Green Beer

I have traded for this beer in past I love it so much. MMmm not so much now. The last I had of it last year was a diacetyl bomb, and friends have said the beer has continued to be not the same as it was when it was a medal winner. Heck it wasn't even close to the same color which makes me wonder WTF they did to the beer.

And to answer a question you asked in a different post, yes, I can name another stellar beer that was ruined, but at least there is an excuse for it, since the brewmaster left to take over a brewing program at a world renowned culinary school. I once picked this beer in a blind tasting for a medal at Beacon festival. I couldn't finish the last glass of it I had at the pub. Not gonna name the brewery here out of respect for the man who used to be brewmaster there.

 

I live at the source and have seen similar change. No question about it. Haven't bought a four pack in a while. Try a draught here and there.

In response to @JackHorzempa, getting it three days old when it was in its former glory. it could be a bit 'hot" and benefitted from a few days--"meld" may be the perfect word. That was particularly true during the first format of the bombers literally delivered within a day or two of bottling.

The owners of NoDa are well aware of it's drop off. Well talked about amongst the locals. Occasionally try one to see if they can right the ship but still floundering. All about the $$$$.

Shame on them.

 

Would that beer be Flower Power?

 

Not in this case it's not, it's just not me, anyone with access to this beer knows how badly it's fallen.

 

I know you brew but you should stick to commenting on beer you have had and not assume folks don't have some inkling of what they are talking about.

It is a beer that changed--a LOT-- when they went big and EVERYONE IN CHARLOTTE KNOWS THIS.

Not BA supercilious stuff at all. A brewery expanded, changed process and failed to replicate. Has happened before and undoubtedly will repeat.

And sure, beer off the line changes--for the better in a window somewhat specific to the beer.

 

I about shed a tear, to have a beer that great so close was amazing. Wish they would have gone bronze, I'd still be happily sucking it up.

I sent them an email, but I never expected a reply to telling them their formally great beer is sucking badly.

 

You two are also talking about a very different issue which has nothing to do with the OP.

 

You said I was ignorant on the science of packaging and aging beers. I'm telling you I've been drinking this beer for years, almost always a few days old, and it's processing and quality are different. Packaging and oxygen have nothing to do with this beer being sub par. You should be willing to just say you are perhaps wrong here, as I don't believe you could very easily track a beer not distributed outside Charlotte. There's enough local dissent go support this, I'm not the only one, and not the most vocal. They also are home brewers and understand the science, but there's no science involved here, just a ramp up in production that they just lost it. It's not inconsistent right now, it's amazingly consistent , consistently bad. It's not like it's hot and cold either, it's been off for over two years now.

 

I am pretty positive though that you are trying to engage a different conversation than what the OP is bringing up.
Pretty much because...
What you can get away with home brewing is what will kill you on a production level. Are you contracts consistent? Your system up to the task? Your contracts up to date so that you are not scrounging on the after market for people's cast off trendy hops? Do the brewers making your beer have consistency and follow what you instructed? Are your cellar people following through? Your production equipment. Which link in the system is it? What the OP inquired upon doesn't seem where you are trying to horn in from.

 

No, that's totally the case. Had DDH Melcher St canned that day, and it was so vegetal and grassy on the back end. Even got a bit of heartburn from it. Couple weeks in the can, and it rounds out a lot more. IPAs are not past their prime with a month or so on them. That mentality is so frustrating.

 

Ok , I get where your going. They amped production, I have no idea about their contracts , but I believe it's a 5 hop combo. They did add a centrifuge to aid in production capacity. Hard to believe they could still miss by that much for 2 years. You'd think they would be able to dial it in within a few batches, but they're still missing badly.

 

But this problem would apply to any Brewer unless they have exclusive contracts or their own hop farms. Who does that? Still the Brewmasters job to right the ship, at some point, any point.

Just a late thought: perhaps the Brewmaster at NoDa is also the owner and can't fire himself? Surfaster should know, but it's hard to believe any owner wouldn't hold the Brewnaster accountable. Its costing them money and reputation.

 

Well. Apparently it was better next year.
Or... You bring up more things which require specific knowledge to understand.
It's also getting beer politics level stuff.

 

Not an ipa but oddly the victory festbier i had recently tasted like that hop characteristic.

 

There's an article up on our home page called the Imitation Game How Breweries Create Consistency. Interisting read, perhaps the NoDa brewmaster might read this.

 

I had Headroom cans from Trillium in Canton and they were tasting super green to me the day of release. I didn't get any citrus it was like overwhelming hop vomit and gave me crazy heartburn which never happens.

 

Recently no, have I had beers like that once in awhile, most definitely.

I am a bit fanciful in using the term green, sometimes it's positive in sort of a garden and herbal lush flavor character, but then there is definitely times beer is just flat out way to young and green also.

Green... is the color and taste of Spring after all

 

Totally agree with your rant (not using that term derogatorily) on Hop Drop. Used to live less than a mile from the brewery when it first opened, and Hop Drop was the beer that got me extremely interested in craft/local beer to start. Drank it fresh every week (when there wasn't a hop shortage and they could produce it) for the first year or two of operation and it was easily my favorite. Fast forward a few years to scaling with the canning at the new facility, it completely changed. Have had it on draft/canned fresh and aged a few times (keep trying to give it another chance) over the last two years and every time it has been borderline bad. Sadly, at this point, don't think that ship will ever right itself. Even Hop Cakes is a messy shadow of it's former glory.

 

And to reply to the original "green" beer thread, Heist Citraquench'l is EXACTLY like this. Freshly canned on release day, it's like chewing on citra pellets. Give it a week to mature, and it turns into a thing of beauty. Some of the raw citra settling out of suspension helps it too.

 

My last post about the article was in response to ingredients change thing. Of course they do , but other Brewers manage without completely losing it. The beer they now brew is a 180 from where it was.