What's the best beer you have brewed to date?

I got to thinking about some of the beers I have brewed and which were my favorites. Over the years, I have brewed the similar recipes but never really did the exact same recipe more than twice. It occurred to me that now is the perfect time to strive for consistency since my equipment selection is fairly stable for the first time in a long time.

What was your favorite brew so far and have you reproduced it?

My favorite so far is the DFH 60 minute clone. I think it would be hard to screw it up, so yes, I've been able to reproduce it.

My husband's favorite has been the Maibock I did last winter, though. I'll make it again this winter and see if I nail it agian.

He loves malt, I love hops. A perfect marriage.

Mine is the Bent Rod Rye. The first batch was slightly better, but since I was cleaning out the freezer and used seven hops in it ...

My Hop Beatdown Double IPA might take the cake. It's very malty, very bitter, very hoppy, and the icing on the cake is the oak. I remember the first (non-green) one I had...sent chills down my spine. Better than the vast majority of commercial Imperials and Doubles. I'd say it's on par with HopSlam, which is just about the best thing Bell's does this side of Expedition.

That's a tough question. So far my Haus Pale, Kölsch, Bavarian Hefeweizen & IPA are in a 4 way tie. It's kind of like picking your favorite kid.../sniff

Hrmm, I dunno I'd have to say my High Water Dunkel followed by either the Chaos Love Magnet or my winter brew (although it is essentially a Belgian Dubbel at heart, yet containing some spice additions). It is hard to say. I have really dug most everything I have brewed. Everyone that has gotten my NutBrown has really loved it, but the funny thing is it was way below my expectations, so go figure hehe. Oh as for reproducing, none have been done yet but will be. Partially because the two latter require a significant time of conditioning, and to boot they don't get tasted very often because they are in the 8% to 9% range. The Dunkel will be reproduced, hopefully for the early fall. So many recipes....so little time!

Favorite: Sorachi Saison #1 (listed in recipes section)
Runner Up: Jamil's Extract Porter (listed somewhere on his website)

It's a tie between the Czech Pils I have on tap right now and my Oatmeal Porter. I've made the Porter twice and will make it again soon for fall drinking. I thinking about adding a bit of Munich to the recipe. The Pils will get made again this winter when the basement is cold enough. Actually I'll probably brew a whole bunch of slight Pils variations as I really love the style in the summer.

Drunken Satyr Pale Ale, and Apricot Wheat. Both go down nice and smooth in the Texas Heat! Did a Murphy's clone a few years ago, and even without Nitrogen, it was still an amazing brew. Have to dig that one back out for this winter.

Pliny!

-D

Hefe Weizen...PROSIT!!

Man, that's a tough question! But a good one. I'm going to chose only those that I've done more than once, since you asked about repeatability. I'd say it's a tie b/w my Irish Stout and the 'house ale', my Honey Blonde. Those are the ones people seem to really go for, too. My Yellow Rose IPA is close to making it a 3-way tie!

I've done the Honey Blonde at least a half dozen times now and tweaked it every time except for the last two. So, I've gotten into a groove and can replicate it pretty well from batch to batch.

My Nierra Sevada SNPA CLone.

At 4.5%, it's a perfect quaff after work.

My "off-the-wall" hefewizen, hands down.


*edit* why again is it off the wall? That hasn't been cleared up yet.
kvh

Irish Red Ale, 80 shilling scotch ale or dry hopped IPA all great, I cant pick

i've made a couple of hefes that were purrrrty up there.

Allow me to brag a bit...

1) My cranberry ale rocks. Dark, sweet, subtle puckery aftertaste.

2) My Blue Moon clone is great. It mellowed out with time. One lady thought it had the bouquet of a wine ! Compared it to some fancy micro brew, "only better".

3) My Newcastle Clone brown ale is getting rave reviews from people who like that sort of beer. I don't.

All three beers were liked and complemented by people other than myself !

Pick one ? Why ? ! With a meal, I'll take the cranberry ale. On a hot summer day, I'll take the BM clone. For my friends, the Newcastle clone. That's why I homebrew, so I don't have to choose just one.

I've made awesome hefe before but haven't been able to quite duplicate it since. I'll try again later, I'm kind of tired of drinking the halfway attempts.

My wit, Its just perfect for summer. Although Orfy's hobgoblin is very tasty.

That's easy... My best beer is ALWAYS the one I have in my glass at any particular time. Right now it is a schwarzbier.

I copied the bird's Murder in the Red Barn. Its so far the best beer I've brewed to date.

My Manny's pale ale is #2 and my leftover IPA is #3.

Hugh Heffe, it is listed in the recipes on here... made it several time, I am hooked.

My favs are my dunkel and my barleywine, but as far as best beer goes, I'm gonna have to say Kolsch. Won 2 first-place ribbons and a second-place ribbon with it so far, average score 42. :rockin:

The one that i seem to make the most is my Bust a Nut Brown. I've had real good luck with this one. I got exactly what I was looking for on the first try, and every subsequent batch has been the same. It's prolly more luck than anything, but i'd rather be lucky than good anyway

Lots of interesting replies! Reading through the thread it makes me wonder if most folks favorite brew to date is also their favorite beer style in general or not?

One interesting thing I have found through sharing my beer with a pretty good variety of folks is that the overall favorite beer of the entire population over the past year or two has not been my favorite. I brewed a beer off a modified Ruination clone that was a home run with everyone that tried it...shocked the heck out of me to say the least considering the normal beer selections of the sampling population! Fantastic showcase of hops but could have used a little more malt in the flavor profile.

brewt00l said:

Lots of interesting replies! Reading through the thread it makes me wonder if most folks favorite brew to date is also their favorite beer style in general or not?

