Terrible Beer!!1!

I tried some of a friend's beer today, and since I wasn't asked for any feedback I will post it here semi-anonymously!

Bottle 1: terrible medicine taste that stuck to my tongue and would not go away!
Bottle 2: a gusher, really strong bubble gum flavour, lots of residual sweetness
Bottle 3: another gusher, sour taste

My theory is that all of this (three different styles) is due to poor sanitation, and not necessarily bad recipes, poor fermentation, etc. This guy went all grain a while ago, is investing heavily in equipment, and rated all this beer as "average". I could not have more than a few sips of each before I had to pour it all out.

I've taken this experience as a very strong lesson that sanitation matters! It matters a great deal, in fact. I've tasted things tonight that should never come from a beer bottle. Blech!

The problem is...no matter how hard...you should have told him. Unless he knows, there's no way for him to fix it. I appreciate feedback on my beers. I used to think my beers were really good when I first started, and I only had one friend that would tell me his honest opinion. I never took it too personally though since he only likes stouts and IPAs. Anything else is nasty to him.

Come to find out...most of my friends thought that about my beers. A few years back, I had a friend come over that I hadn't seen since I first started brewing. He tasted something off my keg and was shocked by how good it was. He said "this is your beer?" and "you've gotten a LOT better."

Most people won't tell you if your beer sucks...thats why I love entering competitions for real opinions.

Don't tell him his beer sucks...just offer some good feedback that might help him improve.

I decided to take your advice and tell him. He took it really well, and we figured out that his bottle cleaning process was pretty messed up.

Before, I felt like my beer wasn't really good enough for me to start critiquing other people. But I think it was a good idea in the end. He had noticed a lot of these off-flavours but didn't know where they were coming from. Now he does!

Suthrncomfrt1884 said:

The problem is...no matter how hard...you should have told him. Unless he knows, there's no way for him to fix it. I appreciate feedback on my beers. I used to think my beers were really good when I first started, and I only had one friend that would tell me his honest opinion. I never took it too personally though since he only likes stouts and IPAs. Anything else is nasty to him.

Come to find out...most of my friends thought that about my beers. A few years back, I had a friend come over that I hadn't seen since I first started brewing. He tasted something off my keg and was shocked by how good it was. He said "this is your beer?" and "you've gotten a LOT better."

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If you don't mind me asking, Suthrn...

What do you think the main things are that were responsible for your improvement, in general?

Being able to ferment at the same temp for the entire duration played a huge part. Once I got a fridge that I could dedicate to this...my beer improved 10 fold.

Water adjustments also played a huge role in improving my beer, but that's me. Not everyone needs to adjust their water.

I would say going all-grain, but that's not really true. I like being able to tweak my recipes more. But, I've had some incredible extract beers. One or two brewed by me, and a lot brewed by other people.

Healthy yeast is another huge one. Once I started making starters and treating my yeast better, the fermentation went so much more smoothly. That, in turn, gave me better beer.

There's probably more, but those were the big ones that stood out to me.

Thank you Sir! Great info

Friends don't let friends brew bad beer. My parents never told gramps how much his wine sucked and they had to endure almost a decade of "gifts" and pouring down the drain when he wasn't looking. You chose wisely when you told him his beer wasn't what it could be: not only have you helped him improve his process, you have saved yourself a whole lot of "explaining" later on when your friend notices you don't ever feel for a beer when you are over at his place.

whenever a friend has tried one of ours i always ask them if they were at a bar "would you order another one." you don't know if you don't ask.

I often take it a step further. I'll ask, "what does the off flavor taste like to you?" That way, if they do taste something off, it's ok to say it since I said it first. If they don't they'll start digging to find something that neither one of us may have noticed at first. When they respond, "I don't taste anything off.", then I know it's good-to-go.

curlyfat said:

I often take it a step further. I'll ask, "what does the off flavor taste like to you?" That way, if they do taste something off, it's ok to say it since I said it first. If they don't they'll start digging to find something that neither one of us may have noticed at first. When they respond, "I don't taste anything off.", then I know it's good-to-go.

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I usually do this too. Very Midwestern of you.

Suthrncomfrt1884 said:

The problem is...no matter how hard...you should have told him. Unless he knows, there's no way for him to fix it. I appreciate feedback on my beers.

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I have the opposite problem, which is that my friends all tell me my beer is good, and I'm like..."really? I don't think so at all!"

I taste a really funky off flavor that I think was due to chlorine in all of my beer, but nobody else seems to taste it! I am convinced everyone is just being polite.

munche said:

I have the opposite problem, which is that my friends all tell me my beer is good, and I'm like..."really? I don't think so at all!"

I taste a really funky off flavor that I think was due to chlorine in all of my beer, but nobody else seems to taste it! I am convinced everyone is just being polite.

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You're probably right. That's what friends did at first.

I have several friends who are big craft beer fans that drink a lot of homebrews. However they don't brew. Then I have other friends who homebrew that are willing to give advice or ask questions. Usually my homebrew friends think highly of my beers yet my normal craft beer friends are waaay more critical of my brews. I don't know if they are being really critical because they genuinely taste something they don't like or they just want to sound like they know something.