipeworks so they can try it and tell me themselves if something is off (if they so choose to try). I don't want to drink the whole bottle (which ends up being fine) and then go back for a refund also. That would be a dick move. I like Pipeworks, and I want to continue to support them and the way that they're handling things in general.

 

If they were right on this maybe we should listen to them about the polar ice caps melting up there....nah.

 

I can’t speak to that specific bottle or what that group from Toronto’s pallets were like when they opened it, however, the “off” flavors and lack of carbonation they are describing is not consistent with why we are holding the remaining bottles. My guess is they had a bad cap? Or don’t want to assume fatigued pallets (Alex you on here lol)

The beer is fine to drink now if you still have them as there is only a slight flavor change. As you see on untappd it is still getting positive reviews. We’re worried about what happens when someone cellars one for a year or more and is disappointed upon opening it because the flavor has changed dramatically.

And of course, we do appreciate the sentiment that if you enjoyed your bottle then leaving it as is. It is our fault for sure, but this does have financial ramifications for us. We’ve gotten some passes over the years on some of our crazy experimental beers that maybe didn’t hit the mark... and then we also had Blue Lady batch 31 lol... so we are ever appreciative of all the continued support as we improve what we can offer.

Thanks guys/gals
-G

 

Sorry to clarify, I’m not doubting the shared experience of that group. I’m just wondering if it’s unrelated to our reasons for the hold or it’s just confusion from how it is described in one of those rates from that bottle. I’m in contact with Alex to discuss further. Was just teasing Alex about the fatigued “palette”... probably not a good time to tease so again apologize there.

 

VOL is still at the dojo and still pretty great.

 

I appreciate getting the email today, and thanks to @Pipeworks for getting out ahead of it and thinking about those of us who would otherwise be cellaring multiple bottles. This possibly explains my experience.

I came up from central Indiana during the soft release and was able to get all three variants; I got four bottles of the regular BA Murderous because the sample pour at the Dojo was fantastic. Opened one the next weekend and had a substantially different experience, enough so that it did get me wondering if something was up. My bottle did not have any carbonation issues, and certainly wasn't "cheesy" like was mentioned on the last page, but it did have more tart acidity and tannic character than expected; it was very "bright" on the front palate. It wasn't bad, per se, but it was the bourbon BA version and tasted more in line with what I would expect from a brandy or wine barrel-aged beer.

That said, I'm drinking my bottle of the apple brandy variant now, and I don't get any of that. I can clearly smell the apple brandy on the nose, but there's nothing off at all [to me] in the whole experience. It's a hot, boozy, complex BA barleywine, and I love it. I'm glad to have an excuse to drink it earlier than I'd planned.

Personally, your "crazy experimental beers" are what put you on the map for me in the first place, and I hope you'll keep doing what you're doing. This batch of Rohrwerker is just as great as the original, so I don't mind making an exchange the next time I'm up in Chicago.

 

What a classy move by @Pipeworks . I wish every brewery followed this model.

 

Opening a BA Muderous with friends tonight. Will report back!

 

So the general consensus on The Muderous was that it is definitely turning. Nose had an off sour/stale/cardboard note that was unexpected. Taste was slightly tart, but otherwise your expected BA Barleywine flavors are still there, although muted. It's definitely drinkable, but not lovable. We all drank some of it, but it didn't get finished.

Plan to hit up the Dojo when I'm up there in mid-Oct. This is a bummer, but I certainly appreciate how PW is handling this.

 

Opened my Ruby Port last night. No issues with it at all. Got all the notes I would expect from the red wine. Can't speak to the other versions as this one the only one I picked up.

 

I opened the Brandy version yesterday and it was great.

 

Just opened a Port bottle… not sure about this one. My mind may be playing games with me, but this is nowhere near as sweet as when I first tried it when it was released or anywhere nearly as sweet as the Brandy I had last night. The brandy one was toffee, caramel sweetness kind of good. This one does seem to have a bit of cherry tartness to it and the sweetness seems muted. It's still good enough for me to want to drink the entire bottle, but I probably won't be holding on to the remaining 4 bottles I have past this weekend.

All of my bottles are stored in a dark, temperature (51F) and humidity (40%) controlled chamber.