One interesting thing I have found through sharing my beer with a pretty good variety of folks is that the overall favorite beer of the entire population over the past year or two has not been my favorite. I brewed a beer off a modified Ruination clone that was a home run with everyone that tried it...shocked the heck out of me to say the least considering the normal beer selections of the sampling population! Fantastic showcase of hops but could have used a little more malt in the flavor profile.

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Yeah I find this as well to a large degree, it's kind of what I was getting at in my prior post about the NutBrown in particular. I do like a NutBrown, but it certainly isn't something I look for every day. People raved about it, I kind of shrugged. lol.

On a similar note, the whole topic reminds me of the bbr interview with Papa-san. He was like talking about the difference between your 'old friends' meaning the brews that you always brew and how they aren't necessarily special but you always come back to them vs. those brews that are just experimental and really make a distinct impression on the peeps that sample them. Pretty interesting.

zoebisch01 said:

Yeah I find this as well to a large degree, it's kind of what I was getting at in my prior post about the NutBrown in particular. I do like a NutBrown, but it certainly isn't something I look for every day. People raved about it, I kind of shrugged. lol.

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The thing that really shocked me was the response from the folks that said they weren't hopheads/didn't like hoppy or bitter beers. Everyone that tried that beer was begging for more!

Bernie Brewer said:

The one that i seem to make the most is my Bust a Nut Brown. I've had real good luck with this one. I got exactly what I was looking for on the first try, and every subsequent batch has been the same. It's prolly more luck than anything, but i'd rather be lucky than good anyway

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Hehe, I always love how graphic people get when they realize they can name their own beers...

"Dude, wanna have a pint of my 'Squirt My Spunk On Your Mom's Face' Hefeweissen? It's very refreshing!"

I take back what I said about my hefe - I think I have a new winner. I transferred an ordinary bitter to secondary last night and took a sample. It tasted so good that I wanted to drink it right then and there - and it's only 9 days old, warm, and flat!

Granted, it's also based on a Jamil recipe, so I guess that figures. I think I know what I'm making again!

I'm a newbie so I don't have a ton of brews to compare between, but my best so far is definitely the Brown Hoppy in my signature. Call it a dark IPA or a Texas Brown, whatever it is, it is a very hoppy beer with plenty of malt and roasty flavors to balance it. I found that Chinook may be harsh young but after a little aging it mellows out to a great bitterness.

Craig

Evan! said:

Hehe, I always love how graphic people get when they realize they can name their own beers...

"Dude, wanna have a pint of my 'Squirt My Spunk On Your Mom's Face' Hefeweissen? It's very refreshing!"

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LOL there is actually a reason it's named that, besides the genitalia references(Although i thought that fit very nicely too ) For the explanation , and the recipe for that matter, go the the recipe section............

Charles Dickens Christmas Ale.

God that was good. I hope I can find the recipe again.

Does anyone have a copy? It was out of a brewing mag and it had about 15 pounds of fermentables in a five gallon batch.

brewt00l said:

The thing that really shocked me was the response from the folks that said they weren't hopheads/didn't like hoppy or bitter beers. Everyone that tried that beer was begging for more!

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I've decided that everybody is a closet hophead. =)

-D

My copies of Denny Conn's RyePA:rockin: and Bourbon Vanilla Imperial Porter and Skotrat's Traquair House clone and Dean Larsons SNCA clone.

I wish I could narrow it down to just one, but Ive brewed so much and most are right up there with all the other ones.

My copies of Denny Conn's RyePA

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Yeah, overall I have to go with Denny' Rye IPA. I have made about 25 different beers and some were just outstanding but that, so far has beat them all.

After the next 25 I may have a different opinion; and then again, maybe not.

Actually the one I'm drinking now. It's an Alpha King Clone. I call it Alpha PA. My LHBS didn't nave some of the specialty grains so we made a few adjustments. But it tastes spot on . The color is just a bit light. Oh well, next time. This was my second all grain and what a huge difference brewing with grain makes. But thats just preaching to the choir.

KopyKat said:

Yeah, overall I have to go with Denny' Rye IPA. I have made about 25 different beers and some were just outstanding but that, so far has beat them all.

After the next 25 I may have a different opinion; and then again, maybe not.

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niquejim said:

My copies of Denny Conn's RyePA:rockin: and Bourbon Vanilla Imperial Porter and Skotrat's Traquair House clone and Dean Larsons SNCA clone.

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This brew is on deck (Denny's Rye IPA), ingredients ordered. They only change in the recipe is that I substituted Cascades for the dry hop over the Columbus as they were not avail in leaf when I ordered. I am looking forward to brewing this one given all the feedback I have seen so far.

Have only made two beers so far, but the second was awesome.

It was a pale honey ale with a good bit of cascade hops. Was aiming for something Sierra Nevadaish with an extra kick/aftertaste from the honey but due to high fermentation temperatures (72 degrees-ish) and using a massive amount (about three pounds) of unfiltered unpastuerized honey it came out completely diferent.

Very smooth with a bit of fruityness from the heat, a lovely honey aftertaste and a flowery aroma. Fairly sweet, but just enough hops to keep it from being too sweet. Yum.

My first and last version of Lake Walk Pale Ale. I love that beer.