Let's talk about Commonwealth's canned IPA and oxidation... I am a VB native and a huge Commonwealth fanboy, felt they were doing the best stuff in Hampton Roads and I'd brag about them on the reg. Fast forward to the beginning of this year, I relocated to Baltimore and do my best to stock up on their new releases when I visit home or I have friends/family visit me but I've (seemingly) been burned three times now by oxidized IPA cans. Feather Boas (100% oxidized), Guatavita, and Tesselate. All poured much darker than what drafts seem to pour at the brewery and have a very sweet flavor with a dull, minimal hop character. Feather Boas was the worst, the other two could pass for poor to average NEIPA. I poured Tessellate at a week old tonight and it was thoroughly underwhelming.. Am I the only one experiencing this? Why would they be selling and distributing cans that are subpar? Bums me out, I used to feel they produced high quality hoppy beers. At least their goses hold up well, gives me some hope for them.
I usually pick up a can of their IPA one offs if I see them on the shelf. The last few I've had: Iconoclast, Guatavita, and Kalevala have all been excellent.
This is a thread I am going to pay some attention too and hope it gets some run. I've been hearing more and more about this issue (and related) with Commonwealth IPAs and it bums me out. As someone who both enjoys to consume and sells their beer as well, I am curious as to what is going on. The last one I've tried didn't seem like it was up to their standards and also seem to have some variation can to can. I've reached out to the local distribution as I got a complaint from a regular (who knows his beer and has been involved with the industry for years) about issues with his purchase and I'll see what they say. Hopefully things will move the right direction because I dig what they are doing.
The only cans I’ve ever had of theirs was Guatavita, first can or so was good but after a week they were awful and oxidized. The color was darker than the first couple cans and the taste was way off. These were pretty fresh cans, I’d say within a week or so of the cannning date was when I bought them (I think this was around July 2018). I’m hesitant to try more when they sell for $20 per 4 cans.
I did. They just asked what beer, when it was purchased and the canning date. Said they weren’t aware of issues and that was it.
Ok, I had a feeling I couldn’t have been the only one experiencing this. I’ve had IPAs from them in this time period that have been fantastic and have held up very well in the IPA expected time frame (2 months then start falling off around month 3). Judging from pictures on Untapped, their IPAs seem to have an incredible variance in quality. A lot of them range from the bright yellow orange you’d expect to a dull, dark brownish orange. I’ve also seen in other threads on the forums of cans bought at bottle shops in their distribution foot print being subpar, which makes it seem very odd to me they wouldn’t address this. I didn’t have any quality issue with them until the transition away from their old head brewer and some other staff at the beginning of the year. That being said, it’s not an across the board problem as some of the IPAs still do stand out. I had Old School Nu School and loved that beer, no signs of oxidation. Guatavita was great at first, a total pineapple bomb, then fell off rather quick but wasn’t too bad. Now, Tessellate which seemed dull and boring for being a week old. My brother opened a can of the same beer purchased at the same time and it looked entirely different than mine. I have a second can I plan to save for a couple weeks then open to compare. I have pictures of all the ones that have seemed off. Feather Boas was a mess after just a couple weeks and after a month it was mud brown and dropped pretty clear. I have yet to contact them about this issue, but I suppose I should at this point. I just don’t know how to word an email like that, ha. I’ve noticed that any cans that have seemed prone to oxidation fall off immediately if allowed to come to room temp for even a short period of time.
I know I'd be interested to know what they say, especially if you are providing multiple examples with pics. I've had one issue with them (unrelated to this) and they resolved it right away no problem. I've held on to a few stray leftover goses and a couple of stouts for quite a while and they have held up as well as could be expected, but I mostly just drink the ipas on draft. This seems like an unfortunate repetitive issue with them, I hope they get it fixed.
This makes me wonder about the $30 4 pack of Anniversary Stout I have set aside. Thinking that's a gamble not worth taking because I'd assume if they have issues oxidizing one style they're canning then there's potentially going to be an issue with anything they can, right?
Drank a Boujee yesterday coincidentally, it was good. But I agree with your logic, it seems it could affect any of them.
Not defending the Commonwealth IPAs because I haven't had enough lately to be able to weigh in. But grain of salt on untappd pics - people can get filter happy. I saw a local spot put up a dipa pic and the beer was damn near pink in the picture (no idea why they'd do that). In the glass on tap and at home it was a typically hazy yellow unfiltered dipa. .
I had the same issue with Guatavita--maybe Iconoclast, too--but I can't remember for sure. Definitely had some oxidized cans of Big Papi over the past year or so. There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason for it--I've picked up cans that were fresh off the delivery truck and still cold, I've had cans that had been sitting on the shelf at CBC for a week. I rarely buy 4pks of CW beers anymore because of it, which is a shame because they're capable of great beer. Guatavita was phenomenal the day I bought it, but the other cans all turned brown within a week.
OK, cracking into can 1 of my 3 Kalevala (Pekko n Bru-1 IPA) for science (canned Sept 28 2018) The color to me if more yellow than orange/brown. And the taste is fine (great, actually). Fairly certain Commonwealth uses mobile canning based on their footprint... maybe those canned beer had "off days" on the line. Watch me catch sh!t for letting a Commonwealth IPA sit 3 weeks.
Commonwealth brought packaging in house about a year and a half ago. I noticed an improvement in Big Papi mid-2017 and asked some reps about what had changed. The folks I asked said there was no change to the recipe, only change they said was they had over control of the packaging by getting a canning line.
After having issues with Big Papi and Wapatoolie I stopped buying Commonwealth packaged stuff. Draft one offs at places like Whole Foods and Aloha Snacks in VB have been great. It also leaves a bad taste in my mouth that they will gladly pump their core stuff to the local Norfolk/VB market but only send their canned one off stuff to northern VA, MA, and now NC it seems. What other breweries do that sh*t on the regular? Maybe I’m just a salty dad who buys storebought, but just my 2 cents
My local bottle shop here in NOVA gets Commonwealth stuff pretty regularly, and I've not seen nor heard of this issue. Everything I've tried has been fine. Pink Fluffy Unicorns might be the best triple IPA I've ever had.
I wouldn’t put too much stock into untapped pics either. Sloop from upstate NY will occasionally have a brownish hazy Juice Bomb release that’s still as amazing as ever with no oxidation. In sticking with this thread, it has only happened to me with one can of Big Papi, terribly oxidized, almost a month old. I don’t let it affect my opinion of the brewery too much though. Will still buy and enjoy!
I've had a few Commonwealth cans in central NC and haven't encountered any problems yet. Some were pretty murky, but no off-flavors. Granted, all the ones I drank were super fresh. I haven't had any of them on tap at the brewery, so maybe I don't know what I'm missing.
