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dimmy32 · 09-13-2011, 12:57 PM

I love microbrew beer, and the challenge to to equal or best it, in terms of taste, quality.
Using only simple plastic fermenters, basic equipment...is it possible to succeed ??

99 % of all homebrew I've tried never quite beats microbrew, imo.

phenry · 09-13-2011, 01:03 PM

Yes. All it is is just extracting sugars from grain, boiling hops, fermentation via yeast, and carbonation/conditioning. Microbreweries just do it on a larger scale.

**stratslinger** · 09-13-2011, 01:07 PM

Truthfully, most of those microbreweries emply master brewers who have a lot more training and a lot more experience than most of us have here - this is what they do for a living, so they better be good at it!

That said, it is absolutely possible to meet or exceed their quality - it just takes time to build up your skillset to the point that you can reliably do so.

RoadKing · 09-13-2011, 01:11 PM

Better!
Especially if you go all grain, good yeast, good water and control
fermentation temps.

**Tinga** · 09-13-2011, 01:11 PM

I don't know the homebrew you've been drinking but often if you have good techniques you can easily make a better beer than a micro brew. You can't get fresher beer than the stuff you make yourself.

***Yooper*** · 09-13-2011, 01:14 PM

I've had some terrible homebrews, but I've also had some terrible microbrews!

I think it's absolutely possible, and I'm a big critic! One thing that helps is you can create a beer geared to your taste. If you taste a microbrew you like, you can still pick out something you'd change. For example, I'll enjoy a beer but then say, "Hmmm, I think I'd like this better if there was a citrusy note on the end and there was a stronger malt backbone" and then go home and recreate the beer the way I want. That's one great advantage to making your own!

The thing is, it doesn't happen by accident. Close attention to yeast pitching rates, fermentation temperature, water, ingredients, and process make all the difference!

AR-Josh · 09-13-2011, 01:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yooper

I've had some terrible homebrews, but I've also had some terrible microbrews!

I think it's absolutely possible, and I'm a big critic! One thing that helps is you can create a beer geared to your taste. If you taste a microbrew you like, you can still pick out something you'd change. For example, I'll enjoy a beer but then say, "Hmmm, I think I'd like this better if there was a citrusy note on the end and there was a stronger malt backbone" and then go home and recreate the beer the way I want. That's one great advantage to making your own!

The thing is, it doesn't happen by accident. Close attention to yeast pitching rates, fermentation temperature, water, ingredients, and process make all the difference!

The one in red is the biggest one in my opinion. That one is so over looked or not even considered. I know I ignored it for my first brew and as a result I could not even drink it. My beer got noticeably better in the winter and then started getting funny again in the spring. I connected the dots and built a fermentation chamber.

The other items listed are important too and I'm sure I'll run into one of those at some point. For the most part, most of the posts I read in this forum are about off flavours that result from a warm fermentation.

Micro-brewers have all of those items listed down pat. It is just part of the procedure for cranking out beer for them. That is at least something to aspire to.

frydogbrews · 09-13-2011, 01:23 PM

on saturday we went on a beer sampling to 6 different small breweries in st louis. tried sample sizes of more than 40 different flavors. the single hopped citra i poured out of my keezer before going downtown was in the top three of beers i drank all day.
the reason was simple. it wasn't a fancy beer, but it was brewed to exactly my tastes. many of the brews we tried that day were super yeast forward (i don't like that) or malty as all hell (i don't like that), i like hops, lots and lots and lots of hops; and screaming high ABV too.
so i guess it depends on opinion, but with proper attention to technique and a little practice, it is fairly easy to make a beer that you will enjoy more than a profesionally made one. (see how i didn't actually say it was better.) as somebody else mentioned, especially with a hoppy beer, freshness matters a ton!

Darkblade · 09-13-2011, 01:25 PM

I've tasted some crap home brews also but now know that's probably coz low cost ingredients were used &/or too much water used to maximize return. Coupled with poor skills all leads to crap beer.
I am VERY much an amateur but have made a very nice high % stout using better quality ingredients, extra malt & dextrose than recipe called for. Used 2litres less water & have a really nice (for me) thick, edible stout. I like it & that's all that matters to me.
Am I going to put microbrewers out of work? I doubt it. But there must be far better home brewers out there than me.

tjs3 · 09-13-2011, 01:39 PM

As stratslinger said, these guys are pros. So they should have a lot more experience...BUT...

I assume that with some practice, following a recipe correctly should yield some good results... Its like the difference between a chef and an amateur cook. The chef comes up with these butt kickin recipes...the cook just follows along.

That being said, my very first batch of homebrew is still fermenting..Just joined this forum(hi!)...so I could be wrong?