Just had my first infected beer tonight. Merry Christmas to me :(

Whenever I get an Infected bottle I just pretend it's Cantillon.

 

I'm sitting here with several bottles left, and a gift would be no infection and no hassle trying to get a refund.

 

I had a 17 Proprietors last night. Not a single bad thing to say about it.

 

The best thing you can do right now is to provide the packaging run info for your bottle. Date and time.
It will isolate the problem for anyone else who is particular about this beer.

 

On the contrary, the mix made a delicious beer. There was no sourness left; reminded me of a black IPA.

 

I had a case from a couple years ago that went bad, Goose Island made good, maybe they'll do it again if their are enough complaints. That being said, I mixed my bad beers with Lagunitas Imperial Stout or their Cappuccino Stout, and the worked out fine.......
Merry Christmas BA's!

 

Absolutely... but I think you meant “or” rather than “and.”

 

I thought GI was pasturizing the BA beers so this wasn't possible?

 

Pasteurization won't fix already infected beer - might stop it, but would still taste off, so they need to test for infection too. Also, they could have somehow skipped pasteurization inadvertently (heat turned off or something), or the bottles or caps could have been contaminated.

 

I should also add that I didn’t mean to imply that there was any good in any of this... I was just continuing the theme of the thread title.

 

but i seriously doubt they are bottling by the single/individual barrel. if so, there should be hundreds of batches showing a multitude of ABVs.

since that's unlikely we can assume (IF) the issue is actual infection, a single bad barrel blended with a batch of barrels isn't going to keep the issue to the "small portion" i think you were implying.

 

They're asking a lot from their customers if another infection problem pops up, at $13 a bottle or so you have to weight the risk. I've been fortunate I've never had a problem bottle, but I don't seek it out anymore. I like the we the new bottles look, but I find them a pain in the ass to drink, it's just an odd size. The 12 oz format was perfect, and it didn't need to be reinvented.

 

Same thing can happen to trees, people, world leaders, and favorite dogs. It's a tough world out there, I'll tell ya!

 

Mine have all been great but I saved my receipts just in case. Hopefully not a prob or very small.

 

Maybe they should just market them as a Cherry Wild Ale.

 

I had my first infected beer last night as well. 2015 regular BCBS. Fortunately, our bottle of '16 and '17 were okay.

 

Did you buy that before the 2015 infection debacle, or after? Some 2015 came through distribution in 2016 to augment the decreased 2016 production (due to rumored 2016 infection caught before distribution), and they were supposedly all from known good batches - if such a thing ever existed. I bought two 2015's this past February and they were fine - and pre-aged for me.

 

Boy it really messes with my head when someone says it's infected. I don't think mine is. I tasted chocolate and bourbon but do get notes of tart cherry.

 

hahahahaha

 

You cannot taste what has not developed yet. Op is describing a cherry flavor. That's the same one that catches most barrel aging programs up in infection issues. That's a problem that is stemming from the barrels themselves, and that's the same one that has caused some breweries barrel programs to move to packaging in cans to get people into the idea they are meant to be consumed, and not stashed away.

 

If you had said dark cherries or dark fruit, I'd say that you are okay. But tart cherry is a hint that you'd better drink soon any more of these beers that you have left.

To add an additional related comment, I had a 2012 version with dinner today. It was a tiny bit past its prime, but still a very good beer.

 

I actually traded for these back in 2015 around this time. From what I recall, the batches shipped to our area didn't have infection issues, but the bottles sourced from the Rocky mountain area had known issues, which is where my trade came from. This all came about around 6 months after my trade.

Not upset with the trader at all. Just disappointed in Goose Island, and having 3 worthless bottles in my cellar.

 

Also they arent by full infected case or clean case its bottle specific so if you buy a case, its 50/50 at least the case at my local spot that was purchased. Not incredibly sour. Just off and odd like vinegar.

 

I didnt buy any in fear of this because a friend bought a case and had 2 taste weird amd 2 were fine. And i worked in a liqour store and can tell you in my area that shit gets sold on vip lists before we got the delivery. So after the infection "scare" last release, it doesnt sell. So its a bit of fact unless my buddy is the weird one, and speculation as to why they arent selling.

 

what he was saying is this. what is bottled is first supposed to be clear of infection by taste / and/or test. that cleared batch is then PASTEURIZED, which, (IF done correctly & effectively), should KILL anything that has not developed "yet". so nothing that hasn't developed "yet" should be able to later develop & be tasted.

 

if what you say is accurate, it will likely be there's a bigger accumulated quantify of contaminant in certain bottles that hasn't yet occurred in others. that difference will probably be due to a combo of environment & other differences in exposure per bottle. but, in the end, chances are everything in said case & batch is probably a ticking time bomb. how many ticks becomes the question. in this situation, the refrigerator is your friend & can add ticks.

 

The bottle I had a few weeks ago tasted great, but I'm definitely keeping an eye on this thread given that I'm sitting on several more bottles. If it turns out there's another infection problem, that might end my Black Friday tradition of waiting in line in stupid-cold temperatures to gamble on a pricey beer.

 

i just noticed Urk apparently snuck in a second post before i attempted to reply. i unknowingly misquoted his second post. my above quoted ramble was supposed to be aimed at his first post regarding a case of possibly questionable bottles.

 

Drinking a BCBS 14.7% 25SEPT17 16:18. It's great.

 

Me too, a 14.1%. No infection, but a bit more char than I recall - though I do have a cold...

 

Except for the heating part, that sounds just like the swamp down the hill, readily breeding, sometimes beautiful, sometimes nasty. I really like clean beers.

 

Just opened one of mine and it is amazing. I think the 2017 is way better than last years, I have a 2016 left and will do a side by side for sure but wow.... No infection on this one.

 

What was the infected 2015 ABV? I found 4bottle recently 14.3 ABV.

I also have 3 more bottles of the 2017 14.1
Had one already and it was terrific.

 

Infected 2015 date codes;

• Bourbon County Stout Original Date Codes: 10/9/15, 10/12/15, 10/21/15, 10/22/15, 10/23/15, 10/26/15, 10/30/15, 11/4/15, 11/5/15
• Bourbon County Stout Proprietor’s Date Codes: 9/18/15

You can no longer return these but at least you will know if someone tries selling/trading some. Some folks argued they had infected beer from other dates, but GI never admitted to more as far as I know.

 

i was one of those folks. & when you think about it, GI did in fact admit it the moment they finally acknowledged the issue was barrel related & cross contamination. ya' know, like i said Dec 2015... & was quickly reminded how wrong i was for many months to come.

that acknowledgement translated to: there was no such thing as guaranteed safe bottling dates. my favorite contrarians will never admit the obvious which also was offered beforehand. the reason they didn't acknowledge this truth before the expiration of their refund policy was because acknowledging it erased their defense/ ability to claim limited bottling dates were affected.

 

Although I don't like drain pours any more than the next BA, a first world problem will always be a first world problem.

 

Thanks for the info

 

Makes sense when you consider that brewers blend to hit ABV marks. Also - didn't they eventually admit, or was it just rumored, that contamination happened with a tank truck they used between facilities?

Anyone ever say where all the 2015 stock came from that they used in late 2016 and early 2017 to augment the reduced 2016 production? I wonder if that was sent back by distributors when infection claims hit, but then later released based on noted infection dates? Wonder how much of that turned out to be infected?