Buried at the end of a promotional podcast last month to address the massive recall of two of the brewery’s iconic Bourbon County beers, Goose Island’s brewmaster offered a further, though brief, admission: Two more Bourbon County beers are also showing signs of infection.
Along with the Bourbon County Coffee and Barleywine variants that Goose Island recalled in January, some samples of the company’s Bourbon County Brand Stout (the largest of last year’s six releases) and Proprietor’s Bourbon County Brand Stout (the smallest) have shown evidence of souring, likely because of bacteria, brewmaster Jared Jankoski said during the podcast.
Though the scope of the more recent infections is probably not as broad as what tainted Bourbon County Coffee and Barleywine, the acknowledgment of off flavors in four of last year’s six Bourbon County releases marks an even broader snag for the most famous (and costly) brand from Chicago’s oldest brewery.
While Goose Island has yet to release further information about the two latest infections or how it plans to compensate customers, varying corners of the beer industry wonder what the fallout will be when this year’s batch of Bourbon County beers is released. Hysteria for the brand typically begins Thanksgiving evening, with customers lining up at Binny’s Beverage Depot on Marcey Street for the beer’s release the next morning.
High-profile tapping events typically follow, both in Chicago and out of state as Goose Island has expanded the Bourbon County distribution footprint. Last year’s release included the most expensive Bourbon County beer to date: Rare Bourbon County Brand Stout, which cost at least $60 per bottle. (Rare is one of the two beers in the Bourbon County family not found to have unwanted bacteria.)
Pat Berger, who owns craft-focused beer bars Paddy Long’s and Kaiser Tiger in Chicago, said he’ll continue to stage Bourbon County tappings this winter, but he’s far from certain that turnout will match previous years.
“Whether people will show up is the biggest question, and I don’t know the answer to that,” Berger said. “Will people line up at Binny’s? Will they show up at Paddy Long’s? We’ll find out.”
Amid increased consumer choice, Berger said, enthusiasm had already begun to dampen for Bourbon County events in recent years. Five years ago, lines snaked down the block, he said. Even before word spread of tainted Bourbon County in 2015, turnout began to slow.
Still, Berger said he is a staunch fan of the Bourbon County beers and plans to celebrate Paddy Long’s 10th anniversary in 2017 with 10 vintages of Bourbon County Brand Stout. Though he was not personally burned by last year’s infections — all kegs and bottles he poured were good, so far as he knew — he said that any brewery attempting to do right by its customers deserves a second chance.
“I don’t see any reason I wouldn’t give Goose the same break I’ve given to many small popular Chicago craft breweries,” Berger said. “I’ve dealt with a lot of breweries that have sent out bad beer, and I always feel that if the brewery is willing to atone — like give you your money back — I’m willing to work with them again.”
Atonement has been key since Goose Island recalled the first two infected Bourbon County beers in January. It largely won praise for offering refunds on Coffee and Barleywine of up to $100 without proof of purchase, plus a free T-shirt. It also offered exchanges on bottles, whether opened or unopened, at its Fulton Street taproom.
However, Chris Quinn, owner of The Beer Temple bottle shop, said he has heard his customers grouse on two fronts: Some say they have still not received refund checks, and others are frustrated that the brewery waited several months to address complaints about the second two variants.
“A lot of customers are telling me it will have an effect on future purchases for them,” Quinn said. “But I don’t know if I believe them or not. A lot of these people are compulsive beer buyers.”
Quinn said he will also give the brewery the benefit of the doubt with the 2016 release, and will take on as much Bourbon County as he can get for his store.
“If anyone is in a position to identify and correct this problem, it’s someone with the resources of a Goose Island,” he said, referencing the brewery’s 2011 sale to global beer behemoth Anheuser-Busch InBev.
For another well-regarded brewery that encountered infection issues — The Bruery, in Placentia, Calif. — communicating with customers was as important as fixing brewing practices, said Benjamin Weiss, director of the brewery’s brand marketing.
In 2013, The Bruery saw five releases develop off flavors from unwanted bacteria. It responded with a 1,000-word blog post detailing what went wrong and what would be done to prevent a repeat of the issue. When a collaboration beer with Munster, Ind.-based Three Floyds Brewing in 2014 was also found to have unwanted bacteria, The Bruery released the beer at a discount and advised customers to keep it refrigerated to maintain flavor.
Weiss said The Bruery lost a smattering of business but more than made up for it with new customers. The key during a very difficult time, he said, was communication.
“I have a hard time saying screwing up bettered our brand, but it definitely has,” Weiss said. “We’ve had people say, ‘Screw you guys, we’re done with this,’ but people mostly appreciate the honesty.”
One advantage for The Bruery was the relatively small scope of its infections; the beers were distributed directly to customers through its “reserve society,” which requires membership and customers picking up bottles at the brewery. Goose Island has released Bourbon County beers with a far broader footprint, across many states.
“I assume Bourbon County will be resilient,” Weiss said. “It’s different because of the national scale, and because they probably have a lot of people who buy the beer that don’t have a personal relationship with the brewery. The people who bought it just because it looked cool on the shelf, yeah, they might not buy it again.”
Goose Island has said that Bourbon County Coffee and Barleywine were both infected with Lactobacillus acetotolerans, a bacteria strain that sours beer. (Bacteria in beer does not harm humans; it simply alters flavor.) The scope or cause of souring in Bourbon County Brand Stout and Proprietor’s Bourbon County Brand Stout is yet to be identified, but laboratory tests have indicated a drop in pH, indicating the presence of unwanted bacteria, the brewery has said.
“We’re not shying away from the reality that some of these have shown decreased pH and are out of profile,” Jankoski said in last month’s podcast.
Goose Island declined to offer further information Thursday, but in a statement, brewery President Ken Stout said, “Bourbon County Stout is a brand that represents 25 years of inspiration, perspiration and dedication. While we couldn’t have anticipated what we’ve dealt with around the 2015 Coffee and Barleywine BCS variants, we have taken our learnings from this process and are using it to become an even better barrel-aging brewery moving forward. We’ll continue to share our findings with other breweries, and of course, our BCS fans.”
Randy Mosher, a longtime beer writer and label designer who owns a stake in 5 Rabbit and Forbidden Root breweries, and who did early design work for the Goose Island brewpub, said the Bourbon County brand will likely be just fine, provided there are no more stumbles.
“As long as Bourbon County is rare and expensive and difficult to get and pretty good, this will all blow over,” Mosher said.
A tarnished Bourbon County brand might have one ironic upside, both Mosher and Berger agreed: tempering a fan base that has become increasingly frenetic. As much as any craft brand, Bourbon County has turned beer into competitive sport, with long lines on release days and a robust secondary market that has the beers selling for several times the initial retail price.
“If the nerds online decide it’s not a beer worth trading for, then the nerds in line won’t show up,” Berger said. “If that whole thing goes away, I’m fine with that.”
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