Advanced Beginner Question. Huh?

[Brew-Jay]

Let's say I brew the same beer two times. The only difference is that the first batch has an OG of 1.070 and an FG of 1.018. The second batch has an OG of 1.060 and an FG of 1.008 (Let's say for the sake of argument, that the grain bill was the same, but efficiency was off). The math tells me that the ABV will be the same, but there's more to it than that. What other difference(s) do you think the beers will have assuming (hypothetically) all else is equal.

All opinions welcome. Thanks in advance. Yours truly, God save the queen, etc.

 

[Walter_Whites_Batch]

The one that finished with a higher FG would be sweeter? That is my beginner-beginner answer.

 

[Kealia]

At a bare minimum the first beer is going to have more body and more residual sweetness than the second. Due to this it may also seem like beer #2 is hoppier because there are fewer unfermented sugars left over to offset them as in beer #1.

On a call now and am supposed to be paying attention so I'll let somebody else build on this.

 

[forstmeister]

Yes, the beer with the higher fg may be sweeter, will have more mouthfeel. Also, due to differences in the og, the bitterness will likely be different. Bitterness unit:gravity unit ratio has changed and so will the final product

 

[GrogNerd]

Attenuation = 100 % * (starting gravity - current gravity) / (starting gravity - 1)

first beer attenuation would be 74%, the 2nd would be 87%, making it drier with less body

 

[billl]

The problem is that even hypothetically, not all else is equal. You can't have 1 attenuating 74% and the other at 86% and have things be equal. One would have to be mashed a lot cooler or have sugar added or use a different yeast etc. Those are all much bigger changes then just a change in efficiency.

 

[GrogNerd]

The problem is that even hypothetically, not all else is equal. You can't have 1 attenuating 74% and the other at 86% and have things be equal. One would have to be mashed a lot cooler or have sugar added or use a different yeast etc. Those are all much bigger changes then just a change in efficiency.

as a beginner, I was looking at his question more like "what differences would I notice between these two end products, grain bills being the same?"

not "what would cause them to be different like this?"

what is the effect, not the cause. but I could be full of sh*t, wouldn't be the first, or last time

 

[Brew-Jay]

I guess I'm looking for all types of responses. I love this type of conversation on HBT. Differences in mouth feel and residual sweetness are definitely two noticeable differences that you'd notice just by tasting. But I also like the talk about how other differences MUST exist in order to get those results. Please keep the feedback coming. This is good stuff!

 

[cluckk]

It has been pointed out that the lower FG beer would have fewer sugars interfering with the perception of hop bitterness and this is true. One other point about hops is that higher gravity beer would have a lower hop utilization and therefore be less bitter even from the beginning. So the lower gravity beer would isomerize more AAs and then have less sugar masking the perception of hop bitterness.

 

[billl]

"
what is the effect, not the cause. but I could be full of sh*t, wouldn't be the first, or last time"

The problem is that you asked a question that really isn't possible. The "cause" of something happening has a big impact on the taste in brewing. eg if you mashed at a higher temp and caused more unfermentable sugars, that would raise your FG. It would make the beer more full bodied without necessarily making it a whole lot sweeter. If you just had a yeast that didn't attenuate as well, your beer might have a bit more body, but it would taste sweeter.

So, the process you use to get there is just as important as the final numbers. Just giving OG and FG is kinda like saying "One person went from boston to LA, another went from Boston to Salt Lake City. How was their trip different?". You might be able to offer some really broad responses like "one finished farther east", but you are missing a lot of detail necessary to say too much more about it.

 

[GrogNerd]

I'm not the OP, didn't ask any question, but it looks to me that you're reading far more into the OP question.

he's asking how different would two beers be if you brewed the same recipe twice, getting two different OGs, but ending up with same ABV. 8000 variables could have caused two different OGs, or maybe even two different brewers took the same ingredients and brewed on different systems

but he wasn't asking about the processes, just the end results.

how WOULD they be different, not how COULD they be different

"One person went from Boston to LA, another went from Boston to Salt Lake City. How are the CITIES different?"

 

[JLem]

The one with the higher FG will have more body/mouthfeel, but not necessarily be any sweeter. Unless you added lactose, any unfermentable sugars left in the beer aren't really going to be sweet. "Higher FG" is not equivalent to "sweeter beer".

 

[Yooper]

I'm not the OP, didn't ask any question, but it looks to me that you're reading far more into the OP question.

he's asking how different would two beers be if you brewed the same recipe twice, getting two different OGs, but ending up with same ABV. 8000 variables could have caused two different OGs, or maybe even two different brewers took the same ingredients and brewed on different systems

but he wasn't asking about the processes, just the end results.

how WOULD they be different, not how COULD they be different

Ah, but............with a FG of 1.008 in one, and a FG of 1.018 in the other they would be different as we've explained.

Even with a different OG (due to efficiency issues) if the Fg is not the same, there are other causes at play.

If the efficiency is an issue, the beer will be more bitter than planned due to the IBU/SG ratio changing.

But the efficiency reached has very little impact on the FG. If the Fg is also different, then there must be other causes like mash temperature and mash pH. Then the beer changes dramatically.