Craft beer tasting fluctuations, Y?

[Maxwell]

Sometimes I get a micro brew and it really seems like it tastes a bit different than when I have had it before even when I drink it under similar conditions (similar glass, serving temperature). What do you think the factors are in this? Is it time since brewing? Is it temp fluctuations? Is there variance in the produce used to manufacture the beer? Is there variance in the receipe due to ingredient availability? Is there variance in the brew process? Or is it me?

It is probably a confluence of factors, which are the most significant?

Help, I'm second guessing my palate.

[Rob DeNunzio]

In my limited experience, there seem to be three major factors that can drastically alter the taste of any given packaged beer: the age of the beer, the conditions under which it was stored, and the level of quality assurance on behalf of the brewer. The best breweries take care to make sure their beers are consistent and stable, keep a close eye on how the retailers take care of their beers, and try to ensure that "past due" bottles are taken off shelves, but there's really only so much one can do in terms of old kegs, light-struck bottles, crappy storage conditions and cheap resellers. Russian River won't sell their bottles to BevMo for just that reason.

Just over the past week while off celebrating the holidays, I found a case of Fat Tire that had been sitting around since last fall (as in, having an expiration date of 2/1/08) alongside a case that had just been purchased a month ago (having an expiration date of 2/1/09). Not getting the chance to do side-by-side comparisons like this very often, I had to try them both. The fresher bottle poured a clear amber with a nice head, smelled of biscuits and flowery hops, and had a crispness throughout its flavor. The older bottle poured a cloudier, flat orange, and smelled of wet paper. The taste was weak and cardboardy.

I'd be curious to hear specifics about your tasting fluctuations. Chances are, though, you shouldn't second guess your palate.

[Ray Grace]

I'll second all of what Rob says but also consider that your palate may have changed. Maybe you have a cold, or the food you eat with it is different.

[Virgil G]

Agree with Rob.

But, when you say it tastes different, does it taste different bad? or different good?

Beer will change flavor over time. (Hence why so many people now are cellaring beer). Hopefully, there are good conditions for keeping the beer preserved. Lack of light (keep beer in boxes) and a nice cool temp will keep the beer their best. Additionally, you'll probably only want to keep beers that are higher in ABV, as they will age better.

If it's been a while since you've last had that beer, and it's a continually produced line (like Fat Tire) it may just be a bad bottle. However, if it's a seasonal, there might be some small -to - significant changes in the recipe.

Anchor's xmas and happy new year, is a different recipe each year. Many other seasonals also have different recipes, sometimes based on availability, sometimes the brewer just tries something different.

Many barrel aged beers (whiskey barrel or other previously used barrels) can be different each year, based on the barrels they were able to procure that time. Goose Island Bourbon County Stout 08 is vastly different than 07, and 07 is different still than 06 (06 is my favorite, and aging it really reduces the harshness of the bourbon flavor). O'Fallon Smoked porter is barrel aged, and based on the barrels they get, determines the flavor.

So, there are many factors that can determine a difference in one beer to the next, even with the same label.

What was the beer?

[Maxwell]

Alaskan IPA recently...

I've noticed a lot of fluctuation with Lagunitas IPA too.

Is there ever variance from ingredients?

For example: even commercial orange juice manufacturers have slight variance from batch to batch and even more so from year to year based on the produce. An orange is an orange in one regard but each orange is slightly different. Wouldn't the same be true for hops or grains? Is that sort of variance significant enough to effect a finished brew?

[Gentleman Villain]

I've been told that some breweries also tweak their recipes, especially seasonals. So it may be that what you're getting changes, due to their own machinations.

Maxwell said:

Alaskan IPA recently...

I've noticed a lot of fluctuation with Lagunitas IPA too.

Is there ever variance from ingredients?

For example: even commercial orange juice manufacturers have slight variance from batch to batch and even more so from year to year based on the produce. An orange is an orange in one regard but each orange is slightly different. Wouldn't the same be true for hops or grains? Is that sort of variance significant enough to effect a finished brew?

[Virgil G]

IPA's can be very susceptible to light/heat damage.

Hops degrades with time.

Here's a good article on it.

http://www.brewbasement.com/cellaring-science/cellaring-science-all...

