Has homebrewing made you more sensitive to the taste and the smell of beers?

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BarleyAndApple

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Certainly was the case for me.

I can smell and taste the things that I was not able to prior to homebrew, after about 3 batches, I'm able to roughly tell what kind of malt, adjunct was used.

Wondering if it has been the same for others too.
 
That's like asking if going to culinary school will make you more aware of what's in your food. Of course!

I think the understanding stems from knowing what each of the ingredients smells and tastes like. I always eat some of the grain I'm brewing with just to understand the flavor and aroma. The surprising thing is how much the final product can smell exactly like the ingredients. Russian imperial stouts are a great example of a beer that tastes just like the grains you put into it.
 
Thinking way back to when I first started homebrewing, it did make me more sensitive. I moved from BMC in to better beers after my first (German) Octoberfest and started to homebrew after that trip. Microbrews were basically non-existent at that time in the U.S., but the AHA was starting to take off.

But I think I got a whole lot better at tasting after going to alot of Beer tastings and Fests. I always pick out one style of beer, like IPA, and taste only that. After a while I could tell them what hops they used 95% of the time. It was those fests, for sure, that got me into all-grain. I wanted enough control to get those high end flavors and aromas into my own brews.

So the short of it is, brewing makes you appreciate (and buy) better comercial beers; drinking better commercial beers make you want to brew better beers!
 
Yeah, it's gotten so I can tell when Mark changes something in one of his beers, although the Pilsner with 40 IBU of Saaz threw me. I can even tell if their chili was made with Muddy Flats stout or Black Panther.
 
I'm not as good as David_42, but I definitely pick up more flavors in beer than I used to. I also can pick up quite a few flavors in Diet Coke, that I never knew were there before.

It also depends on what I've eaten before, or even the last beer I've had. For example, just had the 2009 Jubelale recently. The first bottle was after I had ate something (can't remember what) and drank a different beer. Wasn't too impressed. The next day I had it on a clean palate and it was a totally different beer.
 
Just by sticking my nose in the mylar bag and smelling the hops during my first few brews made me realize/appreciate what they contribute to a beer.
 
I am a professional cook, so naturally, when I started making beer my palate was put to use. I am definitely more in tune with the flavor components of beer since I started brewing, and what it takes to achieve the flavor profile I am seeking. Absolutlely one of the most rewarding hobbies/obsessions I have yet to encounter:rockin:
 
Definitely has helped me to appreciate beer on a different level now. I wouldn't say I'm BJCP worth yet but a lot closer than I was before I started homebrewing.
 
Yeah I'd say it's refined my palate, it's kinda ruined most commercial beers for me, I find now that I pick out banana esthers and the like that I never would have even noticed before, and I kinda geek out on the wife with hop characters and types in commercials.
It's definitely made me a total beer snob, although I was pretty close before having lived in Germany at least I could drink most commercials, that has changed and we recently went to a hotel as a family to celebrate my mothers 60th birthday and I found in the bar I coudn't bring myself to drink any commercial beers so ended up drinking cider, which I'd normally not touch in a bar, my head suffered for it the next day though.
 
One of the things that I always enjoyed about brew day was how well I could taste the grains in my post brew beer. I became hyper sensitive to the smell of grain. Part of my routine was to go to my local Irish pub and have Guinness and a burger afterwards and I really enjoyed the roastiness of the Guinness. Plus they make a great burger!
 
Making Homebrew has made visits to Brew Pubs much more interesting. Before I'd just pick a beer that sounded tasty. Now I mull over the beer selection(s) and pick a brew that I really want to taste and try and to learn something.

What hops? Where's the malt, is it sweet, dry, etc. etc. etc. Would it be a beer that I'd want to try and clone?

I'm not a beer snob, I just know what I like.... and it's not BMC... :)
 
Yeah I'd say it's refined my palate, it's kinda ruined most commercial beers for me, I find now that I pick out banana esthers and the like that I never would have even noticed before, and I kinda geek out on the wife with hop characters and types in commercials.
It's definitely made me a total beer snob, although I was pretty close before having lived in Germany at least I could drink most commercials, that has changed and we recently went to a hotel as a family to celebrate my mothers 60th birthday and I found in the bar I coudn't bring myself to drink any commercial beers so ended up drinking cider, which I'd normally not touch in a bar, my head suffered for it the next day though.

Just so I'm clear, by "commercial beer", I was referring to microbrewery types, which is not the usage I believe you are using. With over 1000 great brew pubs, and loads of microbreweries, it's not hard to find a good one with a good product that'll get you thinking about something to brew...
 
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