Is batch 2 _ever_ better than batch 1

That's the damned truth.

 

Not that anyone knows the reference, but Kernel's showpiece beer Imperial Brown Stout has only gotten better since they first started making it - and it was pretty damn good to begin with.

 

Had batch 1 fresh and on tap and bottle. My least favorite batch by far.

 

This. You never see brewing skill, recipes, or equipment improve with time. Lightning only strikes once, and that's when a brewer is just starting out. After that, all of his beer gets worse.

 

Yeah, but their first album was better...

 

As an example more akin to the Tilquin situation originally presented, batch 2 Caractere Rouge was just as good as batch 1, with huge differences in bottle counts.

 

Is that the Tilquin Kriek? It's been bottled? Did any come to the states? iso...

 

No it's a Rodenbach beer.

 

I read the post wrong, silly me.

 

The reason why Batch 1's are usually better. We are all beer nerds who group think because we read the same forums. When a new beer comes out that is average, we don't even talk about it on here...and why should we. It's when something impressive comes out that we begin talking about how good it is. And that's because the brewer got everything right with that beer. If he hadn't, we woulda poured it down the drain and written a shitty review. So when the second batch comes out, it seems pretty obvious to me that it is going to be tough to duplicate. Only the best batch 1 beers get talked about on here. It goes to reason that a brewer would be hard pressed to get everything right twice in a row.

 

2013 bourbon vanilla DL > 2012.

 

I liked Biere de Norma B2 a bit better than B1.

 

The most recent batch of Assassin is the best yet.

 

I hear that Red Peak Britikka Bruin batch 2 blows first batch away. My dude had some on his last trip to WA.

 

I enjoyed Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls more than the original.

Also, I enjoyed the second bottling of Hunahpu more than the first.

 

Pretty much all the HF saisons improved with subsequent batches.