There will definitely be a difference caused by ingredient's; including the hops.

Here's a hops cheat sheet.

http://beervana.blogspot.com/2008/10/hop-cheat-sheet.html

Maxwell said:

Alaskan IPA recently...
I've noticed a lot of fluctuation with Lagunitas IPA too.
Is there ever variance from ingredients?

[Rob DeNunzio]

Not to mention how many brewers had to alter their hops usage last year as certain varieties became less available.

Virgil G said:

IPA's can be very susceptible to light/heat damage.

Hops degrades with time.

Here's a good article on it.

http://www.brewbasement.com/cellaring-science/cellaring-science-all...

There will definitely be a difference caused by ingredient's; including the hops.

Here's a hops cheat sheet.

http://beervana.blogspot.com/2008/10/hop-cheat-sheet.html

Maxwell said:

Alaskan IPA recently...
I've noticed a lot of fluctuation with Lagunitas IPA too.
Is there ever variance from ingredients?

[Maxwell]

Thnx so much for the great info.

[olllllo]

Reading the answers one might presume that the OP experienced some off flavors. I just wanted to throw out the opinion that some variations between batches is acceptable and sometimes desired.

I know of a certain Novato Brewery that is notorious for variation.

The answer to the question probably requires nailing down what the precise perception difference was.

Hop degradation and heat and light have been answered as well as substitution.

Grains purchased from the same maltster can vary from season to season.

Yeasts mutate.

Some breweries blend to get rid of these variations. Many do not.

I guess the OPs suggestion that temp fluctuations may have contributed to taste difference supports the off flavor notion. Again sometimes I even welcome that. :)

[Rob DeNunzio]

Since there's only one brewery that I know of in Novato, you're talking about Moylan's, right? I wonder if Denise would be happy to know her beers are "notorious for variation"... ;)

Personally, I *love* breweries that invite variation and welcome surprise into what they brew (Fantome!), but I'd also argue that for most breweries, especially those cut from the West Coast brewpub cloth (like Moylan's), consistency and quality control are attributes by which they measure their success. I believe many of these breweries have empirical ideals that they hold for their various session beers (as in, this is what SNPA tastes like, this is what Anchor Steam tastes like), excepting for those "vintage" beers where the brewer allows for the more ephemeral (this is what Bigfoot '06 tasted like in '06, '07, '08, etc.).

olllllo said:

Reading the answers one might presume that the OP experienced some off flavors. I just wanted to throw out the opinion that some variations between batches is acceptable and sometimes desired.

I know of a certain Novato Brewery that is notorious for variation.

The answer to the question probably requires nailing down what the precise perception difference was.

Hop degradation and heat and light have been answered as well as substitution.

Grains purchased from the same maltster can vary from season to season.

Yeasts mutate.

Some breweries blend to get rid of these variations. Many do not.

I guess the OPs suggestion that temp fluctuations may have contributed to taste difference supports the off flavor notion. Again sometimes I even welcome that. :)

[olllllo]

You can't make Hop bombs like they do without variation, IMO.

Perhaps the hop load is like Gatorade, in that your post workout enzymes affect the taste.

I have much love for the brewery we speak of and what you have written.

Rob DeNunzio said:

Since there's only one brewery that I know of in Novato, you're talking about Moylan's, right? I wonder if Denise would be happy to know her beers are "notorious for variation"... ;)

Personally, I *love* breweries that invite variation and welcome surprise into what they brew (Fantome!), but I'd also argue that for most breweries, especially those cut from the West Coast brewpub cloth (like Moylan's), consistency and quality control are attributes by which they measure their success. I believe many of these breweries have empirical ideals that they hold for their various session beers (as in, this is what SNPA tastes like, this is what Anchor Steam tastes like), excepting for those "vintage" beers where the brewer allows for the more ephemeral (this is what Bigfoot '06 tasted like in '06, '07, '08, etc.).

[Dwight]

On the flip side, an Anheuser-Busch representative described for me recently the extraordinary lengths that they go to in their attempt at uniformity and consistency. Every day, they reportedly fly in to St. Louis samples of their brews from every brewery for testing. It's not natural, and, to me anyway, it's putting the em-PHA-sis on the wrong syl-A-ble.