Sour Crap

The label on this beer clearly indicates that you bought a "Biere de Garde." So you deceived yourself.

 

If you want good sources, go Belgian.

 

But what would you call it? Beer Advice? No, too condescending, that makes it sound like no one knows anything and Beer Advice would just be for noobs and beer snobs. What we need is some place where people could be advocates for beer and spread all the knowledge they have gained. If only, if only.

 

I think Belgians do that too sometimes, I have had belgian beers that were unexpectedly sour.

 

This could be big! Someday there might even be thousands and thousands of beers described in a million or more reviews done by all kinds of folks with different tastes so we could find others who like what we like and share with them or learn from their experience. Where do we go to sign up!

 

Honestly, while we've all been burned on a beer or two before, nowadays with the internet available to you in so many different ways, we have no one to blame but ourselves.

No one is saying choose what beer to drink by reviews, but using reviews to get an idea of what you are getting yourself into isn't a bad idea at all.

 

I love barley wines and like sour beers. This was an absolute debacle. My first drain pour of a craft beer. Even when they aren't very good I find a reason to drink them.

 

Use your resources. How did you NOT know it was a sour?

This is why I've hand tagged all of our sours with a small sour tag.

 

The OP seems a bit soured by this experience. The label should have indicated it's sour.

For the people saying it's his own fault...guess what? Not everyone has a smart phone that can look up BA reviews on demand!
I sure as hell am not gonna spend time checking BA reviews on stuff I might buy, who the heck plans to buy every beer they get in advance?
Sometimes you see something new and you have to go by the label.

Seems like it's supposed to be a Biere de Garde, maybe the batch got infected?
Biere de Gardes are not supposed to be sour according to the BCJP.
In fact is says a main difference between Saison and Biere de Garde is the lack of tartness in the latter.

 

I thought it was a BA Rye Barleywine. It was one of the worst beers I've had in a long time.

 

We've all bought a beer on a whim we've ended up hating. But I have a strict limit for the unknown. It has to be less than $5 for me to blindly try it. If for some reason I didn't have a smart phone (lol it's 2012) and I came across a 10 dollar bomber or something that looked interesting I'd ask the person working at the shop if he'd heard anything about it. If not I would notate the name and check on it when I got home then if it sounded good I'd grab it the next time I went in.

There are a lot of labels that don't do the best job of describing the contents, but that's the risk we take.

 

From BJCP on Biere de Garde: "Despite body and creaminess, finishes dry and often a bit tart."

 

I can't justify a 300 dollar phone just to look up beer reviews on the go either. And I sure as hell am not gonna go home to look up a beer I'm unsure about, gas ain't cheap! I need that money for beer!

Bottom line though, this beer was infected or mislabeled and the OP should get a refund.

As far as Biere de Garde finishing a bit tart, you listed the description for Witbier.
http://www.bjcp.org/2008styles/style16.php

 

It's not that I disagree, I am just saying if you are unsure about a beer, pass it by until you find out more about it (from a shop worker/friend/family/website etc). Or grab this and never get blindsided again.

http://www.boostmobile.com/shop/phones/motorola-theory/

 

Buying an unknown beer based on the label description is one thing but the OP did himself a disservice by verbal vomiting it in a rating too. It also seems like this was not the first time this happened to the OP...which just tells me he's either having a 'look at me' moment by creating this thread and is also a tool because he keeps setting himself up for failure.

Also, never complain about the price of a beer...if you really want to try it, you'll pay the price. If you buy it and still complain about the price, well then you're an idiot for getting sucked in and not using your free will bynot purchasing said beer.

 

i kind of liked it. i went in not knowing what to expect, but having had many bfm beers, i knew not to expect something 'normal'.

 

Your logic makes sense. I can, however, remember before this was bottled hearing through the Athens beer geek scene that it had "turned."

 

I guess I am one of the folks who does plan out what I'm gonna buy, and does have a list of what I want to get, and knows what I want, before I go to the store. If I get something I haven't looked up I sure as shit don't come on here to complain about it, lets everyone know I am an idiot for not using this site for its main purpose.

I bought a plantain once. Didn't taste like a banana. False advertising? Or I should have done some research first?

 

Your argument makes no sense. The beer was labeled a Biere de Garde and tasted nothing like it. That's an infected batch and he should get a refund. No need to call anyone an idiot either.

 

I knew it was a sour, the person who sent me mine knew it was a sour, everyone I know knew it was a sour. Amazing, ain't it. Didn't call anyone an idiot, I said I expected if I came on here complaining about a beer without even having used the main resource of the site upon which I was complaining I would assume others would think me an idiot. And I stand by that. Read into that what you want, but no name calling was aimed at you or anyone else, if you assumed it was, well, what does that tell you