No name beer or Clone?

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.

Gear101

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 24, 2010
Messages
2,053
Reaction score
54
Location
USA
After brewing for a couple years and cloning a number of beer, from other people’s recipes (thank you all) I have just about come up with the idea that just making no name beer is better. The reason I think that is sometimes when my clones where off just a little, still good beer, I was disappointed. Maybe it is just me but all the no name beers that I did not have any built in exceptions with I enjoyed more.

What are your thought, do you like to brew clone or just good no name beer?

:mug:
 
I never call anything a clone... as soon as you do, expectations change. It doesn't bother me much because most of the time I actually enjoy my beer better, but when you serve it to others... they will expect it to taste exactly like what you are "cloning". I just give them names that mean something to me, funny, etc.

Funny experiment I did one time that would be appropriate here... I had a friend try my "Irish Red" that is similar to Fat Tire. I told him that since he likes FT, he should like this. He tried it and replied that it was really good, but didn't taste like FT. A couple weeks later when he came by, I told him to try this "Amber Ale" that I think he would like. He did and said it was one of his favs and it tasted very close to Fat Tire. I told him it was the same beer... we laughed.

It's kinda like giving people who don't drink beer O'douls and enjoying the placebo (or acting) effect.
 
JHawKS said:
I like to come up w/recipes & name them. Isn't that what it's all about?

I must agree. I really don't understand why people clone.
 
I like to come up w/recipes & name them. Isn't that what it's all about?

That is what it is all about for you. I think what it is all about is brewing what you want, which for some people may be brewing clones or using other people's recipes. To each their own.
 
It should also be obvious that it is cheaper to brew a batch of beer, than pay the craft beer prices. Additionally, there are a lot of great breweries out there. If a master brewer comes up with a recipe, or uses one that is tried and true, why would I not jump at the opportunity to use the same recipe? Is it better for me to just throw some grains together and have a mediocre beer, or use the right building blocks to have a great beer? That being said, not every person can brew a clone of a beer even if they have the same exact ingredients. When you learn to play an instrument, you start by learning to read and play other peoples music. Then, you start to write your own. I'm not saying "don't make your own recipe" or anything, but there are clearly advantages to cloning...
 
breweRN said:
I must agree. I really don't understand why people clone.

I clone quite often because:
1. I like the beer, but want it a lot cheaper than buying it.
2. The beer isn't available in my area.
3. I buy 6 pack samplers (mix and match) of various beers I haven't tried, and then brew ones I especially like.
4. I use clones to take a measurement of my process and as a gauge of how well my process is controlled.
5. I'm (sometimes, usually) too lazy to make up my own recipe and don't want a brew day with crappy results.

Having said the above, I have done my own recipes and have also taken to making modifications to the recipe (on purpose) to see how the result changes. (things like using a different base grain (or grains), like Maris Otter, different hop or hop schedule, different yeast, changing the mash temperature, etc.). What's nice about this is you have a known quantity to compare it to.
 
It should also be obvious that it is cheaper to brew a batch of beer, than pay the craft beer prices. Additionally, there are a lot of great breweries out there. If a master brewer comes up with a recipe, or uses one that is tried and true, why would I not jump at the opportunity to use the same recipe? Is it better for me to just throw some grains together and have a mediocre beer, or use the right building blocks to have a great beer? That being said, not every person can brew a clone of a beer even if they have the same exact ingredients. When you learn to play an instrument, you start by learning to read and play other peoples music. Then, you start to write your own. I'm not saying "don't make your own recipe" or anything, but there are clearly advantages to cloning...

it's often not about skill... its a matter of near impossibility. A brewer in NY brews a great beer and a brewer in CA trys said beer and wants to clone it (Heck someone from across the county). It is pretty much impossible for an exact clone. Water variations, temp variations, sources of hops, yeast availability and pitch rates, the actual system of which they brew varies, freshness of ingredients, crush, etc. it goes on and on there are so many variables. You can make a beer that is close, but generally they wont be the same. That doesn't mean it isn't fun to try to clone or you wont have an excellent end product. They all just come out different. we all could brew the same recipe with the exact same ingredients bought from the same place and we'd all end up with varying degrees of similar but not the same beer. And, to test this i suggest we test this by all agreeing on a recipe and brew it and send a sample to each person then we can comment afterwards :)
 
5. I'm (sometimes, usually) too lazy to make up my own recipe and don't want a brew day with crappy results.

That is normally why I don't make me own recipes. If I see something that I want to brew and there are a bunch of other people say that it is a great beer, then I'll go with it. :)
 
breweRN said:
I must agree. I really don't understand why people clone.

The appeal for me is for $50 or so you can have 5 gallons of beer that sells for $15 per bomber.
 
The appeal for me is for $50 or so you can have 5 gallons of beer that sells for $15 per bomber.

It is nice to try beers that would be hard to get my hands on, like cigar city.
 
Back
Top