Someone offered to trade me an "error" French Vanilla Militia. They said it was unwaxed with the label upside down. Can anyone confirm bottles like that were released in anyway?
Based on what other breweries do to bottles that don't make it past QC, it was likely given to friends and family and not released to the public. That said, ever since the recap/rewax KBBS debacle, I'd be really weary of trading for anything that doesn't look like a released bottle unless you get some kind of assurance story from the trader, assuming that he has good feedback and standing on BA.
Seems like this person should post pictures of their error bottle and explain how they got it. Seems like a fun story
I messaged Three Floyds to see if they could verify that bottles like that made it out and got no response. I asked the individual if they could verify the authenticity of the bottle. They suggested we meet and they'd explain in person. So, yeah, it sounds fishy. But I'm still open to the idea that it's real.
They cannot explain via BM, email or text? Only in person? Sounds like someone I'd avoid on sheer principle. Either they are full of BS or it's a hit.
I feel like meeting IP to explain face to face is a lot better as you can (or try to) get a sense of if they are honest. Anyone can make up a story and write it up well. A couple sentences ahead of meeting up, though, would be better. Wonder if the person doesn't want to put anything in writing as that can potentially come back to haunt him. If the trade isn't going to cost an arm and a leg, I think it's worth a shot.
Sounds to me like that bottle wasn't supposed to see the light of day and the person trading it doesn't want a digital paper trail leading back to them. Sketchy.
I personally have received bottles of beer where the label was upside down. They were from the owners / brewers personal stash and the beer wasn't even released yet. So my thought was he did it so he would know who it was if it popped up for trade or sale. Just wanted to add this so you know there are legit reasons why this would happen. But it wasn't FFF
Oh. I totally get there are legit reasons. That's why I tried reaching out to FFF and on here to get it confirmed. That said, FFF got back to me and I was told that no bottles were released (sold or otherwise) that were not waxed. Of course, that doesn't mean an employee didn't sneak one out while no one was looking.
No doubt, but if you established ahead of time that you are not committed to the trade in any way and won't be until you're completely comfortable, that shouldn't be an issue.
Yeah, I'd just prefer hearing it ahead of time and then also judging in person. But get this, I warned some people in a Facebook group about this and someone else names the guy. I was holding back (innocent till proven guilty and all that), but this other guy got the same offer and wasn't so generous. So someone else then looks at this guy's Facebook profile and finds a picture of this guy holding a FVM label off the bottle. It's not a smoking gun, but it looks REALLY bad.
I see no reason to mess with it unless you're getting it heavily discounted... even then it's a crap shoot. And the last thing I would want to do is meet up with a random guy that seems a little fishy.
I won't be trading that bottle with him, but further conversation took place and other people vouched for him so it's possible it's legit.
common for breweries to give error bottles tor Friends, family and coworkers for free. Bad labels, underfilled or overfills. The fact that he's outright stating it doesn't have wax and the label is upside down I'd say it sounds pretty legit. Majority of general public doesn't really know that these types of bottles exist. If he was trying to scam you he'd probably not be giving you an upside down label if you know what I mean.
