First Commercial Infected Beer Experience

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Colbizle

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Tonight I mark as the first time I accidentally consumed? (spit out and gagged) a fully infected commercial brew. I purchased two bombers of an ESB from a local brewery in a very well respected liquor store here in Minneapolis. Cracked one open last night and noticed something was off about it. It was extremely fruity and very very alcoholly for only weighing in at 5.6% which oddly boozed me up pretty quickly (I don't consider myself a light weight drinker), it also had a after taste I couldn't describe. Nonetheless, I drank it all.

Fast forward to tonight, I figured I'd give the other bomber a go since I really didn't enjoy the first one and was thinking maybe it was just my taste buds that night; Pop open the bomber and gently pour it and it's ALL foam. I'm like, ok that's not right, (STUPIDLY!) I take a nice big sip straight from the bomber and it was so incredibly foul I had to spit it straight onto my carpet and I gagged and restrained myself from vomiting. I checked the bottle which has no indication of bottling date but then I noticed the cap was fully covered in mold. yuck!

I attached some pics below, but the brewery was NOT 612 Brew but another brewery that I won't mention as I don't want to give them a bad name.

Anyone else had this experience like this?

IMG_2374.jpg


IMG_2373.jpg
 
I've opened a can of dark ale once that had gone pretty much entirely to vinegar. I love a lot of Ontario craft breweries but I don't buy stuff from that one anymore. I didn't even smell it first, so it was quite a surprise when I took a sip
 
Sadly I've experienced this more than once, often from smaller breweries that don't distribute widely. I would contact the brewery to let them know; it is possible that they could replace the bad bottles. I disagree with your choice of concealing the name of the brewery. It's a disservice to other beer enthusiasts who might buy the same beer if you don't say something.
 
I've opened a can of dark ale once that had gone pretty much entirely to vinegar. I love a lot of Ontario craft breweries but I don't buy stuff from that one anymore. I didn't even smell it first, so it was quite a surprise when I took a sip


Curious to know which one...
 
I bought a couple gushers from manzanita brewing in San diego. I don't live there so I kept them cool and opened them when I got home. What a disappointment. I called the brewer to tell him and he didn't care much. So, I don't buy their beer anymore. Lots of good beer in San Diego so no harm for me. Plus, the good stuff has started trickling out here to az.
 
Sadly I've experienced this more than once, often from smaller breweries that don't distribute widely. I would contact the brewery to let them know; it is possible that they could replace the bad bottles. I disagree with your choice of concealing the name of the brewery. It's a disservice to other beer enthusiasts who might buy the same beer if you don't say something.

I emailed the brewery with the photos and barcode. Who knows maybe they'll be able to recall that batch from other stores before other people buy it. However If they don't respond I'll post the name.
 
The brewery emailed me back and they are going to make things right. Very professional in their response. I'm excited to give them another try. :mug:
 
My home brew club did a tasting of a local brewery's IPA and it tasted like band aids. I know this is an off flavor, not infection so if anything that's worse. Several people, including other professional brewers tried to contact the brewer and all were met with resistance and told they obviously didn't know what they were talking about. Interesting enough, shortly after the tasting the local Costco dropped the brewery.
 
Last year I had a bottle of Stone RIS that I aged for about a year. Opened it up to a ton of carbonation, thin body, and sour taste. It happens to the best of them.
 
Last year I had a bottle of Stone RIS that I aged for about a year. Opened it up to a ton of carbonation, thin body, and sour taste. It happens to the best of them.

Yep, kinda like that time I got severe food poisoning from Taco Bell (the best of them!). LOL, in all seriousness I agree, mistakes happen and this could have been a bad one off for them. The fact that they are going to make things right means they actually care about their customers. I just hope they actually do some investigating and track down the other bottles in that same batch and see if those are infected as well and remove them from the stores. I know if I owned a brewery I'd make damn sure those bottles get thrown out. You never get a second chance to make a first impression.
 
