• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Beer |OT|

T

thabiz

Member
distantmantra said:
Really curious how they'll handle this, as it's starting to sound like the entire batch of BCBCS was infected.

Deschutes had an issue infected Abyss in 2009 and it was handled really well. Full retail refunds.
Click to expand...

Guess it depends how much the goose brand is worth to AB. Probably an apology and move on.
 
C

codhand

Member
kKJndG3.png
 
D

distantmantra

Member
mtsmylie said:
Had a glass of Fremont's Coffee Cinnamon Bourbon Abominable, and it's glorious. Can't even taste the 14% ABV.
Click to expand...

Rock on. Fremont love.

corporate overlords said:
From the Goose Island Blog :

http://www.gooseisland.com/blog.html?id=post_11

To our loyal fans,

Each year you stand in long lines in the cold to get your hands on Bourbon County Stout and the special variants. This is beer that we hope is shared on special occasions, or maybe even makes the occasion special. Beer that we truly hope helps strengthen bonds and makes lasting memories.

I want you to know that the entire team at Goose Island puts our heart and soul into making Bourbon County, and we understand and appreciate your high expectations for them. It is always our intention to put forth the best beer we can craft. When we don’t meet those expectations we take it personally, and we want to make it right.

It has come to our attention that since bottling the 2015 Bourbon County Coffee and Bourbon County Barleywine, they have developed flavors that are not consistent with our expectation of how these beers should taste. That’s not to say the beer doesn’t taste good, in fact some drinkers may enjoy it very much. However, it doesn’t meet our standards for the taste profile of these beers.

All of our beer goes through a very thorough quality oversight process including sensory and microbiology programs. This by no means is a guarantee of success especially with barrel aged beers. Both of these beers have drifted out of their target character thus leading us to provide refunds for anyone who is unsatisfied with them. Anyone who would like a refund for 2015 Bourbon County Coffee or 2015 Bourbon County Barleywine, please contact us at 1-800-Goose-Me.

In spite of the risks inherent with barrel aging, our quest to grow these beers and our barrel aging program will persevere. I hope you continue to join us in this adventure.

Very Truly,
Jared Jankoski
Click to expand...

So no outright acknowledgment of infection, but they're offering refunds (but no real indication of what you have to do to get that refund).
 
D

distantmantra

Member
tmac456 said:
interesting. I'll be cracking open a barleywine this weekend. fingers crossed.
Click to expand...

More info.

BA said:
OK, so got some answers.

Obviously this is all pretty new to them so this is just what I was told as one of the first people to call:
So far no reports of any issues on Prop / Rare / Regular, so this is apparently isolated to coffee and Barleywine. They said they would let everyone know if it was a wider issue.
They don't want you to return unopened bottles (can't accept them back apparently it is a beer / alcohol thing)
They took down the information I had on EVERY bottle (opened or not) and apparently will look at it and send a refund for them all (was a bit stunned at this). I have 9 Barleywine and 2 Coffee and they didn't even blink.
They asked me for the store I bought it at, and what I paid, and then gave me a reference number and email address and asked that I email them as many of the receipts I could find (digging through the pile now... sigh)
Presumably if you are out of state or did a trade, you just say you bought it while on vacation over thanksgiving in a city where they sell the stuff - if you only have 1 or 2 bottles I doubt they are going to bother with the receipts
Total time it took was about 15 minutes, and frankly the nice person had to go ask 3 or 4 questions because I am one of the first to call in.
I was told to expect a check in the mail for the full amount I paid, + taxes and everything - but I did pay recommended retail ($12.99) for almost all of mine so I just went with that as the price for all of them.
Hope this clarifies for everyone. I was a bit stunned they were going to refund all of them, and I asked straight up if I should call in each bottle one by one as I opened it and report it as bad, and was told not to bother, they will process them all in one go now. No idea if that will turn out to be true, as the person on the phone was just taking my info and passing it all on down the line to someone else, and this is all about 30 minutes old, so they are probably figuring out the kinks.
Click to expand...
 
D

distantmantra

Member
injurai said:
I don't understand what is going on here. Was it a bad batch? How is that even allowed?
Click to expand...

GI dumped 3/4 of their batch of BCBCS this year due to an infection (heard that Brett jumped from Gillian barrels) but it's sounding like they didn't catch all of it before shipping to retail. And it also impacted BW.

It could all be infected. Who knows at this point. They're not the first brewery to have this happen. Not even the first time it happened to GI.
 
A

Angry Grimace

Two cannibals are eating a clown. One turns to the other and says "does something taste funny to you?"
If a batch is infected (by a bacteria like Lacto, or more likely, a wild yeast like a Brettanomyces), there's no real way to know about it until after the fact because it takes a long time for those flavors to develop. They might have been fine in the barrel and then gotten infected during the bottling process, in which case they'd taste fine right when bottled, but increasingly funky as time goes on.
 
D

distantmantra

Member
Angry Grimace said:
If a batch is infected (by a bacteria like Lacto, or more likely, a wild yeast like a Brettanomyces), there's no real way to know about it until after the fact because it takes a long time for those flavors to develop. They might have been fine in the barrel and then gotten infected during the bottling process in which case they'd taste fine right when bottled, but increasingly funky as time goes on.
Click to expand...

