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Double batch different taste

Northern Brewer General
#1

I had made a double batch and I used the same process for both but one came out a little more on the sweet side than the other. I prefered the one that was less sweet and more clean and crisp. The only difference I know was one of them came out less og because my effeciency was down because I used the wrong crusher at the store for one of the recipes. Other than that everything was the same. My grain bill was like this.

8.5 lbs pilsner malt
3/4 lbs vienna
3/4 lbs munich

Any thoughts where the variation might have come from.

#2

did you use the same scale and same thermometer for your mash? how confident are you that you pitched the exact same amount of yeast in each?

#3

I used the same thermometer for both batches. I am pretty sure I hit 150 for both of them. As far as the yeast i used I used 2124. I spent a week stepping up a starter big enough for 10 gallons then spilit it right in half. The only thing was that my OG was 10 points higher than the other one. I used the crusher they use for steeping specialty grains that took forever. Its possible that I didn’t get my grains stirred good enough and was reading a hot colder spot. I bought a new digital themometer I have been using a small dial one but its getting harder to read those small numbers. does the alchohol content effect the taste much?

#4

Did the one with the lower OG finish drier? The difference in crush could give you a difference in OG, all other things being equal.

#5

agreed…do you have fg readings from both?

#6

Ya I took the readings from one and not the other figuring they must be the same. One was in a carboy and the other in a bucket. Ya its possible now that you have mentioned it one of them might not have finished all the way. I think I might be rushing out of the fermenter. My ferementing vessel is the same as my keezer. I am also lazy about taking the final gravity reading thinking I see no activity it muxt be done.

#7

Ok but even if you got the same % attenuation the one that started lower is going to finish lower. Since you say 10 points difference, which is pretty significant, here’s an example for 75% attenuation:

1.050x.25=1.012.5
1.060x.25=1.015

If your OG was any higher or your attenuation any lower then the difference will have even more of an impact on flavor.

#8

first let me just say you cant rush anything in brewing or you will get errors, or inconsistant batch’s. take your time brew day, is a good day dont rush it. You always have to check your OG and FG on every batch. I give my ale’s 2 weeks in the primary and always check FG before racking to bottle. Saves alot of headaches that way. Second one of the biggest pieces of equipment you need to get the same results is your own malt crusher, the ones at the store dont seem to do as good a job, when i got my grain pre crushed id hit like 65% eff. now that i crush my own i get like 83%. that being said the difference is completely different beers.

#9

Like JLap said, all other things being equal, a beer with a higher OG will finish with a higher FG.

Did you correct the IBUs for the higher OG beer to keep the same balance? If not, it will taste sweeter.

#10

I didn’t adjust my ibu’s I used .7 ounce for bittering .5 ounce for flavor and .5 ounce for aroma using hallertau for all 3. I wish I kept track which one had which crush and which one I didn’t check the final gravity on. After I did my d rest I brough them both back down to 50 degrees but they were both still bubling even though the one I checked read 1.008. I am leaning toward thinking the one I didn’t check was probably the higher OG and didn’t finish because as I remember it seemed as though it had more activity at the end. On a side note those who do lagers I pitch my yeast at 48 and bring back to 50. I have heard some don’t do the d rest and just let it sit in the primary for 3 to 4 weeks and never have problems.

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