Rant about a noob

I've been brewing for more than a decade and a half and I feel like I still learn from every batch. I recently got a buddy into the hobby and his third batch is in primary now. He sends me a message yesterday saying that his beer is better than mine and was quite cocky about it. I'm all about helping folks get into the hobby and doing all I can to help them learn. Needless to say I'm a tad miffed at his hubris and don't know how to handle it. I'm not the end all know all of brewing and never claim to be but I have won a few competitions with the first win in 1999. How should I deal with this without ruining a friendship? I'm judging a competition next month that he wants to enter and I'm tempted to tell him to set his bottles in the sun for three days before he submits the entries.


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breathe?

He'll call you panicked within the month and tell you he did "x" and is certain his beer is ruined or will interpret normal fermentation as an infection. Pride goeth before a fall.

A little Brett or lacto? Just kidding. He's enthusiastic about the craft, which is great. Sometimes you just swallow your pride and say that his brew result is good too. Know that "good" and "better than" are subjective, and let him enter the competition.

I'm no pro, nor will I claim perfection in my ales/lagers, but feedback from friends on my all grain ipa and Oktoberfest were better than commercial brews. Sometimes a new brewer needs that kind of feedback to build confidence. However, appropriate feedback also helps. I'd much rather hear legit feedback and criticism than ego stroking. Honesty is the best policy.

Relax? If he does well in the comp wish him well, if not, maybe make a helpful suggestion on what to improve based upon the other judges notes? In either case RDWHAHB

Your friend is an overcompensated insecure arse. Find a new friend. Or you could tell him to take a hike. Pretty sure his insecurity would come asking you for help.

Just say "that's not what your wife said last night " lol that was a friend of mines go to punch line for EVERYTHING. Really though, I'd have throw a funny spin on it for friendly banter like "wrong you are young padawan" in Yoda's voice

With friends like that...

That is pretty impressive that his product's quality went zooming past yours after only two finished batches. You must be one hella teacher.

You sure he wasn't joking?

Sounds like he's just trying to have a good time. Maybe grab a beer and play along ;-)

Therapy

Like someone else said he's a new brewer so within the next 2, 3 or even 4 batches he'll call you with a question or in a panic. If you feel like making him squirm calmly tell him that since his beer is better than yours he can figure out what to do to fix it. After all if he makes a better product he should already know the answer.

erichsmith said:

He sends me a message yesterday saying that his beer is better than mine and was quite cocky about it.

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Did you taste his beer side by side with yours? Was his beer actually better than yours?

If it's not better then tell him that it's not better and why it's not better. Then give him constructive feedback so that he can improve.

If his beer is better then yours then stop hating and congratulate him.

But seriously, better beer or not, he doesn't seem to be a good friend if he is rubbing that in your face.


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It sounds like banter to me.

But then again, I spend most of my nights bantering with Scotts online.

Sure he's not just breaking your balls man? My friends and I troll the crap out of each other constantly about everything. You should see when we have our fantasy football league going. Lol....


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I agree with what looks like the majority... he is just messing with you.. and the fact that you are taking it this seriously... is concerning...

Blind taste test with friends, families, wife's. My wife knows the taste of my brews but will tell me it's crap and drink my mentors cider instead.

as a complete noob myself (just brewed my second extract yesterday) i would say hes just messing with you, unless hes just braindead that is. heres my logic. imy first brew i was pretty7 anal about i followed the recipe to a T did all the sanitation id read about and all, and i got lucky and it turned out good. I did the same this time and finished about 11pm last night and its happily bubbling away, even though there were mistakes made on both brews so far so good. BUT i know that sooner or later im gonna screw the pooch and the sh**s gonna hit the fan, but for now i can joke about all i want cause im new and it hasnt happened YET. sorry about the long windedness

It may be that he actually did blunder his way into a great beer.

Tell him not to get too cocky, even a blind squirrel stumbles upon a nut from time to time.

But honestly, if you haven't tasted his beer isn't it a bit presumptuous of you to assume it can't be better than yours?

Congratulate your bragging friend on his fine brew and help him enter it in a competition.

Everyone, including me, brews the best beer. Until the BJCP-qualified judges reveal the truth.

Yes , congratulate him, then drink his beer, lots of it.

