Psychology of another person's homebrew

The first homebrew I ever had was my own. I didn't buy an equipment kit, I assembled my own. I didn't have a guru or much guidance (other than some friendly help here on HBT), I mostly read a bunch of books and figured it out for myself. I was, however, exposed to tasty beer at a few microbreweries and had already developed a pretty good palate. So, how could that first beer not be the best beer ever? I put so much work and time into it....

But what about when someone tastes your homebrew for the first time? Assuming it's not a nasty infected mess, assuming it's tasty, what goes through their mind? What do they think? Obviously, they didn't spend six hours making it. To them, is it just another pop-top fizzy barley pop?

I've gotten compliments. I've gotten a couple requests to rebrew some things. Going back to the whole "having been to good brewpubs" thing, I know my beer is good beer. I know it's not as good as the best of the brewpubs, but I know it is undoubtedly drinkable and tasty.

But what do people really think of your beer? Did you ever wonder?


Anybody ever taste a first HB that wasn't their own? What was that like?

I do wonder. I ask them for a honest answer. One mate tasted my apfelwine and declared it to taste like sick. Fair call.

If you want to know what people think about your beer apparently there are competitions that you can enter and they will tell you if it is good or not.

Well I don't want to find out if my beer is the awesomest beer in the land of beerdom.

I want to find out what people think of it. LOL


Subtle difference there. :cross:

I now have ten batches of homebrew under my belt. I remember popping the very first bottle and was elated that it actually worked in the first place and fell in love with the flavor. I have managed to keep a few bottles of each batch to reference whenever I want to see how my brew stands up to the test of time and compare versus other crowd pleasers in side by side tastings. I can honestly critique myself, as well as accept feedback by my beer peers. All in all, as much as I would like to think all I brew is awesome, some are just better than others. And for that first batch, I was sadly disillusioned, it is cloudy, too yeasty and has a metallic aftertaste. I have since made the same recipe with much better results.. But I guess that is what keeps me buying more ingredients and chasing the the perfect brew.

Have a party with your beer and some of your group's consensus beer of choice for a party.

The next day empty the almost full keg of consensus beer on the lawn and return the keg.

That's how you know.

olllllo said:

Have a party with your beer and some of your group's consensus beer of choice for a party.

The next day empty the almost full keg of consensus beer on the lawn and return the keg.

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Or use it for a keggle.

dibby33 said:

I do wonder. I ask them for a honest answer. One mate tasted my apfelwine and declared it to taste like sick. Fair call.

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The poor bastig. He did not follow the 3 glass rule. :cross:

Oh well, his loss.

The first homebrew that I tasted was from a friend of mine. At the time I was not a huge beer fan. Most of what I had been exposed to were BMC types. I do remember that his beer had more flavor than what I was used to. Regretfully I have lost touch with this guy. I would love to give him some of what I have been making, and get his opinion.

When I give out beer, I always ask for an honest evaluation. I rarely get one. Usually I get something like "It was different" or "It was good, but I dont usually drink beer like that", or nothing at all. I gave out a stout a while ago. The recipient said that it took him a half hour to drink, and then he had to lie down. He liked the red ale that I made more. I'll take that as honest feedback.

- magno

OMG...great thread.

The way I think...is if I share it, you damn well better get an honest review of it. I'm personally not one that is going to freak out if you don't like my beer cause I more than likely recognized a serious flaw before that....but if you don't like it--you damn well better tell me. Don't you owe that to the person? Privatelor public--that person wants your analysis.

Please be honest.

And yes--I do agree with olllllo's theory.

Well me and two friends went through 5 gals. of HB last night so I guess they liked it. I still have a 30 of bud light I bought for them in the fridge that was not touched. I sent my dad some last week and the first thing out of his mouth was I am going to order a kit and get you to teach me how to brew. My mom even liked the wheat beer I sent. So, so far I have not had any complaints. Which is awesome.

i pry for honest answers. "it's good!" doesn't cut it. tell me what you like about it...or what you don't. always have made good brew, though. we'll see how it turns out with my current keg of hefeweizen at the party saturday. i'm sure it'll be gone in 30 minutes just like last time

Having not sent any of my brew out into the world I can only say that I hope people like my brews and if they don't please tell me why! I am a little nervous sending my first brewed for critique but oh well.
*still patiently waiting for my IPA to condition....*

The way I see it, if you give the same brew to 4 different people and 3 of them tell you flatly "That is the BEST beer I ever had". Well then I'd say you got something. Another factor to this is sometimes you give someone a brew that isn't well suited to their palate (like giving a really hopcentric beer to a malty beer lover)...chances are you might get fair comments, but they will tell you "Well I didn't like the hops". So learning to distinguish people's palates is a part of the equation as well imo.

I normally know roughly how good a brew I've made is. I learned to do this with my food creations over the years. I can gauge fairly well where my dish will fall...and sometimes I am not shooting for the stars....sometimes I want something basic. I do the same thing with beer. Learn to be your biggest critic.

