Wondering what the causes of batch variation are. I know people will say palate changing, blah, blah, blah. But batch variation is real, and you are lying to yourself if you don't believe it is. This thread is primarily spawned by the 6 pack of Two Hearted that I purchased over the weekend. Granted it was about 7 weeks old, but it was an absolute mess, and I don't think 7 weeks of age was the problem. It was malt dominant, very little hop character; even the appearance was off as it was cloudier/hazier than any other Two Hearted I've ever had. And for the record, I've had more Two Hearted's than I can count over the last several years, and none of them were like this. Bells certainly isn't alone here, many of my favorite breweries produce beers with significant batch variation, particularly when it comes to IPAs. Some notorious batch variation beers for me are CCB Jai Alai and Westbrook IPA. Ive drank my fair share of both and have had certain 6 packs that I swear aren't even the same beer. Even my favorite brewery, and most consistent brewery I know, COAST, has had some batch variation since expanding their bbl production. So my question to you, fellow beer nerds, is what causes batch variation? Aside from the obvious infection issues that can occur. I imagine hop freshness has something to do with it, but I assume that would cause minor variations and not the complete off batches I am referencing here. Is there variation based on where from the fermenter the beer is bottled from? Just brainstorming here. Appreciate the input.
Well they are using agricultural products in the brewing. Hops and grains can change their flavors depending on the weather, when they are harvested, how they are prepared for brewing. Indeed the same type of hops grown in fields right across the road from each other can have different flavor profiles. Basically the brewer has got to tune each batch and make adjustments to get reasonably close to a target with each batch. For some of the type of things you may be describing, the flavor profile of cans/bottles from the same batch can vary a bit depending on how they are handled by distribution and the retailer where you buy them. E.g., a 7 week old beer kept at room temperature will taste much older than a 7 week old beer kept refrigerated.
Could be the mash/boiling temp was off and hop scheduling was off. I've noticed it with more "rotating" offerings versus year round offerings. Maybe the brewery had too much malt base to support a weaker hop addition. It happens we're human and are not exact each time.
Lots of causes...many not even immediately known to the brewers -- even highly skilled ones like Mitch Steele from Stone. http://blog.stonebrewing.com/index.php/chill-haze-the-more-you-know/ There are SO many factors that go into creating a consistently top-quality product (like Two Hearted), so when one small thing goes wrong, it can really throw a wrench in the works. Changes in protein content in the malt, process or equipment limitations, a desire to stick with the tried-and-trusted when new measures are called for. It's a real challenge...and all the more reason to admire brewers -- yes, even macro ones -- that manage to put out a consistent product beer after beer, year after year.
The last sixer of Great Lakes Eddy Fitz I picked up wasn't very good either, & I adore that stuff...so yea, I definitely agree that there is batch variations.
Since there are so many factors that can affect a brew's flavor, I've tried to pay attention to see if I can detect differences in some of my regulars year-to-year. I must not be very good at it, because I've only found two noticeable differences: Short's Soft Parade (sometimes sweeter, sometimes more tart) and (speaking of Bell's) Oberon. Oberon was weird one because I swear two or three years ago the flavor was way different, then the next year it went back to tasting like it used to. It wasn't bad, it just didn't taste like Oberon.