I agree with the above - he's probably just teasing/ballbusting. Your op says this came in a message. I bet if it had been face-to-face, the look on his face would have made it clear he wasn't serious. RDWHAHB.

Teasing or not, let him enter his beer and don't resort to sabotage. What if his beer is truly great?
Maybe relax just a bit.

Relax. Have a homebrew. Exclude yourself from judging his beer and let the other judges decide.


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EVERYONE likes their beer better than anyone else's. That's just the way it works.

I'm only half joking about that. And I am pretty sure he is only half joking about his statement regarding his beer. He's probably proud of his efforts and feels like he is making progress. Like other people said, you should treat it as fun and games, and not a completely serious statement. Send him a message back saying, "Sorry, could you repeat that? I wasn't paying attention. I was busy dusting off my brewing awards."

I agree with the opinions of many others above, he is just trying to get a rise out of you. The only way to know for sure who's beer is better, is a true taste testing event. Take his comments as a challenge, and put both your beer up against one another.

Better yet, you might pull out of judging the competition coming up, and enter your beer against his to prove him wrong. Only you know how true a friend he is. If you are really bothered by his rousing comment, sounds like you guys aren't that close.

Did you both brew the same beer? If he's serious (which would be a dick move), enter the competition and let the other judges decide. There's a chance his could be very good if you taught him temp control and appropriate yeast pitching, or if he just got lucky. But let us know if he scores higher, because that would be hilarious given this thread and all.

Instead of brewing another batch maybe take some time to grow thicker skin...


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The greatest compliment for a teacher or parent is for the student or child to achieve great accomplishments from the knowledge imparted. Humility is a longer learning process. This is usually learned from experiencing failures.

Or you could ask him to bring you some. Take a big mouthful and spew it is his face gagging!

Unless of course it IS better than yours.

Seriously? Is this the Dr. Phil forum? How about grow up, act like a man, and RDWHAHB. . .

We are close but his attitude is everything he has or does is always bigger and better than everyone else. I think he's insecure about himself. It just rubbed me the wrong way is all. Most of the replies here have been inspiring others have been jerks and truthfully added nothing to the discussion.


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It sounds like you're easy to wind up, and he's making the most of it!

consisitant brewer =/= lucky brewer

Everyone can make an excellent beer, not everyone can make everyone of their beers excellent.

Its better to be consistantly good than lucky.

If you're close to him and you know he's one of those people that is always bigger & better in his own eyes, you're totally within the friendship code to bust his balls a little bit right back. Tell everyone you both know how amazing his beer is and have them all ask him to try it - when his beer disappears faster than he can imagine, he'll know better for next time. Or go the competition route and chant "Scoreboard, scoreboard" when the results are in. Just be ready for some humble pie if he actually scores better If you guys are buddies, I wouldn't sweat it too much.

The OP will hasn't answered the much asked question:

Is your friend's beer really better than yours?

erichsmith said:

We are close but his attitude is everything he has or does is always bigger and better than everyone else. I think he's insecure about himself. It just rubbed me the wrong way is all. Most of the replies here have been inspiring others have been jerks and truthfully added nothing to the discussion.


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Sounds like you're a little insecure yourself...hard to add much substance to a thread that warrants much more than ball breaking ridicule.


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I think that many people suffer from "Ugly Baby Syndrome". You know the ones- parents who have children who look like aliens who think they are absolutely the most gorgeous babies ever to have been born.

Maybe he's got "UBS" about his beer. And I think that's cool, as he's the one that's got to drink the vast majority of it.

If he medals in a competition, then you might ask him some specific questions on his water/fermentation schedule/yeast pitching rate in order to find out why his beer is so special, but otherwise I'd just let it go.

I have LOTS of people who brag about their beer, and even send me some without me asking. I've had some really good beers this way, but I've also had some pretty terrible beers sent my way as well.

The great thing about this hobby is that we can all brew to please ourselves, and it sounds like your friend is doing that. That's great, actually!

I'm the opposite, most of my batches I think it could use a tad more roastiness or a tad less sweetness,etc. I believe it's the creators curse, opposite of ugly baby syndrome.

But he's getting cocky as a new brewer which is a bad thing, he'll be cleaning up some bottle bombs or have an airlock explosion shortly.

Tell him his beer is breathtaking...

I would suggest that you search for your big girl panties, then put them on.