It definately depends on the target audience too. If the recipient is an avid drinker of GOOD beer and not bmc then they will be more likely to give you a more honest assessment. If it is another homebrewer, well, they will either be brutally honest or lie so as to not hurt your feelings depending on their personality.

I was in a homebrew competition recently and there was a "people's choice" part of the evening where we sampled about 23 different homebrews. It was great fun. I can honestly say there was only one beer I could not even drink more than a sip of. Everyone at my table agreed it tasted like paint stripper. :cross:

Other beers ranged from excellent to eh...

To be honest though we were all pretty sloshed at that point having a free bar with great microbrews all evening. I did not even know which of the samples was my own

olllllo said:

Have a party with your beer and some of your group's consensus beer of choice for a party.

The next day empty the almost full keg of consensus beer on the lawn and return the keg.

Click to expand...

I hear ya brother. I had a birthday party and I bought two cases of good German beer and at the end, I still had two cases of good German beer. Can't get much better than that.

I've reached the point with my beers that I couldn't give a rats a$$ what anyone else thinks about my beers cause when I pour a pint of my Haus Pale, Bavarian Hefe, or now my Kölsch, I take a sip and marvel at the fact that I created it. I find it simply amazing that I'm able to produce beer that IMHO is superior to a number of commercial micros. Color me bias and perhaps an EAC or simply just obsessed. I'm very confident that any true beer lover would enjoy my standard beers and I'm content with that.

I'm going to have some fun next week as I take a quart of Haus Pale, Kölsch, and my Apfelwein to Vegas for a convention. I have good friend from Minnasota (dontcha know) who is a Bud drinker and he wants to try my wares. Should be an interesting test. If he doesn't like it, then thats just more for me before we hit the black jack tables.

I prospected four or five people to give me beer to and asked them if they liked home or micro brews, all said yes. All I asked each person was to evaluate the beer on taste, looks and smell. Anyone who said that they couldn't drink it because it was cloudy or too dark, I never gave them another beer. Anyone who gave me some lame feedback or took three weeks to drink a couple beers and get back to me, never got another beer. Anyone who came back one to two days later and said either it tasted like crap or they liked it is still getting beer today.

I seek to seperate "the sheep from the goats."

I have applied some of this pshychology however, and have found that the first helpful thing to do is establish some "knowns" or truths about myself in relation to my homebrew and others.

1. I am, by nature, inclined to like my beer better than anyone else.
2. In accordance with the above nature, I am more likely to ignore or deny some of my honebrew's defects or shortcomings. (not on my own congnizence, but again, relative to others tasting it.) (IE: "c'mon!! It's not THAT
bad!!)
3. People, no matter how enthusiastic they are about beer, will never meet my standard of enthusiasm when they accpept or taste my homebrew.
4. I must remember that my perspective or "world view" of the joy of homebrewing will most likely not be shared with anyone else unless they home brew as well.

If I can keep the above in perspective when I joyfully and with great excitement and anticipation present beer to others, I will keep my expextations low and adhere to the first paragraph.

EdWort said:

Color me bias and perhaps an EAC or simply just obsessed. I'm very confident that any true beer lover would enjoy my standard beers and I'm content with that.

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Awright, call me a noob (or worse if you like) but what does this mean!?

lgtg said:

4. I must remember that my perspective or "world view" of the joy of homebrewing will most likely not be shared with anyone else unless they home brew as well..

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Well put and very important to remember!

lgtg said:

Awright, call me a noob (or worse if you like) but what does this mean!?

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If you have to ask, you are not yet ready to know.

Search, young grasshopper. Search your soul.

No. Better yet, search past threads.

Damn Squirrels said:

Search, young grasshopper. Search your soul.

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Those who seek the EAC shall never find it. The true EAC becomes apparent in time to those demonstrating such qualities.

It's not searchable using the search function. C'mon! Just tell me what it stands for.!?

We could tell you, but that wouldn't be very elitist of us.

Why do you make it so easy?
It's not so hard to find.
Keep it up and everybody will know.
I can't believe noobs can't find it.

My biggest problem with other people & my homebrews is simple, the tendency around here to expect very big, heavily hopped ales. I'm convinced some people can't taste anything that is under 6% and doesn't use Cascades.

What I find amusing about the latter, my Milds & Browns are always floaters at meetings.

When tasting other people's HB, I try to set my own likes & dislikes aside and evaluate it by the intended style. I can honestly say, "This is an excellent example of the style, (even if it's a hefe or trippel)" But, sometimes a sample can leave you gasping for breath. "Too much spruce, you think?"

You guys are such *** ****s

rdwj said:

You guys are such *** ****s

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Why Thank you! I'm glad you noticed!



Gotta get the hat for brew days.

