Sent back a Sam Adams (they gave me a light beer)

So I order a Sam Adams on draft at a local restaurant last weekend and when it comes out it looks like SA (lager) and smells like it but clearly a 'light' beer of some kind (I mean diet, not light colored). I send it back but they tell me they don't have any light beers on tap but brings a bottle as I asked instead.

I pour the beer, it looks the same...and tastes the same! I had to eat crow and apologize and was quite embarassed, I don't have a refined palate but something is clearly out of whack with me. Even though SA is favorite of mine I've been drinking nothing but homebrew ales, SA Winter Lager (wheat) and store bought stouts for a while now.

Sounds like you're becoming an EAC - Congratulations!
Homebrew is just better than macro brews - plain and simple

I can't imagine why drinking store bought stouts and homebrew
would make you think SA is a light beer

I think this gets to be more common as you start drinking home brew. You tend to drink bigger and tastier beers. Beers that one time seemed bitter are no longer, beers that were to heavy seem thin.

I ordered a SA Boston Lager at Red Lobster once but they brought me a Michelob Amber Bock. SWMBO and I were talking about something heated so my focus on the beer was not there. I took one sip didn't notice I got the wrong beer. I must say I had to wait an eternity for the damned thing and was starving. I didn't eat all day and I was so thirsty that a glassfull of wet sand would have tasted good.

They came back with the correct beer in just a few minutes. I had taken a few more sips and it did not occur to me that it was wrong. I seem to recall noticing the color looked odd, but it didn't set off any flags. The lighting was poor. Frankly, I was just happy to have a beer. I wound up drinking both and only paid for one.

That was OK with me.

This is a prime example of why whenever the urge to be snobbish about beer creeps in, you should ignore it. I consider myself a rather well versed beer drinker and I am very, very cautious whenever calling anything out.

btw- not to rain on anyone's parade, but the vast majority of homebrew is not better than a good commercial beer. Once you get your process honed and really know what you are doing, you MAY make beer that is very good and maybe even better than your favorite commercial beers. It will be awesome because you made it, but objectively, the professionals still beat us in general. Just a word to keep expectations of new brewers in check.

Adendum: If you drink only BMC or similar and are just branching out into the larger beer world, then yes, your homebrew will be better (i.e., more flavorful) than commercial beers you are used to.

Boerderij_Kabouter said:

This is a prime example of why whenever the urge to be snobbish about beer creeps in, you should ignore it. I consider myself a rather well versed beer drinker and I am very, very cautious whenever calling anything out.
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Noted and excellent advice. I'll still turn my inwardly turn my nose up at a BMC though .

MikeG said:

So I order a Sam Adams on draft at a local restaurant last weekend and when it comes out it looks like SA (lager) and smells like it but clearly a 'light' beer of some kind (I mean diet, not light colored). I send it back but they tell me they don't have any light beers on tap but brings a bottle as I asked instead.

I pour the beer, it looks the same...and tastes the same! I had to eat crow and apologize and was quite embarassed, I don't have a refined palate but something is clearly out of whack with me. Even though SA is favorite of mine I've been drinking nothing but homebrew ales, SA Winter Lager (wheat) and store bought stouts for a while now.

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This happens to me all the time -- I can have the EXACT same beer (from the same 6 pack or whatever) on different days and it will taste way different. It's amazing how many things can influence your taste perception.

Boerderij_Kabouter said:

btw- not to rain on anyone's parade, but the vast majority of homebrew is not better than a good commercial beer. Once you get your process honed and really know what you are doing, you MAY make beer that is very good and maybe even better than your favorite commercial beers. It will be awesome because you made it, but objectively, the professionals still beat us in general. Just a word to keep expectations of new brewers in check.

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Thank you, someone finally said it! The "wow, my homebrew is way better than any commercial beer out there" threads are ridiculous (I am not talking about this thread). Enthusiasm and pride is good things, but so is a little bit of reality once in a while

The stouts (a total of 6 for me) are the Sweetwater Happy Ending specialty beer, it's a stout + IPA combo (IMO because of the dry-hopped aroma) and is what I'm blaming on my off-perception of SA

So, If i brew a beer at the brewery then decide i want to brew the same thing at home, the one i made at the brewery would be better?

