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[hugbee]

"Drinking the same beer way too long" by autumnaldave

It seems to me that when you drink something consistantly, you can start to pick up on the differences and adjuncts of a beer...

But it's something to be noticed over time. It just goes to show that even the bestest beers can sour and sometimes suck on some days and sometimes they can even shine... but only if the care behind the beer is there... or sometimes not... sometimes it's just a happy accident....

I don't really understand why tho... they use the same formula don't they? It's not like the mean to change things so radically that the beer tastes different or so off base that you can go from one beer or batch to another...

You can't tell me it's the changes either... shortage of hops, shortage of care, shortage of whatever.... it all seems to be in the brewers hands.

I do understand it's a business, I do understand that the stuff has to be moved sometimes, even when it's not at it's best... everyone has problems, everyone has faults, some folks are downright deranged, or whatever verb, adverb or other you may title them with...

But beer is beer and people are people...

Maybe it's time for me to try another beer...
Just a little philosophy beerwise from autumnal dave.

cheers

crossposted respectfully here, by hugbee 

[beerist]

As the RB thread says...what?  Is this about batch-to-batch variation or shifts over time?

[wbfarr]

Crossposted where?

It has long been my experience that regardless of what I'm consuming -- beer, wine, favorite dishes -- there are perceived taste variances where there should be none: brews from the same batch, wines from the same vintage and maker, dishes I've repeatedly prepared. And nine times out of ten, I'm the factor that makes it taste different. Sure, once in a while, there's a cork issue, or perhaps a bad sealing job, or maybe I wasn't paying attention while cooking. But most of the time, it's me -- a mood change, or mild illness, or something I ate that changes the ability of my taste buds to do their thing, or memories affecting the reality.

So the care behind the bottle isn't the factor... it's the person drinking it, and when and how and under whatever circumstances. We notice it more because we invest more in our brews, but it's there. I've been drinking pilsners and dortmunders recently, and notice at times Munich or biscuit malts are overwhelming, yet at others times, the same brews are classicly perfectly balanced. It's not them, it's me. And you.

Unless, you know, you're dishing on the workplace.

[frazbri]

I'm sure some beers have changed recipes over time, bur I think much of these differences are changes in perception.  We aren't comparing two beers.  We are comparing one beer against our memories of our prior drinking exerience.   

[kp]

I'll be sitting at a brewpub drinking pints of the same beer and see changes from one pint to the next. I was discussing this with the brewer one night how the first pint showed great malt character but the next one showed lots of hops. He said the difference was all in my head. I agreed.
 

[BMOOR]

A fly on the wall of a 642 barrel per year brewpub.....

Me: Andrew, do we still have 6# of Cascade downstairs?
Andrew: Nope, but we have 5# of Centennial.
Me: cool, go grab it

Me: Can I get Weyerman Special B please?
Salesperson: We don't carry that Brand.
Me: How about Caramel 120?
S'person: cool

Me: Does this water have more Chlorine in it this summer?
Andrew: smells like it.
Me: call the village and then boil it a bit.
Andrew: cool

Me: Andrew, wanna make the Stationmaster a little more hoppy?
Andrew: sure, you mean like Gumballhead?
ME: sounds good-I love that beer
Andrew: cool

Me: Andrew, make sure all of those 10,000 new bottles get rinsed before filling
Andrew: you think one of them could have some residue in them
ME: yes, and it could affect one bottle without us knowing
Andrew: cool

Andrew: do you think our batch size is too big
Me: yes, 15 bbls is too much. Slower beers taste different by the end of their run.
Andrew: Oh.

Me: HEy why did this lager not take off for three days
Andrew: MAybe they didn't send us enough yeast
Me: crap

fade to black......

As many people posted, a lot of the differences do derive from the drinker him/herself. Obviously the bud/miller/coors brands out there will not vary and even the sierra/Sam Adams/etc are becoming less and less varied. But anyone smaller certainly has a LOT of variables to contend with.  (maybe you can tell us what beers in particular brought you to this quandry)Some strive for consistency and others don't. I think you can see in which camp I reside. Striving for improvement in each batch is more important to me thatn thinking I have a perfect beer that can be bettered.

[brewcrew]

Me: Andrew, make sure all of those 10,000 new bottles get rinsed before filling
Andrew: you think one of them could have some residue in them
ME: yes, and it could affect one bottle without us knowing
Andrew: cool

Not to change topic but does this mean we should start seeing Flossmoor beers on the shelves soon?

[Kissel]

A fly on the wall of a 642 barrel per year brewpub.....

