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mikeysab

mikeysab

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So I'm finally making some decent beers. Beers that I"m willing to share with anyone who is willing to try them. Problem is, the only response I seem to get from friends and family is "This isn't bad". I'm planning on bringing a couple from my lineup to a local brewery to have them try and give me some professional feedback. I"d also like to get some feedback from "non professionals". I want to know from people who buy beer, if they'd buy MY beer. So my thought was to bottle a batch to bring to my local distributor to just give away. In each six pack holder I'd leave a "feedback sheet" with a stamped envelope or an email address to drop me a line and see what the local drinkers think.

The problem of legality comes up. I'm wondering if it's legal to give beer away at a distributor. I'd have the owner only give away a 6 pack to people who are buying beer anyway. I could, of course, go on craigslist and offer up free beer to people, but i don't want a bunch of high school kids coming to my house begging for beer. If it in any way threatens the owner of the distributor, I wouldn't do it, but what do you guys think? Should I just do it on my own and not get anyone involved, or is there no risk whatsoever with my plan?
 
I doubt the distributor will go for it, but there's no harm in trying I suppose.

Personally...I would keep my beer to myself. If you like it, who cares what other people think?
 
Hard to say if a distributor would go for it, but I think they would resist the idea. Perhaps you could go to some local homebrew club meetings and have some people taste your beer. You could also enter into some competitions which guarantees you get feedback.
 
Lots of hoops to get through there, just simply dropping off a bottle with a "feedback sheet" will likely not fare too well. Competition is high, and big distributors are really only interested in volume. Best of luck.
 
I guess I should have mentioned that the idea of opening a brewpub has been fluttering around in my head. I went to culinary school and can whip up some tasty dishes. Here in SI, ther are no breweries or brewpubs, so I think the idea of people drinking beer that was brewed right here would appeal to people.
 
Not to be a dick, but why would a distributor take the time and money to give away a beer that they're not making any money off of, any sort of legality issues notwithstanding.

Find beer drinking friends who have opinions/palates you trust. Most of my friends that I give homebrew to tell me they like it. I have no idea if they actually do, or they're just "meh" on it but want me to keep giving them free beer. I do have a few that I can count on for actual feedback on my beer, what's good and what I need to work on.
 
Your second paragraph is what im trying to avoid. Like I said, im tired of hearing "its not bad". I want to know if people would buy it, from people who dont know

I was thinking that they could do a "Free six pack with purchase of any growler". It might help them move kegs quicker, instead of seeing the same crap on tap every time I go in there.
 
I have taken mine to a couple of local restaurants locally and if you can talk to the owner maybe he will be willing to pour some for the beer drinkers at the bar. when I did it it went real well. He just poured samples for folks drinking beer and I sat there and listened to them ask if they were going to start serving this and who is it made by. This is the best feedback I could get. Try it out and best of luck too you.
 
You're going to be much better off finding a local homebrew club to sample your beer and chat with or entering your beer in contests.

Both of those will be populated with people who like good beer, know why they like good beer, and are willing to offer specific, constructive feedback on how to improve your beers. All of these things are equally important in feeback if you're looking to improve your product and beer clubs and competitions are going to offer a lot more information in all of these areas.

There are way to many hurdles in trying to hand it out randomnly at distributiors and I think you'll be quite disappointed with the results in number of envelopes you get returned and the quality of information your feedback sheets contain.
 
I hope I don't sound like too much of a dick here, but if your friends are saying "it's not bad," it probably is bad (to them at least). The reactions I tend to get from friends are "this is pretty damned good" or "holy ****, you made this at home?" - even with brews that I know have obvious flaws. As was stated earlier if you want unbiased feedback from people who know what they're talking about, enter some competitions. It's usually only a couple of bucks and you'll get the God's honest truth about your beer.

As for what people will buy, I'd follow the old song's advice that "you can't please everyone, so you might as well please yourself." To compare it to cars, one man with a great vision yields a Ferrari or Porsche while focus groups get you a Pontiac Aztek. Brew well, brew what you like, and then run it up the flagpole and see who salutes.
 
Keep your head up man. Just do what you think you need to do! perseverance is key. I have been working on this for awhile you will catch a break sooner or later. It just becomes a numbers game and anyone willing to help is a start in the right direction. Just follow what your ambitions are!
 
I do like the aforementioned competition idea. The feedback from major competitions is a good way to show your worth to backers. If a bunch of national level beer judges say you're worthy it couldn't hurt.
 
mikeysab said:
I guess I should have mentioned that the idea of opening a brewpub has been fluttering around in my head. I went to culinary school and can whip up some tasty dishes. Here in SI, ther are no breweries or brewpubs, so I think the idea of people drinking beer that was brewed right here would appeal to people.
Click to expand...


