Hey griff -- just curious if what you bought was warm or cold?

I bought mine warm and was leary, but had no choice. Hop forward beers do not age well at all when stored warm. I don't have any data to back it up. I just know I have had hoppy beer in Colorado fresh out of the tap and then tried it back here and totally different taste. The bitterness will fade and it's an unmistakable flavor when its bad.

I've also aged some of my hoppy beer in bottles at room temperature and ended up with the same flavor.

It's totally possible yours was fresh and stored correctly. I often wonder though how many people have tried hop forward beers that weren't stored properly and thought they tasted like pizz.
Sucks for the brewers when that happens cause they may only have that one chance to win a consumer and they get screwed cause the liquor store manager is clueless..