Which is a possibility. No one has reported infected kegs.
 
A

Angry Grimace

Two cannibals are eating a clown. One turns to the other and says "does something taste funny to you?"
Sometimes, people pretend to like wild infected beers, but my experience is that they all taste increasingly vomit-like as time goes on (no joke). I knowingly drank some of the infected Bruery Cacaonut and it was gag-inducing. Same with some of Deschutes Mirror, Mirror from the infamous 2009 infected batches (which also included Abyss) that led them to pasteurize everything.
 
B

Bacon

Member
HiResDes said:
Breh it's good, I only got two bottles but the hunt was worth, and the price very reasonable
Click to expand...

Wow yeah this is unlike pretty much any other stout I've ever had, crazy complex. I don't think I can handle more than one of these a night because there is so much going on.
 
M

MacGurcules

Member
I called into the Bourbon County support number. Sat on hold for a while, but eventually got a guy. Answered a few questions (how many bottles of coffee and barleywine I bought, where I bought them, price, and bottling codes for the ones I still had). Also gave him my name and address and t-shirt size. No receipts or anything necessary, but I only had three bottles.

They're supposedly mailing me a check (and maybe a t-shirt).
 
J

Jarrod38

Member
injurai said:
Just tried this on draft the other day, not bad.
Click to expand...

Rhinegeist is slowly starting to become my favorite brewery. And the place that I linked to has one of the best selections of beer in my area and plus they always have winning instant lottery tickets as well.
 
I

injurai

Banned
Jarrod38 said:
Rhinegeist is slowly starting to become my favorite brewery. And the place that I linked to has one of the best selections of beer in my area and plus they always have winning instant lottery tickets as well.
Click to expand...

I've mostly at their year-round stuff, Panther is something I pick up semi-frequently. Sabre Tooth is one of their best offerings.
 
T

thabiz

Member
That's a shame. Was looking to discuss some brews, but that's nearly impossible for me I guess.

You might want to rename the OT then to reflect that.
 
I

injurai

Banned
Guess it's just a stone's throw anyways. I don't see nearly enough talk about Canadian domestics in here. If anything French and Belgian crafts seem to be lauded in here.
 
T

thabiz

Member
distantmantra said:
I know some Canadian breweries. Mostly BC based since I go up there three or four times a year, but I've also had Bellwoods, DDC, Le Castor, and Le Trou de Diable.
Click to expand...

Yeah I saw someone mention Granville before.

Not surprised it's mostly Quebec beers, since their laws are a bit different from the rest of the country.

I'm in Ontario which has a fantastic craft scene, but you'd be hard pressed to find it outside the country.
 
N

newdayrocks

Member
thabiz said:
That's a shame. Was looking to discuss some brews, but that's nearly impossible for me I guess.

You might want to rename the OT then to reflect that.
Click to expand...

We have occasional non-US beer talk here. Don't think there's any need to change the name.

Tell us about some of your favorite Canadian/non-US beers!
 
T

thabiz

Member
I'm really digging the output from beau's, sawdust city, collective arts, amsterdam, side launch, rainhard, muskoka, and many others.

Flying monkeys has done some great stuff,but some of their stuff is too hoppy for me.

Bellwoods is good. The lost river porter is nice.
 
D

distantmantra

Member
thabiz said:
Yeah I saw someone mention Granville before.

Not surprised it's mostly Quebec beers, since their laws are a bit different from the rest of the country.

I'm in Ontario which has a fantastic craft scene, but you'd be hard pressed to find it outside the country.
Click to expand...

I'm also very knowledgable about Four Winds, Driftwood, Central City, Parallel 49, Dageraad, Philipps, Brassneck, 33 Acres, etc.

I had the Quebec beers at Moeder Lambic in Brussels, actually. I frequent the Canada forum at Beer Advocate so I was aware of them prior.

Most people here aren't from the PNW but I still talk about my beer. No one is stopping you from doing the same.
 
T

thabiz

Member
injurai said:
Judging purely by branding, Beau's looks like a fun brewery. I'd like to try some.
Click to expand...

You may be able to find a few of the more popular stuff in upper NY state by them. All the seasonal and small batch are only available in Ontario.


Very good brewery. One of my favs.

Edit: yeah only the lug tread is available in NY.
 
R

ramoisdead

Member
Just finished drinking the last of my Backwoods Bastard and Celebration.

I should put my Hydro Flask growler to work and finally get some draft beer later on today.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Is there a better flavor combo than Grilled cheese and tomato soup?
2
93
2K
CokeDiet replied
Good beer has ruined normal beer for me, have you had similar experiences?
Opinion 2
70
4K
JCK75 replied
tired of running round town
2
60
3K
Tams replied
Recommend me some good mocktails or N/A beers
13
2K
Ophiuchus replied
  • Locked
Buying a streamer’s bath water is too tame now: Amouranth’s vaginal yeast beer
Cringe
14
2K
Revolutionary replied
Top Bottom