Bellwoods Brewery

[Cadbury102]

After a tough stretch at work, I cracked one of my BOYD 2018 bottles today. It was notably off and tasted infected. Hoping it was a one-off, I cracked a second bottle that turned out to be just as bad. Checked in with a buddy of mine and he had a bad experience with a bottle last weekend. I'm getting a bit concerned. I've still got 12 or so cellared and it would be a shame (and an expensive one at that) if it's all spoiled. Anyone else having these issues? I last drank a bottle of BOYD on December 23 and it was as good as ever; not sure what's transpired since then. I also cracked a 2015 bottle back in November and it had aged beautifully. I stocked up this year in hopes of ageing a bunch.

I had a 2018 about two weeks ago. It was just as good as it was when it first released. I keep them in my cold cellar, which right now is quite chilly. My dad has a few in his closer-to-room-temperature cold room and he said that last week his still tasted great. We bought on day 1 of release. I'm not sure what to make of your infected bottles.

[Provost Drunk]

After a tough stretch at work, I cracked one of my BOYD 2018 bottles today. It was notably off and tasted infected. Hoping it was a one-off, I cracked a second bottle that turned out to be just as bad. Checked in with a buddy of mine and he had a bad experience with a bottle last weekend. I'm getting a bit concerned. I've still got 12 or so cellared and it would be a shame (and an expensive one at that) if it's all spoiled. Anyone else having these issues? I last drank a bottle of BOYD on December 23 and it was as good as ever; not sure what's transpired since then. I also cracked a 2015 bottle back in November and it had aged beautifully. I stocked up this year in hopes of ageing a bunch.

I had a 2018 about two weeks ago. It was just as good as it was when it first released. I keep them in my cold cellar, which right now is quite chilly. My dad has a few in his closer-to-room-temperature cold room and he said that last week his still tasted great. We bought on day 1 of release. I'm not sure what to make of your infected bottles.

Thanks - appreciate the feedback. The majority of my stock is in my dad's cold cellar. The two bottles I cracked yesterday were stored at room temp (perils of condo living). I'll be curious to see how the cellared bottles are holding up.

[sofakingdrunk]

Cracked my first bottle of this years Grandmas boy last night. Fantastic, really tasty. I think it’s quite a bit more sour than the last version...but I talked to a friend that had one, and he didn’t think it all that sour at all. Maybe my palate was a little off last night?

[jeremyg]

Cracked my first bottle of this years Grandmas boy last night. Fantastic, really tasty. I think it’s quite a bit more sour than the last version...but I talked to a friend that had one, and he didn’t think it all that sour at all. Maybe my palate was a little off last night?

nah it's def way more sour than past years

[walz22]

After a tough stretch at work, I cracked one of my BOYD 2018 bottles today. It was notably off and tasted infected. Hoping it was a one-off, I cracked a second bottle that turned out to be just as bad. Checked in with a buddy of mine and he had a bad experience with a bottle last weekend. I'm getting a bit concerned. I've still got 12 or so cellared and it would be a shame (and an expensive one at that) if it's all spoiled. Anyone else having these issues? I last drank a bottle of BOYD on December 23 and it was as good as ever; not sure what's transpired since then. I also cracked a 2015 bottle back in November and it had aged beautifully. I stocked up this year in hopes of ageing a bunch.

I had a 2018 about two weeks ago. It was just as good as it was when it first released. I keep them in my cold cellar, which right now is quite chilly. My dad has a few in his closer-to-room-temperature cold room and he said that last week his still tasted great. We bought on day 1 of release. I'm not sure what to make of your infected bottles.

I opened a 2018 BOYD last night and had the same experience as Provost - definitely infected/spoiled. There was a tiny hint of cognac but it was mostly soured and not really drinkable. Disappointing since this is my favourite of their stouts.

[Blasphomet]

Death to cellaring.

[northyorksammy]

20-20 hindsight not to cellar most beers

[seangm]

20-20 hindsight not to cellar most beers

I agree most beers are better of fresh, but I find there are a lot of apologists for infected beers. I see it all over, "keep the beer in the fridge" and "open it extremely carefully" so it doesn't gush all over your kitchen, etc. What about better bottling practices or not putting unpasteurized ingredients into beer that leads to exploding/spoiled bottles?

While it might degrade in flavour and not be worth cellaring, a properly packaged beer shouldn't be exploding/spoiled/infected after a year or so. I have bottles of home brew that are 3 1/2 years old (I know, I know, they were hiding) and they still drank acceptably.

[Masterplan]

Just opened a 2018 BOYD based on other posters experiences, and I'm glad I did... it tastes great. Thanks!

Sorry about you luck. I'd suggest contacting the brewery, my guess is they bend over backwards to compensate you for a bad bottle.

[Cadbury102]

Just opened a 2018 BOYD based on other posters experiences, and I'm glad I did... it tastes great. Thanks!

Sorry about you luck. I'd suggest contacting the brewery, my guess is they bend over backwards to compensate you for a bad bottle.

As I posted above, I have kept my BOYD 2018s in a cold cellar that right now is about ~ 6 degrees. My father's cold cellar may be around 10, and both of us have enjoyed that beer recently on separate occasions. I would be curious how others have stored the 2018s and the results.

[Masterplan]

Stored at 6C in my cold room. Low temps may delay the onset if infected, but it won't stop it completely. You'd be able to taste it by now.

[beerstodiscover]

This year's batch of Hellwoods is probably the best yet. Super silky, soft and full of chocolate and cherry somehow coaxed out of the malt. I always thought it was good, but a little overpriced. I think they reduced it $1 to $9 this year, probably because the latest Black Liquids is $10. Both stouts are fantastic and well worth it.

[jp_jkl]

This year's batch of Hellwoods is probably the best yet. Super silky, soft and full of chocolate and cherry somehow coaxed out of the malt. I always thought it was good, but a little overpriced. I think they reduced it $1 to $9 this year, probably because the latest Black Liquids is $10. Both stouts are fantastic and well worth it.

Thanks for the reminder that Hellwoods is back. It's been $8 or $9 since they switched from 650ml to 500ml bottles. Hellwoods was the first thing I bought from the bottle shop shortly after they opened it. I remember it being $10 in a 650ml bottle. It was the most expensive beer I had ever bought at the time. They dropped all their prices when they switched to smaller bottles actually.

I believe this is something Burdock didn't do when they switched from 500ml to 375ml bottles as I recall some backlash about that.

[beerstodiscover]

It's been $8 or $9 since they switched from 650ml to 500ml bottles.

Fair enough, I could be wrong about the price history. Sipping on another Hellwoods now and I'm sure they've added a tonne of oats to this to make it extremely thick. You could almost eat it with a spoon. It's gotta be one of the best straight imperial stouts I've had.

[Provost Drunk]

Anyone else notice that BOYD has been pouring quite a bit around beer Bars in the GTA (Bar Hops, Wvrst, Thirsty & Miserable, even The Brain in Hamilton)? Looks like a sign to me that bars are liquidating before the infection really takes over.