Anyone else have trouble with this store? Last week I purchased a sixer of Storm King that was lousy, tasted exactly like Uinta Dubhe, nothing like it's usual self. Last night it was the highly rated Stone Smoked Porter, none of the flavors listed on the bottle were present, it was a straight grapefruit hop black IPA. I also saw bottles of Alesmith Yulesmith (summer, blue and red bottles) on the shelf, kid said it came in last month and they've been ordering it continuously. I'm not aware of this beer being available anywhere this area, Capones didn't get it (Matt gets everything first), though I do know of 2 bars that it on draft this week, from recent local events. Suppose I'll have to skip this store, too bad since my computer distro is in Malvern. Any thoughts?
Two questions. What do you think the store could have possibly done to a bottled Storm King that made it taste like a black IPA? Or how could the store have gotten a bottled porter to taste like a black IPA?
I have had no probs with Wegmans but I don't expect much from them. Check bottle dates and understand that you are buying beer from a supermarket and not a bottle shop. I only saw the YuleSmith there very briefly, but they could have just been thinking AleSmith. Again - these aren't beer people.
I don't know? Change in temperature maybe? They sit alot of beer on the shelf, the SK packaging was soggy, like a humid day. Pretty hoppy beer, hops can be affected by anything I suppose. The Stone, another low reviewer mentioned the same thing, no porter characteristics at all. I don't have a cellar but I think all beer should be stored cold if not aging. I just hate lousy beer.
Good point but no bottle dates on Alesmith, cases only I think. Buyer beware, stick with Whole Foods, quick turnover, the beer guys are pretty knowledgeable. I like when they ask my opinion, then again we are professionals, hehe.
Well the differences you describe are not produced by temperature changes. Lew Bryson reports in one of his articles putting beer through 8 cycles of warm to cold to warm to cold again without detectable effects on the the beer. Also all bottled beers you purchase anywhere will have already been through mutiple temperature swings. Aging decreases hop presence rather than enhances it, so I'm thinking the problem isn't with the store but that we have to look to something else to figure out what is happening.
I have purchased tons of beer in all different styles and breweries from the Malvern Wegmans and I have never had a problem. I did have an issue with the one in KOP already, though, and two singles from PBC I picked up on two different occasions were clearly BAD when I opened,poured and tasted them, so they must have gotten a bad batch or did something crazy with them before they hit the shelves. Not sure how it could be Wegmans' fault, though, as that store is too new to be able to produce such results in a beer, so I will assume PBC had the issues. I have found the staff to be pretty knowledgeable as well. Nothing like Whole Foods' staff (yet; I do think they will head in that direction sooner than later, though) but WF is an entirely different animal I feel, as a few others above have alluded to as well.
