Just got some 2009 Mirror Mirror and was wondering what people were trading it for, yes, I'm fully aware of the possible infection issue. I am definitely going to drink one and then see if it's likely the second will be good as well. I have the receipt and was purchased legit from a store. So two questions are: 1. Trade value, examples of trades completed for Mirror Mirror (feel free to BM me) 2. What is Deschutes compensating the owners with other than a refund and free shipping of the bottle back to the brewery? (again, feel free to BM me)
I would think the answer to 2 would be either nothing other than a refund. It's possible you might get yourself a t-shirt out of it, but I don't think they have any obligation to do more than buy it back from you.
#2 really depends on your definition of obligation. Deschutes in the past has really done their part to rectify infection issues with customers. However, they have no obligation to do so. I've had two infected bottles of Great Divide's BA Yeti and they haven't even acknowledged the issue. I haven't really heard anyone trying to get a refund for mirror mirror in a while but if anyone would help you out, it would be Deschutes. I'd be grateful if I were to receive a free t-shirt to square things up.
If you have an infected bottle, they send you a nice handwritten note and a refund -- they are real prompt with the note too. I always respect a handwritten note, shows they really take the time to care about customer experiences. Deschutes is a world class brewery
I've had at least 5 bottles of this in the past 2 years, and all have been from different traders, since I'm not in Deschutes distro, so bottle number and distribution differ vastly. Every single one of them has been delicious. I think that the infection isn't nearly as prevalent throughout the batch like, say, BA Yeti, and think that it's unlikely that the majority of them have this issue. I've given up mostly off the shelf sours and lambics, with some barrel-aged stuff in there too, fresh Nugget Nectar... Most people who have it bought a lot of it when it was released, and have been sitting on dwindling cases for a few years. They've had their fill, and don't seem to cling on to it as hard as they would vintage Abyss or Black Butte Anniversaries from similar vintages (yes, I know '09 Abyss, blah blah). This beer has been under the radar for a while, and don't see it skyrocketing in demand because of the infection issue, but I'd always be willing to take my chances on scoring more of it, I find it to be fantastic.