Even if i take the grain and hops from the brewery along with the recipe?

There are some pretty bad micros out there. Im sure there is a bunch of people here that do in fact make better beer than some of the micros, Ohiobrewtus is one.

I ordered a SA seasonal two weeks ago at Chilis and they brought me something that looked and tasted like a Bud. Of course I expected the Winter Lager because IT'S WINTER!!! I'm like, what is this? Waitress says, it's the Sam seasonal. Which season? Winter of course. It might have been the Summer Ale, maybe. It certainly wasn't the wit, but who the hell knows. I sent it back because if they can't tell me what it is, it could be Bud for all I know.

Reverend JC said:

So, If i brew a beer at the brewery then decide i want to brew the same thing at home, the one i made at the brewery would be better?

Even if i take the grain and hops from the brewery along with the recipe?

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Good grain + good hops != good beer

Reverend JC said:

There are some pretty bad micros out there. Im sure there is a bunch of people here that do in fact make better beer than some of the micros, Ohiobrewtus is one.

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Agreed - It's not hard to make beer that's better than some of the micros....I was referring to the threads in which people state that their beer is better than ANY commercial beer out there.

Bobby_M said:

I ordered a SA seasonal two weeks ago at Chilis and they brought me something that looked and tasted like a Bud. Of course I expected the Winter Lager because IT'S WINTER!!! I'm like, what is this? Waitress says, it's the Sam seasonal. Which season? Winter of course. It might have been the Summer Ale, maybe. It certainly wasn't the wit, but who the hell knows. I sent it back because if they can't tell me what it is, it could be Bud for all I know.

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Freaky....that's where this story happened, except in Alpharetta GA....maybe they poured the draft into empty bottles just to prove me wrong .

Better taste is a matter of opinion.

If someone thinks their home brew tastes better than store bought, than it is better than store bought.

Beter quality, how ever it's judged, home brew can easily blow the doors off of store bought.

I know if my HB has been peed in, had boogers flicked in it or bird feathers added. With store bought, who knows.

There are a lot of great store bought beers. Many are better, in one way or another, or even all ways, than my HB. Some are not.

Taste depends on the drinker. Ingredients depend on the brewer.

Zul'jin said:

Better taste is a matter of opinion.

If someone thinks their home brew tastes better than store bought, than it is better than store bought.

Beter quality, how ever it's judged, home brew can easily blow the doors off of store bought.


There are a lot of great store bought beers. Many are better, in one way or another, or even all ways, than my HB. Some are not.

Taste depends on the drinker. Ingredients depend on the brewer.

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The quality of store bought beer I think has a lot to do with how fresh it is and how it was handled.

Get some old crap that was not meant to be on a shelf for 18 months. It may not have the best taste.

Then poor storage, high heat and sunlight or fluorescent lighting will have a bad effect on hops. Brown bottle or not I think it will eventually have a negative effect of skunking

Last of all, the brewery could have an off day. I have had on more than one occasion noticed bad DMS in; SA, Pete's Wicked, Miller, Millstream, Hub City, and several others.

I must say that I have tried a lot of bad home brews.

• Too young or old
• Nasty chemical taste (not measuring out sanitzer & water concentration)
• Burnt malt taste (not flaming out to add extract.)
• Yeasty (with floaties)
• Wet dog smell.
• Musty.
• Astringent
• Solventy

Most of the bad commercial stuff I have had usually have a DMS problem. I tend not to notice diacetyl or anything else.

I think there are good Macros,good,Micros, and good/great HB. I never look down my nose at any beer. Every beer has a brewmaster. Every one of us wish we could be that brewmaster.

I will say that some brewmasters have piss poor taste.

This happens to me all the time -- I can have the EXACT same beer (from the same 6 pack or whatever) on different days and it will taste way different. It's amazing how many things can influence your taste perception.

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This happens to me too and it drives me nuts.