QC. Quality Control. It is super important. And devilishly hard to harness, especially when working with bugs and critters. Even for large outfits like Hangar 24 and for places that have encountered taste issues before, like The Bruery.
Both of which encountered issues recently which highlight the other side of QC. Informing the public of QC issues and offering concrete solutions.
Hangar 24 had some bottles of their Sanguinello sprout leaks through wax due to a balky piece of equipment. The Bruery had to track down why some bottles of Hottenroth with peaches were more diacetyl heavy.
Both breweries explained the situation in clear language and took steps to ameliorate the problem. Either by tossing the bottling equipment or storing the beer at different temperatures.
The next step is to add that problem to what I call the “watch list”. This is a simple list of problems that have occurred. But it does not end there. It is incumbent on breweries to also look at that list and make a second list of what could occur.
The other piece to the puzzle is to have plans, in place, to make your customers and fans happy-ish if something does goes haywire. Which it will because, you know, life happens.