If you have the culinary skills then open a restaurant/brewpub. You could give out samples to patrons and see their feedback. Or pay for a space at an event where you just hand out samples for feedback. Things like a fair, a softball game, and social event where booze are allowed. This IMO would be time and money well spent towards the general appeal to the masses.

Of course it would be awesome to incorporate a brew to some dishes. I too, graduated from culinary school. I love beer with pork.
 
There are plenty of people on this website that would have no problem letting you mail them your beers and sending you feedback. I know I'd do it! No need to go to the distributor when you have plenty of willing volunteers here.
 
mikeysab said:
I guess I should have mentioned that the idea of opening a brewpub has been fluttering around in my head. I went to culinary school and can whip up some tasty dishes. Here in SI, ther are no breweries or brewpubs, so I think the idea of people drinking beer that was brewed right here would appeal to people.
Click to expand...

Have you really looked into this idea? Good luck, but it's a tough road that most homebrewers would love to do. Food will make or break a brewery. My boss is in the process of opening a brewery (already spent 750k+) and he's opted not to serve food because of this (we'll have small snacks). He also pointed out that banks are VERY hesitant to give out loans to new restaraunts. If he would have decided to serve food, he wouldn't have gotten the loan...even though his credit is flawless and his existing business is a money maker.

On a side note...I agree with others who have said it. If your friends tell you "it's not bad." It probably is bad. My friends told me that for years... and they never really got excited about me brewing beer. Over the last few years though, I've done a lot to improve my beer, and my friends have noticed. I have every one of them asking for a keg for parties whenever they throw them.
 
And on the legality of giving sample beer to a distributor. Without digging deep into the weeds, from what I've read this is a no-no. I used to work at a liquor store (package store for the massholes) and once in a while a small, licensed brewery would drop off a free six pack for the owners to try, to try to get them to stock it. Pretty sure that is illegal as well. (Actually had a couple of more common ones that I see now, but this was happending 10ish years ago)

So from a legal standpoint, unless you are licensed, and then get permits for tastings, your best option is what everyone has been suggesting - homebrew competitions. I would bake that into your business model. Wait until you have a few brews that score well in competitions, then take the next step towards your brew pub. But if beer is the focus of your restaurant/brew pub, getting some official scores should be your first "milestone" in your business plan to move forward.
 
If you want actual comments on the quality of your beer, you need to enter competitions. Just look on the BJCP calendar and mail some off to a competition nearby. It's easy and in a few weeks you get your comment sheets and a score back from professional judges who are not worried about hurting your feelings.

You could also at least print off the BJCP score sheets and give them to people who know their beer and have them score you that way, but having a real judge do it would be better.
 
You could take some sample bottles into your LHBS and get their opinions. I see guys do that frequently at my LHBS
 
You could also come to the club meetings that you have been invited to for the last year...

...just sayin'.

:mug:

Staten Island has a fairly consistent homebrew club that has been in existence for 2 years now. The only reason I say "fairly consistent" is because only two members have homes big enough for meetings and when they aren't available, we have to cancel. We don't want to organize into a "formal" club and rent space or meet at bars and such (which would probably not fly here anyway), so we keep it to member's homes.
 
Agreed about competitions. Extremely helpful, unbiased opinions... in writing. Really good to do at least a few times with different batches.

And I also agree about your friends responses being underwhelming. But another thing to think about is that so many people are BMC drinkers and so of course they won't like your beer.

I gave several people an American wheat I made. I thought it was pretty good but not my style. I brewed it because a buddy of mine likes wheat beer. Everyone who I've given it to says "Wow. That is REALLY great!"

Then I made a true hefe (with appropriate esters) that I like better than the American. But those who try it say "Not bad". AKA "I don't like it".

And I've even given a few people a taste of my favorite beer that I've brewed. It's a 10.5% Imperial RyeIPA and very hoppy. My buddy who likes craft beers loves it. The only other people who have tried it have said "that's the kind of beer I thought you would be making". AKA "I hate this beer". And another person that tried it had me finish it for them. AKA "I hate this beer".

Just my $0.02.
 
With respect to beer feedback, IMO there are two issues:

1. Does the beer taste good to you or your friends/family drinking it?
2. Does the beer conform to styles etc and are there subtle ways you can make it better.

For #1, if it tastes good to you, you don't need any other feedback. And if it tastes good to your friends, you'll soon be staring at empty bottles (or kegs) :)

For #2, I guess homebrewing clubs and competitions seem to be the best way to get honest, and useful opinions. In my case, I take my beer to a local microbrewery - I've made friends with the owner/brewer at the place. He and others at the brewery (even some people who come to the tasting room) have tasted my beer and given great feedback.
 
