You needed someone else to tell you your beer wasn't good when you thought it was?
Do you need a weather man to tell you it's raining too?
I don't mean to be argumentative, but if you like your beer, then who gives a crap what someone else thinks? "Good" is subjective.
If you're brewing to win competitions and your objective is to stay in style and all that, then yeah ask someone else if your beer is good or at least what it is supposed to be.
But if you brew beer to drink and enjoy it (imagine that) then your opinion and your opinion alone is what matters.
Is the OP asking for infections and all sorts of issues doing what he's doing? Oh yeah. but if he's happy with what he makes, then who cares.
I am with AmandaK on this one.... It helped me immensely to have someone else evaluate my beer - really evaluate it. The vast, vast majority of friends you give beer to will tell you "it is good" because a.) they are polite, and b.) they don't know much about beer. Likewise, when you make something yourself, you tend to be invested in it and try to find ways to tell yourself that it is "not bad" or "pretty good" or "drinkable." Getting unbiased feedback (maybe through competitions, or other venues like clubs, homebrew store, etc.) is a GREAT way to find some things out.
I try to be honest when people ask me to evaluate their homebrew - I don't just give them the nod and say "mmmm that is pretty good." I can think of dozens of examples over the years where individual brewers have told me about their "good" beer and there were huge, glaring flaws in it - bandaid, fusel, gushing infections, etc. As we choked it down, they tried to justify the flavors as something unique about their beer. Hey, I did the same as I was learning - I know I did. People find ways to "like" their beers because it is THEIRS, and they worked hard at it. But that does not actually make it "good." The same person could get served that same beer along side "good" beer in a brew pub and they would complain about the beer being bad......
Basically, what you are saying is:
If you think your beer is good, because you don't know any better, then don't worry about learning more - just drink it the way it is and be happy with it....... sort of an "ignorance is bliss" approach to homebrewing.
I think Amanda's suggestion is right on the money for people who are really interested in finding constructive, honest feedback on their beer. It is a great way to learn.
