Prairie Noir infection issues

[jsjames1]

I have some waxed Prairie Noir, Coffee and Vanilla. Is there any word on if they are all infected or is it random?
I had one vanilla that I felt was off and one that seemed fine. Maybe there's a "lot" number on them that was called out.

Just curious if I should trade them or not. I've been asked for a couple but don't want to trade an infected bottle to anyone.

 

[regularjohn]

i had the coffee noir recently thanks to nablock and it tasted great. my buddy cracked one last week and said it tasted extremely off, i guess whether or not its infected is hit or miss.

 

[nablock]

Lots of variance. Most of the Vanilla to hit Texas had Brett issues, but I opened my last bottle the other weekend, and it was fine. However, the one I opened a few months back was an instant drain pour. Coffee was pretty much all infection free, as was regular. Once Vanilla had the rampant issues, a lot of people convinced themselves that they were tasting infection in every single Prairie stout. Such is the internet.

 

[Lognar]

a lot of people convinced themselves that they were tasting infection in every single Prairie stout. Such is the internet.

I am one of those people. Among 2 Noirs, a Vanilla, a Coffee, a Standard and a Somewhere (I know it's a tart saison), they all tasted infected and it started with a Noir that was undrinkable due to so much burnt plastic/rubber/latex taste (not near as bad as Vanilla though). That's been the characteristic of all of them. Other than a red wax Bomb!, I haven't had a single decent Prairie beer.

 

[nablock]

I am one of those people. Among 2 Noirs, a Vanilla, a Coffee, a Standard and a Somewhere (I know it's a tart saison), they all tasted infected and it started with a Noir that was undrinkable due to so much burnt plastic/rubber/latex taste (not near as bad as Vanilla though). That's been the characteristic of all of them. Other than a red wax Bomb!, I haven't had a single decent Prairie beer.

I'm definitely not denying the existence of such issues. Just saying that some people claimed to have issues with batches that were confirmed not to have issues. Prairie definitely shot themselves in the feet by not taking care of the infection problems.

 

[thrashD]

I emailed Prairie back in February about a bottle of Vanilla Noir I had. I got a message back confirming a brett infection in certain batches of Noir and variants. 2/3 of my bottles were infected. It's too bad, I really liked the original batch of Prairie Noir.

 

[nablock]

Interesting that they confirmed infection in other batches. As far as I had heard, they only confirmed for Vanilla. Although I tuned out the conversation after a while.

Good that they confirmed the problem, but also too bad that their way of fixing the problem was for people to "return the bottles to the store you purchased them from for a full refund". Since, you know, people totally save receipts for their beer purchases.

 

[jsjames1]

Thanks for the info guys.
I think I'll hold off trading any of the variants. Don't want to give anyone a "possibly" infected beer.

Has anyone heard if they resolved the issues now? I have some Bomb coming and I'm a little nervous.

 

[ABSTRACTlegend]

Just had a vanilla noir couple nights ago and it was fantastic

 

[nablock]

Don't be concerned over Bomb. The Brett issues all stem from the conditions of their barrels. Bomb isn't barrel aged, and has never had any problems to my knowledge.

 

[falc0n26001]

There were people who had problems with their waxed Bomb having rusted caps which seemed to impart a metallic taste to the beer. It kind of sort of happened with me, as I had a Bomb with a rusty cap which was merely "good" as opposed to "freaking AWESOME".

 

[Lognar]

There were people who had problems with their waxed Bomb having rusted caps which seemed to impart a metallic taste to the beer. It kind of sort of happened with me, as I had a Bomb with a rusty cap which was merely "good" as opposed to "freaking AWESOME".

Same. Red wax was amazing. Orange wax had rusted cap and was lacking any of the flavors that made the red wax one amazing.

 

[kmello69]

They have had cap issues and infection issues, and although in conversation they may have admitted the issues, they haven't publicly made a statement about it (that I'm aware of). Seems like instead they've just stopped waxing and/or papering their bottles, so you can't SEE the beer bubbling out from under the caps any more.....

 

[jsjames1]

Anyone seeing rust on the caps coming through the new Bomb's? I have the ones with the white shrink film instead of wax and I see rust coming through the film.
I'll be opening one soon, but just wondered if others are seeing it too.

 

[falc0n26001]

Anyone seeing rust on the caps coming through the new Bomb's? I have the ones with the white shrink film instead of wax and I see rust coming through the film.
I'll be opening one soon, but just wondered if others are seeing it too.

I just got a Bomb in Norcal from a new batch (bottled 4 or 6 weeks ago) and it had no film on it. No rust issues either. Really really good.

 

[jsjames1]

I just got a Bomb in Norcal from a new batch (bottled 4 or 6 weeks ago) and it had no film on it. No rust issues either. Really really good.

Is there a way to see the batch or bottle dates? I guess the ones i have are from a batch before yours.

 

[Five28 hz]

Anyone seeing rust on the caps coming through the new Bomb's? I have the ones with the white shrink film instead of wax and I see rust coming through the film.
I'll be opening one soon, but just wondered if others are seeing it too.

The shrink wrap showed up on their beers following the rusty tetanus infection issues; bible belt was the first of the shrink wrapped beers that I can remember.

 

[falc0n26001]

Is there a way to see the batch or bottle dates? I guess the ones i have are from a batch before yours.

I noticed a Julian date code on the neck of my bottle - it was hard to see unless you hold it up to light. First 3 digits are the day of the year, then two digits for the year.

 

[BusinessSloth]

Had a glass of Vanilla Noir at Flying Saucer. They refused to refund my money when I informed them it tasted like feces. But found it appropriate to take my godamn beer anyway. Most fecal beer I've ever had. Disgusting.

 

[Lutter]

Had a glass of Vanilla Noir at Flying Saucer. They refused to refund my money when I informed them it tasted like feces. But found it appropriate to take my godamn beer anyway. Most fecal beer I've ever had. Disgusting.

Flying Saucer is the worst.

 

[arren]

I just got a Bomb in Norcal from a new batch (bottled 4 or 6 weeks ago) and it had no film on it. No rust issues either. Really really good.

Likewise, I had a bottle of the newest batch of Bomb (no wax), and no rust issues. Unfortunately, the beer tasted nothing short of infected, like a stale ashtray with a hint of oxidation. No vanilla or chili notes at all, and the aroma was cigar-esque.

Judging from what everyone else has been saying, this seems to be an outlier, so I'm going to buy another bottle and see if the issues arise. But man, what a profound disappointment.

 

[ncaudle]

opened a blue wax Bomb last night. rusty cap and the beer was ****