A Friends Beers: My reviews

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Arneba28

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So one of the guys that I work with also does some homebrewing but is still all extract, doesnt even steep any grains as of yet.
So he gives me 1 bottle of Coopers kit Stout, 5 bottles of Coopers kit Nut Brown and a Wine bottle full of what he said was Apple Wine.

I open the stout, way over carbed but tastes exactly like a coopers stout. Bland!!!!!!!! take a few sips, dump.

I open a Nut brown. Way overcarbed and all I smell is grapes, raisins and plums, weird. Super Green still and I can only taste grapes, very strange. Like a candied grape taste. take a few sips and dump.

Open the "wine". This was originally supposed to be Apfelwein, I wrote down the recipe for him and gave him instructions and he throws it together. He comes up to me a few weeks later and tells me its done and finished at 13%abv. He says he followed the recipe I wrote down.


So a few conclusions.
Coopers Stout, a great first beer to get you interested in beer, after that,
dont ever taste it ever again!

Coopers Nut brown, either a bad batch, really green or too high ferm temps to get that much esters. But most likely a combination of the latter 2.

The wine, he cant follow simple directions, This is almost 2 months young and not hot or solventy at all. My guess is he measured everything wrong, not 5 gallons juice, not 2# dextrose and most def not 13%abv

Now just how to tell him they all have alot of room for improvement.
 
Same situation. Buddy gives me a bottle of a English IPA and it tasted like metal. I'm talking like sucking on a penny. Funny thing is he brewed it next to mewhen I was brewing. Must have happened between ferment and bottle.

I also say be gentle but honest. It is what I needed once and what they need to.
 
I'd hope that the guy wanted honest feedback and I'd tell him what you thought and what suggestions you would make to improve next time.

I'd rather hear positive comments and critique then have someone tell me that every beer they try is OK or good, even if it's missing something.
 
I would tell him what you think in a respectful and straight ahead manner.
As long as he's willing to make better beer and you're willing to help then I think honesty is the best way to go here.
 
I gave him my honest opinion and he wants to learn more but doesnt like getting info online. I dont blame him but hey, every once in a while you stumble upon a community like this one and luck out.

I found out what the problem was with the nut brown kit he did though. He ran out of DME to add to the coopers nut brown LME can, So he added 3# of dextrose. It wasnt grapes I was tasting but cidery, solventy alcohol mixed with a slight roasty taste.
 
Funny, I just went through this today. I got a friend of mine into homebrewing. It is usually a crap shoot trying his beers. Sometimes (like today) I could barely choke them down. Other times I have given him one of my recipes and liked the results better than my own! Hard to say when it sucks though, cause he does not ask for feedback and seems happy with it.

I have tried to casually mention things I think will help him without mentioning that I detected something off in his beer. Like reiterating sanitation... Not sure it always helps.

:cross:

Hard thing also, is that I am not sure he is all that impressed with my beers. He may be thinking the same as me!
 
Im still to new to the game to give any sort of advice but being new I kinda have an idea what might be going on. If your some what close to the guy, why dont you let him help you on your brew day. As a noob myself, the all grain and mini mash and even partial are a little intimidating.. just a thought
 
at least ya'll can get friends into brewing! i've been trying for two years! i'm going to change my name to lonely home brewer.
 
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