Thanks for all the responses guys. So maybe the distributor was a bad idea after all. The homebrew club that I've been invited to for over a year is where I'll probably test out my brews. Airborne has been telling me about it for awhile and I'm gonna check it out and see what some people think. Also, thanks for the link, Yoop. I was under the impression that to enter a competition, you had to hand in your entries in person, so I never bothered looking into it. I'll go that route, also.

The beers I give people to try are finally getting responses other than "This isn't bad" I recently brought 2 beers and a cider to a family function and everybody enjoyed them all. Friends and neighbors on my block are actually asking me for beer now, so i think my process is finally getting to where I can turn out good batches instead of crap. The brew pub idea is something that I"m not expecting to happen overnight. Opening a restaurant is something I"ve always thought of doing, so now that I can cook AND brew, it's returning to my thoughts more frequently.

I'm definitely going to get more involved with other brewers and competitions and see how things turn out. I'm brewing more often than ever now and brew days are becoming less chaotic, so we'll see what kind of feedback I get in the near future. Thanks to all my homebrewing brothers and sister for their advice and input.
 
The BJCP competitions are the way to go, but understand that you will be brewing to a (usually) exact style guideline that doesn't necessarily score for a good beer, just one that fits that style guideline. And they will be pretty blunt too.

I think the homebrew club is another great place to get not just feedback, but personalized help in fixing any issues, or just answering questions. If you have one close to you, it may be fun to join anyway.
 
"It's not bad" is what I tell people when I drink their beer and don't want to hurt their feelings with honest feedback.


Most of the time I just give people honest feedback, though, because if I go out of the way to have someone try my beer and render an opinion, that is what I am looking for.
 
weirdboy said:
"It's not bad" is what I tell people when I drink their beer and don't want to hurt their feelings with honest feedback.QUOTE]

That is what I say sometimes to guys with already inflated egos, better jobs, better looking, better looking wives, nicer houses who I am already jealous of...you know knock em down a bit. They already got everything else so I'm not lettin' em know they make good beer too. :D


...yeah, long night at work no one to talk to, I'm bored, sorry. :eek: :off:
Click to expand...
 
Saw an interesting British tv show a few months ago about 2 guys who went through the whole process of making beer in their kitchen, getting finance for their business plan to open a brewpub in UK.
They initially sought public opinion by just taking a couple of kegs of their beer down to the high street and giving people a free sample and asking them what they thought.
The Financer (bank) suggested that was not satisfactory feedback and had them pay a company to arrange about 20 or 30 people into focus groups of paid surveyors to assess the beers. They got less favorable feedback from this group but it was more objective and useful. It gave them a better feel for how their product would be received by the paying customer. They went on to buy an old village pub and convert it to a brew pub and it seems it was a success.
Sure if you google it you will find the show and it is well worth downloading and watching.
 
el_caro said:
Saw an interesting British tv show a few months ago about 2 guys who went through the whole process of making beer in their kitchen, getting finance for their business plan to open a brewpub in UK.
They initially sought public opinion by just taking a couple of kegs of their beer down to the high street and giving people a free sample and asking them what they thought.
The Financer (bank) suggested that was not satisfactory feedback and had them pay a company to arrange about 20 or 30 people into focus groups of paid surveyors to assess the beers. They got less favorable feedback from this group but it was more objective and useful. It gave them a better feel for how their product would be received by the paying customer. They went on to buy an old village pub and convert it to a brew pub and it seems it was a success.
Sure if you google it you will find the show and it is well worth downloading and watching.
Click to expand...

Lol. I can just imagine the scene if you took keg of homebrew down main street USA and offered free samples to everyone.
 
Special Hops said:
Lol. I can just imagine the scene if you took keg of homebrew down main street USA and offered free samples to everyone.
Click to expand...

Yeah the Brits are a weird lot but I love their down to earth honesty. No I could not imagine it happening in the US.
 
In a city famous for opinionated people, you'd think yer friends would be the ones to give you the most honest opinions (brutally honest). Maybe they don't know what they should be looking for or have a scale to compare it to. "Hey, nice mouth feel." or, "Oooh look at that head retention!" My beers have had an underwhelming response so far too. But, that's because they're still mediocre (in my opinion). I, like you, have been a member of a homebrew club (B.E.E.R.) and haven't made it to a meeting. Clubs and competitions will give you the true measure of your beer's quality (or lack thereof). Hey, in the end, if you enjoy your brews and your friends don't, f' 'em!
 

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