I have reached the epitome of beer snobbery

I cant buy beer and enjoy it anymore.Don't get me wrong there are some great beers out there.But I think there is no style that I cant make better than retail.Am I the only one?I realize I'm coming across as a pretentious ass,but I'm serious.Any other Elitest beer snobs out there?

This is the kind of attitude that can drive a man crazy.

I highly doubt you can make better beer than retail beer, unless you're counting BMC. But don't let that stop you from *****ing it up.

I love my beers, and make some damn good ones. But by no means are they better than some of my fav beers, and of course I can make some to my own taste "better" than some retail beers. But I could never touch some of my favorite oaked beers, or Whiskey Porters, or DFH 120 sure I cloned it but its nothing like the orig. I dunno, maybe you just have a crappy selection of beers in your area and need to expand...

Joos said:

But I think there is no style that I cant make better than retail.Am I the only one?

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Probably not, but that doesn't make it true. It's absolutely great that you love your own brew. After all, why homebrew if you don't? I guarantee that you can't make any style better though. The lengths some of these breweries go through to make beer is ridiculous and pretty much impossible to replicate by a homebrewer. Their state-of-the-art equipment, access to the best ingredients and their expertise (not to mention the fact that this is all they do) reflects in their product. This doesn't mean you can't make really, really good beer, or even beer worthy of being bottled and sold, but overall the best beer in the world is being made in breweries in my humble opinion.

When I try a new beer, my personal judgment is based simply on how it stacks up aginst my own. Sometimes I say "Meh, I can do better" and sometimes I go "Wow, this is awesome! I can't touch this!" But I really don't think I do better than EVERY commercial brew out there. Some? Yeah, definitely. But for the most part, the pros do better than me. That's why they're pros

I brew beer that I prefer over many different commercial beers, but I don't think that I brew better than they do. If I thought that my beer was better only because I didn't like a commercial breweries beers, then I brew better than Dog Fish Head

This thread fails...

BeezBrew said:

I highly doubt you can make better beer than retail beer, unless you're counting BMC. But don't let that stop you from *****ing it up.

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nice.......

I always like it when I brew something and it turns out good so that I say, "hah! I made a beer that I could drink that keg in a week." Then I do and realize that I then have to brew the stupid thing up again. While waiting, I go out and buy a couple of beers from the local bottle shop that I enjoy.

I heard in Belgium only old people drink Witbier

confirm/deny

I'm in between home brews now, letting em sit for a little longer so popped a few Fat Tires and man that is some god brew.
I've made some good beer and hope to get better but man, there are some great beers available..

I just want to say, Wildwest450- I find it very hard to look away from your avatar.

I wish I could say my brew is better than the best I can buy. Although I picked up a six pack of Sam Adams Boston Ale recently, and it is so darned sweet and hops-deficient that I wish I had just put a few more bottles of my own stuff in the fridge. Yep, it's definitely worth the effort.

I would love you to make a gueuze better than boon mariage parfait or cantillon classic gueuze and send me a case or two.

While you are at it, brew me up some pappy van winkle aged sexual chocolate.

Damn, there's a lot of hate in here.

I mean I don't think I can touch most commercial stuff (though I had the Dark Horse Amber Ale in Chicago and I thought it tasted like an extract kit), but I also know that there are a ton of better brewers within a 50 mile radius of me, so I'm not going to tell you you're full of it. There are beers I don't care for (Rogue's Chipotle Ale is one of the few), but I don't say 'I can make this better,' I say 'Wow this is painful to drink.'

I think I can brew better than a few retail beers, but I am still more or less trying to match them if I can. But there is nothing wrong with liking your own beers.

Now that you've made it that far, send some to some competitions and see what others think. Come up with some original recipes and if you are noticed, you could have a meaningful career as a professional brewer!

Whenever I catch myself getting too cocky I buy some Jolly Pumpkin or De Struise, Cantillon, etc.

That grounds me. I realize then that I might be able to mix some ingredients up and maintain a pretty good brewing process, but those guys are artists.

Brew wilds. Then brag.

Bitters, Pales, etc... are easy no matter what the system. And there is NO REASON why you couldn't brew as good or better than retail offerings. all the million dollar systems do is provide process control and ease in handling large volumes.

But, brew a triple decoction german lager. Then, duplicate it precisely at least 3 times.

Brew a barrell aged brett beer and then duplicate it.

THEN come tell us how "easy" all this is.

