Carbonation issues

Your fine the carbonation issue was mainly limited to one batch in early jan, operator error by the guy canning the tops caused the problems. Long since fixed. I had a mid Jan batch and it was just fine.

 

Id contact Surly or france 44 if that's where you bought them. I talked to Corey at france 44 before I bought 12 cans, and he mentioned he talked to people at Surly and it was operator error in the canning process. I think my batch was Jan 13th I believe, and they were as usual very good.

 

Hate that, I'm planning on ordering some to be sent to NY for my son, but it's been too cold to get it into Upstate NY. Keep this thread updated I'm sure many will be interested.

 

Brewery in Brandon, Florida. Pretty small operation. They brewed a RIS so my buddy went bought a couple 12 ounce bottles just to support them. $12 for one 12 ounce bottle (not barrel aged) and it was a mess, knew it and still sold it. Then undercarbonated their next release and still sold it.

 

Actually I think breweries can be spot on all the time if they take their work with the utmost seriousness. It seems that trouble begins with over reaching to meet market demands and lack of quality control standards. That is not to say breweries won't have hiccups along the way, but releasing and not having any planned recourse for a badly packaged beer is not acceptable. Any brewery should be doing quality control on batches and be ahead of the game. It should not take the customers noticing the problem.

 

I understand, nobody wants to get any kicks out of seeing a brewery dealing with a customer service issue, but recently I reviewed a beer via Untappd and that review which was terse was relayed to twitter where the Brewery called me out for being harsh. For a brief moment I thought, oooh, that did sound harsh, but then I thought wait, I paid money for that, not my fault your can was oxidized and a bad drinking experience.

In today's modern world where a business can identify and troubleshoot problems simply be participating and listening via social media, forums like this, etal there really is no excuse not to do so and the way to do it is not to play dumb, deaf and blind or worse call out the consumer. This brewery or I should say whomever handles their twitter feed clearly thought their product was infallible. I had two separate beers from the brewery, both canned, both oxidized, one slightly sour. Awful, that is bad product management. They were running to the canning craze and I believe using a mobile canning facility, really bad idea.

If you bought a TV, and it did not work, you would be pissed.

 

Speaking with the manager at a local store today, I was informed there is no issue. He has supposedly spoken to the distributors, and they in turn to people at Surly. His words to me were this is just an online problem, there has been no reports in the metro (Twin Cities area) and Surly isn't aware of a problem. This all came up when he saw me checking the dates on the Abrasive they had, and his attitude was immediately defensive. Keep in mind this is the same store that earlier this fall, when I was checking everyday, lied to my face saying Darkness was not in stock, and 10 minutes later sold 2 bottles to my girlfriend.

In my experiences, Surly has always been a stand-up company and hopefully we get some clarification and they get the problem resolved before I go drop more money on Abrasive, just not at the previously mentioned retailer.

 

Doesn't sound silly at all, and even if money were not tight, you should not be obligated to be happy about being disappointed. There is a touch too much complacency in the craft beer world right now. I can accept that accidents happen, once. I can accept that a festival gets a brewery burned because people screw with ticketing, once. But repeat offenders and consistent ignoring of issues does not work for me.

 

Is it just the carbonation issue though? My Abrasives were nearly flat, but also no sign of a hop anywhere. Interesting that the undercard would also make the beer taste like a stale, 5-year old IPA. Were there other issues besides just carb?

 

I just scooped some Enjoy By 2.6.15 No-Carb-Aged Abrasive Ale from my spot in the south chicago burbs. I will have report back as I have yet to crack one open. Shout outs to whoever who left one 4-pack in a single case that was just sitting out, gotta respect that kind of subtle gesture, I would have ran out with the case without paying for it.

 

I live in Orland Park IL, been searching everywhere for Abrasive. Found two 4 packs in Westmont and 2 more in Grocery store in New Lenox. Tried one can from each. All packs are dated 2/6/15. Noticed that there is an 11 printed under the 6 on each date listing on the pack. Not sure what that is. Both cans i had were not flat but were definitely not carbonated as they should be. Taste was fine just borderline flat. Would I buy it again? Yes but not for the 18$ I paid. Probably would pay 10$. If the next one is the same I am going to try mixing it withHopslam.