A home brewer's milestone.

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

bernerbrau

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 25, 2008
Messages
8,502
Reaction score
38
Location
Nashville, TN
So I've been brewing for about 3 years now.

Last month I'm sitting at my kitchen counter, studying a glass of my Oktoberfest with an intensity normally reserved for open heart surgery, taking occasional sips and furrowing my brow. My wife walks in and asks me what's up.

I say, "I can't figure out what the defect is in this beer."

She takes a sip, and shoots me a confused look. "What makes you think there's anything wrong with this beer?"

And that's when it hits me. I ask for it back, smell it, take a few more sips, and suddenly it dawns on me. I have actually brewed an enjoyable beer, to style, without defects.

Then this past weekend I'm in Chicago with my mom and siblings. I pass around a glass of my latest IPA and get generally good reviews. Then it gets to my sister, the die-hard Yuengling drinker. I wait for her to wince, say "not my thing" and pass it on.

Instead, she says, "you know, after you get past that initial harsh bitterness, it actually tastes really good." Then after a few more sips she says, "you know, it's really not that harsh up front after all. This is weird. I hate IPAs." She keeps the glass and I have to pour another.

Before I know it she's asking for the recipe. She doesn't even brew.

So what about everyone else? Let's hear it, HBT. When was the moment when you realized your noob days were long behind and that you had hit the big leagues?
 
Had a homebrew party at the end of May over Memorial Day weekend. I made 4 brews, an IPA, APA, Porter and Weisenbock. They were the best beers I have ever made and they were all partial mash. Everyone said that they would pay for beer that good. It was "proud papa" moment.
-Jefe-
 
My uncle Alan who does not drink beer EVER and has very particular tastes had one of my Kölsch beers and said it was one of only two beers he has ever had in his life that does not give him an instant headache. He proceded to drink the whole glass, much to my surprise. It was then that I knew my beer was getting really good. :)

I wouldn't say I've hit the 'big leagues' yet, but I can say I will be very proud to share my beer in any setting to anyone now.
 
A few weeks ago I had the chance to serve some of my beers to a few customers at a food stand that we were serving sandwiches at. Was the first time I was able to get true opinions from non friends and family. We had asked people to write in our guest book or online to give their real opinions on food, beer, everything.

Got some really nice reviews and critiques, but I must say my absolute favorite is the one below. It is probably the best review I could've asked for.

My better half had a bottle of the dark IPA and I tasted it too. I can't usually stand beer at all, but this one was almost drinkable :) It lacked most of the bitterness that an average beer has, and the taste was quite smooth.
 
That sounds scarily illegal. I'm no lawyer and God knows your heart was in the right place, but giving away home made beer at a food stand seems like it'd require both a liquor license and whatever license it is that you need in order to set up a for-profit microbrewery.

I could be really wrong, though.
 
That sounds scarily illegal. I'm no lawyer and God knows your heart was in the right place, but giving away home made beer at a food stand seems like it'd require both a liquor license and whatever license it is that you need in order to set up a for-profit microbrewery.

I could be really wrong, though.

Re-read my post a few times and still can't find where it said 'giving away' and 'without licenses'. Maybe it's best we leave out the assumptions and focus on the topic at hand without sidetracking the original discussion.
 
A few weeks ago I had the chance to serve some of my beers to a few customers at a food stand that we were serving sandwiches at. Was the first time I was able to get true opinions from non friends and family. We had asked people to write in our guest book or online to give their real opinions on food, beer, everything.

Got some really nice reviews and critiques, but I must say my absolute favorite is the one below. It is probably the best review I could've asked for.

My better half had a bottle of the dark IPA and I tasted it too. I can't usually stand beer at all, but this one was almost drinkable :) It lacked most of the bitterness that an average beer has, and the taste was quite smooth.

A guy wrote that your *IPA* didn't have the bitterness of an "average" beer, and you took pride in that remark? I think you might be confused as to what an IPA is supposed to be... I'd definitely go back to the drawing board if I was getting comments like that.
 
A guy wrote that your *IPA* didn't have the bitterness of an "average" beer, and you took pride in that remark? I think you might be confused as to what an IPA is supposed to be... I'd definitely go back to the drawing board if I was getting comments like that.

Wow, so glad I decided to comment in this post. The comment was written by a woman who never drinks beer and was commenting on the fact that the beer was smooth and didn't have the smack in the face hop character that too many American styled IPAs have. I take that as a very good compliment because I work hard on designing my beers to be very well balanced. It was my CDA (black IPA) which is at 51 IBU. Dead smack in the middle of where an IPA should be if I'm not mistaken. Making an over hopped, mouth puckeringly bitter beer is not the sign of a good IPA.
 
To put this thread back on track... hopefully.

I was asked earlier in the year to provide a cask (pin) of my beer for a tasting night at the local craft brewery (Grand River Brewing). Five casks, five brewers: three commercial brewers and two home brewers.

Brewed up a double dry hopped IPA and was a bundle of nerves leading up to the event also realizing that beyond a certain point, much of what happens to the beer is beyond my control.

Cask was tapped on the night and many great comments from people who didn't know me or my beer. Several people commented that it was the best beer at the tasting!

Have since gone back with samples of my beer to the head brewer there asking for comments and critique. Many positive comments and helpful hints for brewing even better beer.

These two "milestones" have helped to have much more confidence in what I'm doing as a brewer.
 
nakeddog said:
Wow, so glad I decided to comment in this post. The comment was written by a woman who never drinks beer and was commenting on the fact that the beer was smooth and didn't have the smack in the face hop character that too many American styled IPAs have. I take that as a very good compliment because I work hard on designing my beers to be very well balanced. It was my CDA (black IPA) which is at 51 IBU. Dead smack in the middle of where an IPA should be if I'm not mistaken. Making an over hopped, mouth puckeringly bitter beer is not the sign of a good IPA.

+1. Must have been a very well balanced beer. Some people just shovel hops in until they get some crazy-high IBU and call it good. I love hops and to get a beer balanced so that it is good is hard to do.

I recently gave some of my latest honey-wheat beer to some friends who like and drink lots of good beer, and they were very impressed. They said it tasted like Lienies HoneyWeiss, but 10X better!
 
Back
Top