I am always somewhat dubious about any free beans. Of course it does not have to mean they are bad but most I have ever heard about or received were from lower dollar lesser named breeders and beans that when sold bring a much lower price than most other beans.
Just consider for a moment why the beans are lower priced to begin with and why the seedbank gives them out for free to customers who make other purchases.
It can only be because they are lesser in quality because if they were not they wold be bringing much higher prices and they would not be thrown in for free with other purchases.
I would say they are almost always going to be better than bagseed but I could not go so far as to say that any of them will match up with the gear produced by better breeders.
I would not say that bigger is better, though on that one the females here might disagree at least until they read what will follow, but in my experience I have had much better luck with large fat shiny beans than with tiny dull beans and in my case every free bean I have ever received was tiny or dull or both.
Some germed well and others did not. Of those that germed most grew fairly well but none were really very impressive and none produced what I would consider to be top grade bud or close to being on par with the quality of the bud from beans I purcahse.
Because of that I have wondered if, regardless of them being free, they are really worth growing because in the same amount of time and for the same amount of effort and expense I would have ended up with something that yielded more and was higher quality.
So I have begun to store up the freebies like a chipmunk storing up seeds and nuts for the winter and if I find myself shy of beans someday while they are still viable I will use them then.
If they are no longer viable at that time I have not really lost much in my opinion and certainly not enough for me to be at all upset about.
That is just my two cents on free beans.
