Ok any body know where the bottle date is labeled on Sam adams cinder bock? I picked one up and it just tastes off to me and it's really really hazy I looked up pictures and they don't look nearly as hazy. Might just be me idk....
Their 12 oz. bottles have a bottling date stamp on the neck of the bottle - first a letter to represent the brewery - 'A' - Allentown/ later changed to 'P' - Pennsylvania, 'C' - Cincinnati and, I suppose, 'B' - Boston (but not much bottling done there other than that "Barrel Room" collection in the strange-shaped bottles as I understand it). After the letter, it's a simple Julian code - 3 digit "day of the year" and then the fourth digit for the last digit of the year. (After the date, there are other digits representing other internal info, like bottling line/time, etc). I'd guess the 22 oz. bottles have the same coding method and location but don't recall if I ever checked.
The label featured a goat smoking a cigarette? That's amazing! Do you suppose he hung out with Joe Camel?
I really enjoyed it. I visited a Piggly Wiggly a couple months ago that had them priced at $2 each, but they were sold out of that one (though they did have the Gose). I don't care if it was old -- I would have bought them out at that price.
I was just at the store and examined a 22oz bottle of this. There was no code stamped on the neck of the bottle, but the back label said "batch #1" very prominently. I believe this was released in March, 2012. I don't believe it has been rebrewed.
That's odd - I just checked bottles of Vixen and Verloren, also part of the "Small Batch" series in the same bottles and they had prominent codes stamped at the base of the neck - larger, in contrasting ink, and much more legible than the standard 12 oz. SA bottles' coding. Both were from Cincinnati (I don't see many 12's from that brewery).
I was just at another store and saw a bottle with the code on the neck just like jesskidden said, and "batch 2" printed on the back label. So I guess they have rebrewed it.
I thought this was a darn good rauchbier-style brew...a bit hot, true, but tasty. I had one from batch 1 and think I might have one left. People always be hatin' on SA