Last year I had a bottle of Stone RIS that I aged for about a year. Opened it up to a ton of carbonation, thin body, and sour taste. It happens to the best of them.


I had a Stone porter end up a gushy Belgian sour once. Interesting transformation. To be fair, it was in storage for a couple years.
 
Had a Pale ale, I won't name the brewery as they are small, and usually have great stuff. This was just a bum bottle. It was a foam machine and every sip sent another pint full of foam out of the bottle, and I had to either eat the foam or let it go all over the floor.

Being the frugal guy I am, I drank all the foam, and finished the bottle.
 
Had more than a few from big and small breweries. I once had a lager get infected, it was amazing. Actually sought out another six pack but the next batch wasn't infected.
 
Had more than a few from big and small breweries. I once had a lager get infected, it was amazing. Actually sought out another six pack but the next batch wasn't infected.

LOL that's hilarious that you found it tasty.
 
My home brew club did a tasting of a local brewery's IPA and it tasted like band aids. I know this is an off flavor, not infection so if anything that's worse. Several people, including other professional brewers tried to contact the brewer and all were met with resistance and told they obviously didn't know what they were talking about. Interesting enough, shortly after the tasting the local Costco dropped the brewery.

That is not good if the brewery is not willing to listen to what their consumers are telling them. Oh well, with the increasing competitiveness of the industry, breweries like these won't last long.
 
LOL that's hilarious that you found it tasty.

Yeah man, a sour lager. It was like a gose. I've had a few that have improved with infections. Even my buddies brewery did a pale ale that was slightly tart/sour, they think their wild yeast batches may have snuck into the final product. I thought it was delicious.
 
Yeah man, a sour lager. It was like a gose. I've had a few that have improved with infections. Even my buddies brewery did a pale ale that was slightly tart/sour, they think their wild yeast batches may have snuck into the final product. I thought it was delicious.

Ha. Although I don't doubt a lot of great beer was made from accidents. For example, lagunitas brown shugga. Huge accident that turned out a great seller for them.
 
We've got a brewery here in Nashville called Yazoo, they are kind of the original Nashville brewers. Most of their stuff is pretty solid but nothing fancy/experimental. Their signature brew is a smoked porter called Sue (get it, a beer named Sue?) A few years back, they started getting calls from customers about the batch on the shelves being off.

The owners went out and pulled everything from the shelves they could and had people return the off beer to the brewery for refund/replacement. They had the batch analyzed, discovered an infection and let it age out. They repackaged the infected beer and called it Fortuitous. I thought that showed a lot of dedication to customers and their brew.

http://embracethefunk.com/2011/12/19/yazoo-fortuitous-a-conversation-with-linus-hall/
 
We've got a brewery here in Nashville called Yazoo, they are kind of the original Nashville brewers. Most of their stuff is pretty solid but nothing fancy/experimental. Their signature brew is a smoked porter called Sue (get it, a beer named Sue?) A few years back, they started getting calls from customers about the batch on the shelves being off.

The owners went out and pulled everything from the shelves they could and had people return the off beer to the brewery for refund/replacement. They had the batch analyzed, discovered an infection and let it age out. They repackaged the infected beer and called it Fortuitous. I thought that showed a lot of dedication to customers and their brew.

http://embracethefunk.com/2011/12/19/yazoo-fortuitous-a-conversation-with-linus-hall/

Now that is a brewery that knows what the hell they're doing! awesome!
 
Had more than a few from big and small breweries. I once had a lager get infected, it was amazing. Actually sought out another six pack but the next batch wasn't infected.


I had a Weyerbacher quad that had soured some. It was pretty good!
 
Hoppy Brewing company in Sac - I had a bottle of Total Eclipse Black Ale that gushed uncontrollably and was off-tasting, totally undrinkable. Never bothered telling them since there are plenty of other awesome breweries in the area and I've frequented them instead.
 
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