GilaMinumBeer said:

THEN come tell us how "easy" all this is.

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He never said it was easy, just that he was the greatest brewer the world has ever seen. There's a difference.

Some of my beers match commercial products (IMO) while others don't. It really is a great feeling when you pour a pint of homebrew and can honestly say "that's about as good as it gets!"

The lengths some of these breweries go through to make beer is ridiculous and pretty much impossible to replicate by a homebrewer. Their state-of-the-art equipment, access to the best ingredients and their expertise (not to mention the fact that this is all they do) reflects in their product. This doesn't mean you can't make really, really good beer, or even beer worthy of being bottled and sold, but overall the best beer in the world is being made in breweries in my humble opinion.

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This describes BMC to a tee. Just because they could...doesn't mean they do.

I can make breakfast better than Denny's or Waffle House...and that's pretty much all they do.

How many parents think they 'make children' better than everybody else?

First of all I understand you might not be meaning to come of like a total *********, you are just happy with your work.

However there is no chance in HELL that you make better beer than what is commercially available for any style. You might be able to pin down 2-3 styles and claim to have the best, but of course you'd have medals to prove it.

If you say you can't buy beer anymore you obviously very limited on your experience in different beers. Try these and tell me you can do better:

Schneider Aventinus Weisse Doppelbock
Weihenstephaner (dunkelweiss, or korbinian doppel)
Lagunitas IPA
any other of the thousands of craft beers...

The point is you can't do better and probably never will. Even if you made a stellar IPA there is no good reason you couldn't buy Lagunitas. The best brewers in the world enjoy all types of beer from all types of breweries. You aren't an elitist, you're smug and in denial.

SpanishCastleAle said:

This describes BMC to a tee. Just because they could...doesn't mean they do.

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True. BMC breweries could brew some amazing beer if they wanted to, but that's not what the idiotic masses want. I was referring to microbreweries.

I can make breakfast better than Denny's or Waffle House...and that's pretty much all they do.

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Also true, but there's quite a difference between pancakes and beer.

How many parents think they 'make children' better than everybody else?

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I know I do!

HOOTER said:

True. BMC breweries could brew some amazing beer if they wanted to, but that's not what the idiotic masses want. I was referring to microbreweries.

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Yes this part of what I mean. IMO this more about an individual's perception of taste...imo it has little to do with the actual beer(s) in question. We can't really base it on 'sales' because more people drink BMC than anything (similarly, just because Britany Spears has sold more records than some other musician doesn't make her a 'better' musician or mean her music is 'better' per se...just that more people like it).

I'm definately not an expert brewer. I didn't go to school for brewing, but I make some damn fine beer. My Hefeweizen (based on Edwort's recipe) is better than anything I can get in the store. I don't ususally do clones, so I can't say outright that I can brew say SNPA better than Sierra Nevada, or Burning River better than Great Lakes. I have made some great pale ales that can hold their own against what I consider great commercial examples. I would also say that my Kolsch was better than any commercial example I've tried. I've never been to Cologne, so I can't say for sure.

I've definately made some crap beer. I probably wouldn't consider anything (or very little) of what I brewed my first two years on par with any commercial beer. Was all that a waste of time? No. As much as it sucks to say, I probably learn more from a failed batch than one that turns out perfect. I'm sure commercial breweries have crap batches too. They just dont sell it to the public.

Maybe I take this hobby a little more seriously than some. I guess thats because I do hope to open a brewery in the future. There are a lot of guys on here with great setups, who make amazing beer who never plan to make it their job. Why would we take so much time, effort and money to DIY all this equipment, and do all the research we do if we are going to sit down at the end of the day and say, "yea my beer sucks compared to any commercial beer". You are selling yourself short.

Hell, I probably buy MORE beer since I started homebrewing. There's tons of styles to try many of them I am only now reaching out and trying, and different commercial examples within each style.

And I will usually try several version of a style, especially if I am interested in coming up with my own recipe.

I make great beer, and some of it would stack up against many commercial beers. In fact in a taste test my rogue dead guy clone was like better than the original, and my bell's amber clone is a pretty dead on to the original. But there are many beers I like that I will prpbably never get around to brewing-style maybe, but not a specific clone of it...Like I will probably never be able to make an Oaked Arrogant Bastard clone that will be as perfect as that is...I may make a great beer like it, but I doubt I will ever make it exactly.

