It's always a bummer to open a beer only to have it gush and/or taste of sour, tart fruits. I usually try to drink at least some of the beers anyway to see how they turned out, though they're usually either bad or create clashing flavors (I get this especially with stouts/porters). I remember the well the horrors of 09AbyssGate. Twice in the past month, though, I've come across infected beers that were at least as good as the original, if not better. The first was an older bottle of Olde Hickory Daniel Boone, which is a bbal brown ale. Fresh it was pretty boring and not much going on. A friend and I cracked a year-old bottle, though, and were greeted by a fairly strong sourness which blended with the bourbon and brown ale aspects very well. Kind of like a bourbon Flanders oud bruin, and far better than the original product. The other was Hardywood Park's Bourbon Grand Cru (a quad). I had it on tap when fresh and it was a solid bbal quad--not too boozy or heavy. The bottle I had the other night shot its cork out once the cage was free, though thankfully didn't gush. What was once a smooth and bourbony quad had become a much lighter, tart, and citrusy quad (like a mellower Bolt Cutter). I don't know if I'd say it was better than the original, but it was at least on par. So are there any other positive infection experiences out there?
I know Captain Lawrence Nor'Easter always has a tart thing going for it. However, the '09 was sour.as.fuck and delicious.
The first (?) batch of Cigar City Guava Grove had a fantome-esque infection going on that was glorious, but apparently it got out of control on subsequent batches and they switched to a super clean saison strain. The infected batches of Goose Island Sofie and Matilda were pleasant for a time, but now they are bordering on undrinkable. Cheers!
Ranger Creek Small Batch 1. The bottles are infected with some delicious brett. (And the wax on the bottle is infected with ass fungus, though that is fading with time.)
I've not had Sofie post-ABI takeover, but I've definitely had a couple of gushing bottles that were extremely delicious. Definitely the best beer I've had from GI. I also remember trying Guava Grove a long time ago before I had much else from CCB and really enjoying the sourness. I had it again last year at a tasting and it wasn't the same beer at all or nearly as good.
I've heard the notorious 2007 batch of Pannepot was not too dissimilar to the rare and expensive Pannepot Wild.
The infected Sofie was an unintentional infection that caused it to greatly sour from lactobacillus (as opposed to the funk it develops from its time in wine barrels that are inoculated with Brett). It was very good fresh, but I had a bottle of the same batch (http://www.chicagonow.com/the-beeronaut/2011/06/goose-island-sofie-beer-recalled/) not long ago that was undrinkable. The An-Inbev buyout of Goose has had 0 impact on the actual beers themselves in my opinion. Cheers!
Hey, my thread on this got moved http://beeradvocate.com/community/threads/unintended-flavors-but-tasty-anyway.58721/
I had an infected Isabel that was not bad for a wild ale. Moreover when brought to the attention of the brerwery they made good.
Do you guys have standards at all? Infected beers are disgusting and you shouldn't drink them, because they are terrible...
I really enjoyed the infected Mirror Mirror. That's the only infected beer that I've enjoyed though. I tried to enjoy BA Token, but just couldn't do it.
Hmm...it has come to my attention that there is a small minority of beer drinkers that like these type of things. Wacko's...the whole lot of em!
I think this infection stuff is becoming something of unintentional acquired taste among BA's. Kinda how skunkiness in Heineken and Corona is a high quality "import" flavor to macro drinkers.
It was drinkable but nothing amazing. Then again I've heard the same thing about wild. Non infected is way better.
I had an infected Matilda recently and thought it was fantastic! Never knew that there was infected Sofie... Does anyone know what the bottle dates on infected Sofie were? I always look for infected Matilda when I see old bottles around, but would like to find some infected Sofie.
Interestingly enough, that is the whole premise for O'So's newest release Wee on the Lam. It was a Wee Heavy that ended up infected and apparently tasted good enough to bottle. Sounds like the only bottled some of the barrels and not all. A buddy and I both scored a bottle so I think I might crack mine soon and then make a determination on how long to age his bottle.
Its in the article I linked above. http://www.chicagonow.com/the-beeronaut/2011/06/goose-island-sofie-beer-recalled/ Cheers!
It was intentionally soured. The first batch had no bacteria then they started using a culture from St. Somewhere for the next two or so then switched back. I liked the sour version but the first batch was outstanding and much better IMO.
Thanks, good luck to your Illini tomorrow. I think my Boilers streak of W's against you guys will come to an end.
