Getting some consistency

[fraserjaxx]

I must have brewed 100+ AG recipes now and I am still using basic equipment but 99% are really good,drinkable beers. I am pretty much self sufficient and with the exception of visits to the pub I only drink my own beers. I find that there are so many variables in the brewing process that with my kit I have little control over. So recently I have stuck to the same recipe and method and been amazed how different they are. I suppose I have not noticed this until now as I used to try a different recipe every time but now I really see the art of getting a recipe to taste the same each time.
How many of you guys are aiming to achieve consistency and are any of you actually achieving it without spending a lot of money and/or having a dedicated area solely for brewing.
My whole kit has cost me less than £250 and I use my kitchen to brew in and my spare room and hallway to ferment and store beer!!!

[Dennis King]

Set up a fermenting fridge, a 2nd hand fridge with a temperature control unit won't cost a fortune but will add a lot more consistency to your process.

[floydmeddler]

With beers I repeat, I can confidently manage the same mash temp, same O.G, same F.G, same bitterness and same hopiness. The only thing I can't manage is ferment temp as I don't have the room for a brew fridge. I find that the beers I brew with S05 turn out just the same regardless of 19c or 24c. However, with yeasts like WLP002 (and everything else I've tried with!) the ferment temp does change the finished beer.

When you repeated said brew, did you manage the same mash temp, same O.G and same F.G? Also, did you have temp control for the ferment?

[fraserjaxx]

I am missing the control of the fermentation temp and this is obviously a massive factor that is affecting the final result. I suppose all the other changes that I have been making to the recipes and by using different yeasts have been almost irrelevant because even if I had used exactly the same ingredients from day one, every beer would have tasted different due to the fermentation temp being uncontrolled. I do enjoy the ''wait and see'' method that I am using at the moment however I would like to be able to replicate a good recipe confident that it will be similar.
I generally use S_04 but have dabbled with others such as S_05 and the odd vial of Whitelabs yeast but as mentioned I have not noticed a huge difference but this must have been down to the fermentation temp. If I can control this then I can make other changes that have a more subtle effect and fine tune? But surely this then leads to the next thing and before you know it you are wearing a white coat and hairnet after converting the shed into a brewery?

[Dennis King]

Fermenting at different temperatures will produce different results.

[orlando]

But surely this then leads to the next thing and before you know it you are wearing a white coat and hairnet after converting the shed into a brewery?

Bugger, and there was me thinking I had everything I needed

[gregorach]

Consistency has always been one of my main goals, and let me tell you, it's bloody difficult to achieve, even with really good temperature control. Even when you think you've got it down pretty will, if you taste two beers from different batches of the same recipe side-by-side, it's amazing how different they can be. There's so many other variables... Pitching rate, yeast vitality, oxygenation level, pH... It's an endless quest.

[Blackaddler]

With small batch sizes, it's very difficult to achieve consistency.

Small differences in so many areas easily magnify, and you end up with a different result.

[guypettigrew]

With small batch sizes, it's very difficult to achieve consistency.

Small differences in so many areas easily magnify, and you end up with a different result.

This why I wonder if it's ever possible to completely replicate a commercial beer by following the recipes.

I use recipes as gudelines and never expect to get a true tasting beer.

In fact, even pubs can't serve the same beer so it tastes the same each time--hence the permanent search for the perfect pint in the perfect pub.

Guy

[oldtimer]

If it's any help ( or hiderance) I have been brewing from the grain for about eighteen months and I have not yet brewed a beer that I can sit back and say ' Yeah ' that's what I want. Although I have brewed some very nice grog. But repeating exactly, well thats another story.
I have pretty well have all the gear needed, including a tempreture controlled fermenting cupboard ( a converted fridge). I brew 23 ltrs at a time and I have not yet brewed the same recipe twice and taste the same.

I am not so sure as it is down to the gear you have ( although it does help to have some good gear ). I think it comes to to knowledge and being patient. It's just that time will be the teacher here. I am confident it will come as second nature and I will be brewing the same recipe on autopilot sooner or later.
Just keep a good record of your last attempt and if you were satisfied with it, repeat the method exactly and you might be lucky.

Besides--------------- Do you REALLY want to brew exactly like an over priced pint that a pub throws at you. Would you rather not brew a beer that you can say is your own and it suits your pallet very nicely thank-you. AND enjoy doing it.

Believe it will happen my friend and sooner or later it will. Just keep trying and drink and enjoy the brew you do chuck out.

[boingy]

Temperature control is the single biggest improvement I have made to my beers.
The beers are still not consistent but they are much closer to being so. In fact, I'm pretty laid back about the process now and I'm happy with the level of variation I get between two batches of the same recipe. I actually quite like the slight variations I get. It allows me to reminisce about the times I brewed a near perfect beer...

[Pinto]

IMO, there's a difference between consistancy and consistantly good I'd want the latter over the former - If I want a pint the same again and again i'll drink commercially produced ales....but having a good (if subtly different) home pint however is my goal.