Me: Andrew, do we still have 6# of Cascade downstairs?
Andrew: Nope, but we have 5# of Centennial.
Me: cool, go grab it

Me: Can I get Weyerman Special B please?
Salesperson: We don't carry that Brand.
Me: How about Caramel 120?
S'person: cool

Me: Does this water have more Chlorine in it this summer?
Andrew: smells like it.
Me: call the village and then boil it a bit.
Andrew: cool

Me: Andrew, wanna make the Stationmaster a little more hoppy?
Andrew: sure, you mean like Gumballhead?
ME: sounds good-I love that beer
Andrew: cool

Me: Andrew, make sure all of those 10,000 new bottles get rinsed before filling
Andrew: you think one of them could have some residue in them
ME: yes, and it could affect one bottle without us knowing
Andrew: cool

Andrew: do you think our batch size is too big
Me: yes, 15 bbls is too much. Slower beers taste different by the end of their run.
Andrew: Oh.

Me: HEy why did this lager not take off for three days
Andrew: MAybe they didn't send us enough yeast
Me: crap

fade to black......

This should probably be required reading for every beer enthusiast, and as early on in one's beer career as possible.  IMHO.  Cool.   

[BMOOR]

A fly on the wall of a 642 barrel per year brewpub.....

Me: Andrew, do we still have 6# of Cascade downstairs?
Andrew: Nope, but we have 5# of Centennial.
Me: cool, go grab it

Me: Can I get Weyerman Special B please?
Salesperson: We don't carry that Brand.
Me: How about Caramel 120?
S'person: cool

Me: Does this water have more Chlorine in it this summer?
Andrew: smells like it.
Me: call the village and then boil it a bit.
Andrew: cool

Me: Andrew, wanna make the Stationmaster a little more hoppy?
Andrew: sure, you mean like Gumballhead?
ME: sounds good-I love that beer
Andrew: cool

Me: Andrew, make sure all of those 10,000 new bottles get rinsed before filling
Andrew: you think one of them could have some residue in them
ME: yes, and it could affect one bottle without us knowing
Andrew: cool

Andrew: do you think our batch size is too big
Me: yes, 15 bbls is too much. Slower beers taste different by the end of their run.
Andrew: Oh.

Me: HEy why did this lager not take off for three days
Andrew: MAybe they didn't send us enough yeast
Me: crap

fade to black......

This should probably be required reading for every beer enthusiast, and as early on in one's beer career as possible.  IMHO.  Cool.   

Exactly!
And if we wanted them to be all the same and not entice our senses, we'd never have changed from drinking you know what.
Everyone deserves a peak behind the curtain now and again.

[BMOOR]

Me: Andrew, make sure all of those 10,000 new bottles get rinsed before filling
Andrew: you think one of them could have some residue in them
ME: yes, and it could affect one bottle without us knowing
Andrew: cool

Not to change topic but does this mean we should start seeing Flossmoor beers on the shelves soon?

Well, soon is a relative term.  If you compare it to the 11.5 years we have been open, then yes, very soon.  If you define soon as in the month of Jan, then no.
Filler is still in Canada.
Labels are very close to being finished(I may post them here when we send them to ttb)
and bottles have to be painted on.
soon enough...

[Kissel]

Exactly!
And if we wanted them to be all the same and not entice our senses, we'd never have changed from drinking you know what.
Everyone deserves a peak behind the curtain now and again.

Word!

As for the peek behind the curtain... I agree entirely, especially (I'm one of the bookkeepers for the stores) as I'm coming off of two furniture store closing/moving sales.  (I've also spent my share of working life in restaurants, and, well, dining out is all about who controls what's behind the curtain, in a way.)  On the whole, we as consumers need to think ahead and consider different perspectives and options when making purchases.  NO, we can't deliver your furniture today... did you ever think that we might be booked already? or did you not listen to your salesperson? 

Well.  I won't rant on what's dominated my life for the past three months.  I'll just say that I appreciate your insight and responses, and I'm glad that Flossmoor is out there making great beer for the Midwestern masses.  Enough with the threadjack, Kissel.  Someone hand me a beer!   

[Swordboarder]

A fly on the wall of a 642 barrel per year brewpub.....

As many people posted, a lot of the differences do derive from the drinker him/herself. Obviously the bud/miller/coors brands out there will not vary and even the sierra/Sam Adams/etc are becoming less and less varied. But anyone smaller certainly has a LOT of variables to contend with.  (maybe you can tell us what beers in particular brought you to this quandry)Some strive for consistency and others don't. I think you can see in which camp I reside. Striving for improvement in each batch is more important to me thatn thinking I have a perfect beer that can be bettered.

Blending helps a lot. How many turns of the brew house fit in a bright tank?

But what volume giveth, volume taketh away. The flavor changes a lot on the shelf, especially in a warm gas station in April, May, June, July, August and September. Most retail outlets and some distributors aren't overly concerned with how long it sits on the shelf.

[theburden]

We're going to do 642 this year?  Cool.

[beerinator]

This thread was funny and then someone wrote a play and the thread got even funnier.   

[Evil_Keith]

Beerinator, 
 I am assuming that the info next to your signature is your current longitude and latitude. If I and my MapSource Topo software are correct that would put you in Pierce Mill, NC right along Cripple Creek and approximately 2133 feet above sea level.
 That's pretty good for a guy that can't figure out how to enable cookies on a PC...
                                                               
                                                                                                     N41 35/W87 27