Peruvian Morning infected again?...

I got a crazy novel idea....how about they blend the beer with coffee after barrel treatment or up the ABV to kill off infection. Goose island and others have figured it out, come on.

 

3 years running? wow, just wow. Just scrap PM, use those barrels for more barleywine. Then brew more Brewhouse Coffee stout & put that in 4 packs. Get my coffee fix from that & more BBBW. Wouldn't even miss PM then.

 

I just opened a 2014 PM, it was definitely off, with that tartness and thin mouthfeel. Had to pour it. Now drinking a 2013 PM (the last of a 4pk, the first three were drank at various ages and all great), and it's a night and day difference. The coffee on the 13' is fading but that's of course expected, but excellent overall. I had PM at the 16 Anniversary party and thought it was not the same even then, with muted coffee. Caulked it up to having a few Exodus pours prior, but now I'm not so sure.

 

Had a couple different bottles from different stores. One batch or store was pretty good. The second and third places I bought some from, was nearly a drain pour. I don't do drain pours on any beer unless I am wasted, but it was really hard to drink the other bottles I got.

 

Unfortunately this years infection seems early. Last few years, some of us are satisfied drinking PM as a alternate to KBS...wondering if its the barrel, the coffee process, or the curse of the Inca...

 

Yes, this year is definitely showing infection the earliest of all the prior years batches. As @burica2020 said above, I don't understand how/why they can't get this beer figured out! Other breweries aren't having problems doing so.

 

Mine from last year held up until around Thanksgiving.

 

Just had my 2nd bottle from my first 4 pack. First one I had about a week ago. Second bottle you can really taste a "fruitiness" and acidity that wasn't there previously.

 

I'd suggest saving your bottles. Last year I had about a case and got a check from CW after they told me to drink them all and send a picture of the bottles that were infected (which unfortunately they all were). Not sure they'll do it again, but worth holding onto the bottles if so.

Though it is upsetting that they continue to have these issues with such a great beer, at least they do right by us that drink it!

 

Same page. Mine is completely infected. Glad I only bought one four pack. I feel like still drinking them despite the subtle tartness at this point.

 

The worst part for me is I'm on a very tight beer budget. While their Barrel Aged offerings are dirt cheap compared to other barrel aged beers from different breweries, it still sucks spending the money and then finding out shortly after it's infected.

 

Opened a 2013 Peruvian Morning this evening. A little less coffee and a little more barrel with a year on it, but overall: superb.

 

Steve's in Madison has confirmed on their twitter account that they pulled PM from the shelves. Hopefully that is a good enough source for some of the doubters out there. https://twitter.com/StevesJunction

I bought two 4-packs when it hit the stores and the first two I opened were clearly infected. Never had any issues with 2013 (still have a couple in the cellar) but the 2012 ones I got were infected as well. I will probably throw the 2014's in the fridge to slow the infection down so hopefully they will keep a bit longer. I am assuming CW will be doing a recall/reimbursement program again this year...

 

Iowa Quad Cities Hyvees have pulled all PM stock. Don't think the IL side even got it.

I bought a couple 4's last thursday and had a bottle over the weekend and it was fantastic. no complaints on what i have so far.

Has anyone in Iowa opened a bad bottle that was bought in Iowa? I realize the time to buy it was very limited based on them just getting into Iowa last week but I am curious as i don't think i have heard of a bad bottle from Iowa yet.

 

A friend here in Des Moines checked a PM get got here last week at a local HyVee and said it was "sour and metallic." I bought some last week as well, have had two and both tasted awesome. So it sounds like a crap shoot.

 

What I don't understand is why CW can't test for an infection prior to or just after bottling. I may be missing something here, but I have a degree in microbiology and work in food safety so have plenty of related experience that suggests to me that it is certainly possible and should be pretty simple. Is the total micro load in the finished beer initially so small that testing would produce a negative result? If so, however this beer is being infected is happening at or just before bottling (maybe coffee addition as some suggested), seems like it would be easy to fix if that were the case. Just blows me away they can have the same issue three years running and not know why it's occurring or how to prevent it.

 

I just opened my second bottle out of the four pack that I have. Infected. As was the first bottle. I've had it on tap twice. Completely different. On tap it's great. In the four pack I bought last year two bottles were infected and two were great.

 

Agreed. Does anyone know if they ever released any info in the past few years on what they thought the cause was? Or anyone with enough expertise in the brewing/barrel process who could hazard a guess of his own?

 

Good question. Seems like you could culture samples on some media that would allow it to grow quickly and pick up infections before thousands of bottles get shipped out. Maybe since barrels are inherently non-sterile every sample would have some degree of organisms?

You'd think they could identify and correct the problem by now though. I've drank an awful lot of barrel-aged beers with only a handful that were infected. I can't think of any brewery/beer that has had consistent problems on the scale PM has. Most have a bad year then get their act together.

 

3 good out of 3 so far. Must definitely be random again this year.

Beer to be renamed next year: Peruvian Roulette