EdWort said:

Why Thank you! I'm glad you noticed!

Gotta get the hat for brew days.

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THANK YOU! (for the love of Pete)

I'm enlightened, and now have the final peice of what's held me back from ........aw ferget it...thanks.

olllllo said:

Why do you make it so easy?
It's not so hard to find.
Keep it up and everybody will know.
I can't believe noobs can't find it.

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honestly, no offense intended. It's not something (even as a noob) that I bend my mind around trying to figure out.....

lgtg said:

honestly, no offense intended. It's not something (even as a noob) that I bend my mind around trying to figure out.....

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I guess you will never become one then....

I have two major reactions to my homebrew; One is from craft beer aware friends, and the other from lager water drinkers.

Those who enjoy craft beer for the most part enjoy my beer. But the more important factor is the detail they can describe. It was a little too sweet for me, fruity, malty, bitter. They understand there is more to beer than just, "yeah it's beer".

From BMC drinkers i usually get a, "yeah that's not bad" and i periodically look to see if they have even taken more than 2 sips hah. For the most part I hear, "This is good" and they continue to drink or, "it's ok" and they hold the beer like a hood ornament on a car hood.

But I think the best response is, "Hey this is good, and I don't like beer" and asking for a second pint. That can make ya grin.

I'll take it as that's a good thing?

lgtg said:

honestly, no offense intended. It's not something (even as a noob) that I bend my mind around trying to figure out.....

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Apologies to Damn Squirrels for going OT on this:

Read this thread about how to search.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=29131&highlight=leveraging

I'll bust a new thread to make my pitch for integrated google search and wiki help on searching.

My two buddies that just recently got started in brewing are the only ones that I can count on for an honest evaluation.

SWMBO isn't afraid to tell me what she thinks about a brew, but she's a BMC drinker and really doesn't have an appreciation for different styles, bodies, and flavors of different types of beers so all I get out of her is "It's really good - I could drink a couple of those", "It's ok but I probably wouldn't drink a whole one" or "this f*&$ing sucks". Although I did get a new and exciting reaction out of her when I had her try my Double IPA... have you ever tricked a small child into biting into a lemon? Ya, that's about what SWMBO thought of that Double IPA.

As for the rest of the guys that have tried my brews... they all say this is good, but it's hard to tell if they're lying to spare my feelings or if they really like it. Most of them aren't big drinkers anyway and when they do drink its BMC so kind of like SWMBO, their opinions don't really give ma a whole lot of useful information to help me with future batches.

ohiobrewtus said:

have you ever tricked a small child into biting into a lemon? Ya, that's about what SWMBO thought of that Double IPA.

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I don't know, man... this kid keeps going back for more: http://www.devilducky.com/media/60785/

lgtg said:

1. I am, by nature, inclined to like my beer better than anyone else.
2. In accordance with the above nature, I am more likely to ignore or deny some of my honebrew's defects or shortcomings. (not on my own congnizence, but again, relative to others tasting it.) (IE: "c'mon!! It's not THAT
bad!!)
3. People, no matter how enthusiastic they are about beer, will never meet my standard of enthusiasm when they accpept or taste my homebrew.
4. I must remember that my perspective or "world view" of the joy of homebrewing will most likely not be shared with anyone else unless they home brew as well.
.

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Hard to argue with these points.

boo boo said:

Hard to argue with these points.

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Homebrewing could have a "rose colored glasses" effect on the brewer.

As far as his home brew is concerned, the glass is always half full....

another point:

Some people have a natural narcisstic state of mind and when they "connect" the home brew to the home brewer, it instantly stops being about beer and whether it's good or bad and becomes a comparison of you and them.

"Since I truly believe that I am a better person than that guy, his beer cannot be good". (Even if at their core, they really do love your beer, you're not going to hear it from them.)

Just recently had a co-worker over that had told me on many occasions that Boston Lager was too hoppy. Loved my wifes Hefe's, and I asked him if he would like to try a sip of my IIPA, telling him I am COMPLETELY cool with him spitting it out, rinsing his mouth, and or gagging. I like my beer and I don't expect anyone else to love hops the way that I do. I couldn't believe it when I opened the bottle, poured about 1 oz. into his glass and the rest in mine. He kicked it back with a look of anticipation of evil, then put his glass on the counter and walked over to me to take MY GLASS!!!! Biggest compliment I have received to date. He enjoyed it enough that he wants to come over and brew a batch of it next month.

I assisted in judging a homebrew competition a little while ago. I'm a complete amateur but I had a good time doing it and I learned a lot about how they judge beers.

I tried 13 beers, 10 I liked quite a bit, 2 I didn't care for but were well made, and 1 that sucked. I was wondering if I was going to be able to appreciate other people's homebrew, and I really was able to. Infact i'd say I was very impressed. Granted these are ones entered into a competition so I'd hope they'd be good, but I was pleasantly surprised.