But I like so many different types of beer, that even if I may have 3-9 different types of homebrew on hand at any given time, that doesn't mean I suddenly won't have a craving for something specific on the way home. I did that this week, my wit is still in the fermenter so I picked some hoegaarden on the way home. Or like I said an OAB....

I know a lot of brewer's never buy another commercial beer...but me personally, that would be like cutting off an appendage, and severely limit my enjoyment of the whole beer culture thing that I am so geeky into.

The OP smacks of delusions of grandeur.

You may be the best brewer in the whole world, but I suspect that that guy wouldn't say he was.

I'm pretty sure that everyone loves their own beer. As they should... there's a pride in brewing it yourself that makes it taste amazing.

That said, I probably love my beer more than I'd love yours, so that makes me the best brewer in the world... unless someone else likes their own beer better than mine...

Joos if you really want to get a handle on how your beers stack up, or are particularly masochistic, then enter your beer in a bjcp certified contest. But have a thick skin and also be open to learning something if you open your mind up to the suggestions on the scoring sheets.

I do a couple contests a year. One gets usually over 800 entries...I have no expectation that any of my beers will place in that contest, but I do it anyway. In fact I'm doing the online registration right now.

It's all taste preference. I love IPA's, but I don't like Lagunitas IPA...while someone above said they loved it and thought you couldn't make a better IPA. That doesn't mean it's a bad beer or that it is technically "Better" than anything else. If you think your beer is better then good for you. Not everyone in the world is going to say your beer is better than every other. In the end it only matters to who is drinking it.

There fixed it for ya. I brew some good beers but there are other brewers and commercial brews that blow me away... get over yourself

Methinks...

EAC!

Revvy said:

Joos if you really want to get a handle on how your beers stack up, or are particularly masochistic, then enter your beer in a bjcp certified contest. But have a thick skin and also be open to learning something if you open your mind up to the suggestions on the scoring sheets.

I do a couple contests a year. One gets usually over 800 entries...I have no expectation that any of my beers will place in that contest, but I do it anyway. In fact I'm doing the online registration right now.

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The HBT competition is right around the corner...and registration for all is open Sunday I think.

Moose777 said:

I'm in between home brews now, letting em sit for a little longer so popped a few Fat Tires and man that is some god brew.
I've made some good beer and hope to get better but man, there are some great beers available..

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I less than 3 the Fat Tire!

Revvy said:

Hell, I probably buy MORE beer since I started homebrewing. There's tons of styles to try many of them I am only now reaching out and trying, and different commercial examples within each style.

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Thats very true. I doubt I will ever stop buying commercial beer. I can only have 2 styles on tap right now. I can go across the street and have access to dozens of styles from dozens of breweries. Even if I could brew every style as good as the commercial equivalent, I'd still be buying commercial beer.

'I thought you started brewing so you wouldn't have to buy any more beer!'

'Well, yes, dear, but...'

I guarantee you aren't brewing every style better and all commercial examples. Maybe you like your pale ale better than Sierra Nevada, but try comparing yourself to Orval, Rochefort, ect. I love belgians but have yet to attempt one. I seriously doubt my attempts will outshine any of these. me thinks you are just drinking Crap Craft brews.

wow no replies yesterday now theres 4 pages.Ok let me reiterate.For the styles I LIKE I have brewed over and over again till I get them to the perfect taste for MY tongue.Therefore way better than commercial.It has been mentioned several times although I never said I was the best brewer in the world.I may enter some comps,But I'd rather save my beer for myself and friends/family.AND no one answered my question so I guess the answer is no... I'm the only one:rockin:

P.S. Chill out all you angry posters.Some of you have a lot more experience than me.But when it comes down to beer I like.I bet you I make it better.If you can't say the same..well than..that sucks.

Joos said:

wow no replies yesterday now theres 4 pages.Ok let me reiterate.For the styles I LIKE I have brewed over and over again till I get them to the perfect taste for MY tongue.Therefore way better than commercial.It has been mentioned several times although I never said I was the best brewer in the world.I may enter some comps,But I'd rather save my beer for myself and friends/family.AND no one answered my question so I guess the answer is no... I'm the only one:rockin:

P.S. Chill out all you angry posters.Some of you have a lot more experience than me.But when it comes down to beer I like.I bet you I make it better.If you can't say the same..well than..that sucks.

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That's funny, you originally stated there's NO style you can't make better. Now it's just styles you like. I believe my IPA's are the cat's ass. But i've tasted a few commercially I like better. And yes you will get blasted on this site when making foolish statements.