that of course crossed my mind, because for once in my life I bought the middle grade fuel. I don't know why. And it occurred to me: who buys this stuff? Most people would either buy regular or premium, so maybe the middle grade sits for a while and goes bad or gets contaminated.
But - I noticed the issue pretty much right after I fueled up, and I didn't think the new fuel could make it to the engine THAT quickly, so my working assumption was that the fuel stop was coincidental. Wouldn't it take at least a few miles before new fuel made it through the fuel lines?