No consistency

**Dude** · 04-17-2007, 03:45 AM

For teh life of me, I cannot replicate a previous brew. My last 2 attempts have been failures. I am still tryign to replicate the first ever batch of LWPA I made. Can't get it right in 3 other attempts. The last one is the closest, and with some age might overtake the inaugural batch...but the 2 in between weren't very good.

The first time I made the Pub Ale it was SO great. It was a beer I was SO proud of. The latest version is pretty much undrinkable--no balance and really harsh bitterness. I did the exact same recipe.

The latest Red Eye Rye is an ok beer (drinking a carbed up hydro sample right now) but it isn't anywhere close to the last one. That was a nice, spicy, hoppy beer and this one doesn't have that so far. It tastes muddy, not crisp like the last one. I hope this gets better with age.

Anyway, on the consistency issue...I keep great notes. Guess not "great" enough, eh?

**Chairman Cheyco** · 04-17-2007, 03:58 AM

How much does your water profile change on an annual basis? Up here ours swings wildly because of spring run-off. Just a thought, since you mentioned hop profiles.

**Dude** · 04-17-2007, 04:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chairman Cheyco

How much does your water profile change on an annual basis? Up here ours swings wildly because of spring run-off. Just a thought, since you mentioned hop profiles.

Honestly, I don't know, but I'd be willing to bet it is fairly consistent.

I do have to wonder though--both of those previous beers were brewed at teh old house. Wonder if the reservoir is different across town. Hmmmmm....

**DesertBrew** · 04-17-2007, 04:03 AM

You know how my luck was running; don't ask me!

My two batches in the wings better come out stellar since I replaced a bunch of hoses etc and went new yeast for both. I feel your pain.

abt · 04-17-2007, 04:17 AM

Not sure I've ever been able to make the exact same brew twice either. Actually I'm not sure I've ever tried! Even beers I love, I somehow can't resist tweaking the hops or using a different yeast or basemalt, or crystal malt brand or whatever.
Maybe if you tell us some about your pub ale, and the first go in particular, we can help you recreate the goodness if not the exact beer.

**Short Drive** · 04-19-2007, 01:50 PM

Dude:
I keep coming back to this post and wondering how we can help solve this problem. I think that you are not alone in this. If we all examine our beer we would have to admit there is a consistency problem. I know you use Beer Tools Pro. Have you tried using the edit feature to customize your ingredients to match the analysis sheets for each one. This will add to the record keeping you have for each brew and maybe help pin point where adjustments can be made.
I have been reading about water and malt analysis and the effects it has on mash acidity, hop utilization and S.G. How even a moisture content difference of 2% can affect the S.G. by .002 or .5 degree Plato. Or how too much SO4 can lead to a harshness in the bitterness.
Palmer covers water pretty well in chapter 15 , as does Noonan in Brewing Lager Beer. Noonan also wrote an article on line called Understanding Malt Analysis Sheets.
I Know I didn't give much feed back on your specific problems, but I'm still new to this and trying to learn as much as possible. I hope you or others here can use some of these resources and figure out the problems. That is why we are all here isn't it?

al

cweston · 04-19-2007, 01:53 PM

My only thought would be different water as well--are you on the same municipal water as in the previous house?

krispy d · 04-19-2007, 02:07 PM

This all probably seems pretty obvious to you but it wasn't to me at first. I'm really just kinda thinking out loud in hopes that one of these points might jump out at you and help.

first I would say check your water. harness (mineral content), PH...

take gravity readings of your wort pre boil as well. when I first went all grain I wasn't doing this and when I started I realized that my efficiency was all over the board.

check your sanitation as well.

measure hops by aau and not weight.

make starters and check their gravity.

Insulate and regulate your fermentation temperature.

shoot for consistent ageing and aging conditions. (light, temp...)

Cheesefood · 04-19-2007, 02:18 PM

How controlled is your environment? Did your groundwater temp change? Was it more or less humid or cold on each day? Did you store your grains in a freezer prior to use to prevent humidity absorbtion? How about your hops, are you sure they're safe? Did you buy your grains from the same place?

Basically, how much of a carbon copy were the two batches, apart from just the basic recipe? How were your brewdays different?

onecolumbyte · 04-20-2007, 01:58 AM

Maybe I'm at a "lower" stage than you dude, but I can't even get consistency from the same batch. Different bottles in the same batch taster quite different.

I'd guess the water myself aswell. Especially since you moved. Regardless of whether the source water is the same the condition of your plumbing could be quite different. Did your house switch from copper to iron pipe? Is the iron pipe older or newer? Have you ever seen all the crud inside your pipes?