Bourbon County in the Triangle

I am also a little confused about how a large portion of this year's became infected if it was pasteurized. Of course I don't know for a fact that's what happened, but there was definitely a lot less, so it seems to make sense.

My guess is they realized at some point that a portion was infected and then subsequently decided to pasteurize it in order to salvage the remainder and ensure it didn't all end up infected. Just a guess.

 

I don't know what this adds to the conversation, but for Thanksgiving I was at my inlaws in BFE central florida and was easily able to grab two bottles from the local liquor store at 9am. No one else was there and they forgot all about the case they had in the back. What I found really interesting was the bottle date. It was early september. Goose Island must have sat on these bottles for a few months before they shipped them out.

 

I'm not convinced the infection rumor is true. When reading through GI's public responses, they noted how much more selective they were in choosing their barrels this year. Fewer barrels that meet their QC criteria equals less beer. Makes sense to play it safe a year after a big SNAFU. Does it suck, yes, but they've been beating the quality control drum for months now. At least that's my theory.

 

BCBS on tap at Ridgewood for those interested.