how do you guys come up with names for your homebrews?

Miami Weisse
Aunt Flo's Raspberry Wheat (brewing today)
Fight for your Rye PA
Hoptimus Prime IIPA

just make up something that sounds interesting to you. try to create a name that you'd see on the shelf and you'd be curious about what it tasted like.

lolcat beer names/labels = genius

I wish I'd thought of it.

Mine either have something to do with my surroundings, or a feeling/setting I want to convey with the beer.

Raccoon Trail Pale Ale - raccoons use the top of my back fence to get from point A to point B.

Pacific Sunset Pale Ale - striving for the color of a sunset over the ocean. A more malty pale for evenings.

Flat Stone Amber - A beer I'd drink out camping by the lake, skipping rocks or maybe fishing.

Yellow Lantern Oatmeal Stout - black, no light passes through. We have these retarded yellow street lights in San Jose that light up nothing. One is in front of my house.

The ordinary bitter on tap now had a bumble bee fall out of the faucet about halfway through pouring the first pint so I call it Bumble Bee Bitter.
As I was brewing a tripel at sunrise last Sunday, the first light of morning hit the boil kettle so it's now Light O' Morn Tripel.
My porters are poured from the longest tap on my kegerator so it's Long Tap Porter.

marubozo said:

While I know I don't need to come up with a brewery name or to name my beers, I was dicking around on the computer last night and thought it would be kind of fun to go with an lol cat theme. Obviously, to anyone that has no idea what lol cats are or the i can has cheezburger meme is they will probably think I'm slightly retarded, but hopefully those who do get it can understand the humor.

A quick stab at a label

And some names off the top of my head:

I R Serious IPA
Celing Cat Kolsch
Monorail Maibock
Invisible Bike Bitter
Bukkit Barleywine

Thankfully I'll probably only rarely do labels or anything anyway and only for when giving them out to friends, but most of my friends are quite familiar with lol cats and would probably get a good laugh out of it.

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Here's a picture you can use for your Ceiling Cat Kolsch label...

marubozo said:

Bukkit Barleywine

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Must use...

My brewery name is my nickname from Indian Guides when I was like 5...

My beers are named after brew-day events or recipe particulars:

Chipped Tooth Steam - my 2yo chipped his front tooth the day I brewed that one.

Explosive Apricot Wheat - my carboy exploded.

OOO Belgian Pale Ale - played hookie from work (out of office)

Sixty Dollars! American Stout - my 2yo's random saying of the day "Sixty Dollars!!!" Who knows why...

NATO IPA - British hops, American grains/yeast

NATO Brown Ale - british grains/yeast, American hops

...and so on

I make the beer and then name it afterwards. My stout I called the Dark Knight for the obvious color and I had just watched Batman. My IPA's stem from what they taste like most often. I use like descriptor names "Spicy Pale Ale" or I just used Honey malt in a pale ale, so I am calling it "Honey Pale". Works for me.

I'll tell the story of my most famous named brew.
I work in IT and our Fortune 500 company was in the (year long) process of implementing Microsoft SharePoint Portal Server.

The project, like others, ran over budget and time. At every turn, there was another hard-earned lesson, and in the final phase, we had 3x the people assigned. Daily war rooms. Moral waned, even though middle management was very supportive.

So, I decided to brew up a batch in anticipation of a milestone party. It would be a porter (Portal Porter).

As the time approached, the porter was quite ready. The graphics artist on the team offered to help with a label, so I got some info together - general description, OG, hops, and of course the ABV. Measured 3 times, it came out to be --6.66% !

The name - Satan Sharepoint Porter Party was a big success, and the porter was loved by many more than I'd have imagined.

My Hard Lemonade, finished at 9.3% ABV, will be called August Bent Truth Serum . Liquid Panty Melter was a close runner up

My "brewery" is called Tres Perros, because I have three dogs. The SWMBO gets credit for that one.

I tend to name all my beer, though I dont necessarily label them all. Usually the name is just something that amuses me at the time. For Example:

I had an IPA that I brewed while watching coverage of the "Swine Flu" that got named "Pigs On The Wing".

Said batch was a disaster, turned out tasty, but only half of the batch actually made in in bottles. Being that it seemed so destined to destroy itself (and I am a fan of the Venture Brothers), it got renamed "Calamitous Intent IPA".

Other Beers I have going right now:

The easy to figure out lawnmower beer: "Cut Grass Cream Ale"

A Saison inspired by a Phish Song: "Clusterflies, Alas Ale"

A Harvest Ale called "Stoopid Monkey Marzen", mostly because it is in fact, not a Marzen.

and an Old Peculier clone called "Old Reliable"

LooyvilleLarry said:

I'll tell the story of my most famous named brew.
Fortune 500 company .....Microsoft SharePoint Portal Server....Daily war rooms.....Moral waned.....

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Larry - sound just like the place I work in Dearborn, ever heard of a cdsid?

I just think of random funny **** to name my beer. I like to have the names rhyme too for some reason. I have Porter Schmorter, The Colossus of Clout Stout, Jail Bail Pale Ale, May The Schwartz Beer With You, Protect the Boarder Porter, Beat the Heat Wheat, and Holy Sh*t Wit, just to name a few.

For me it's just whatever comes to mind. One of the best things besides the product that brewing creates is the freedom to name it whatever the hell you want! I had a stout that I called The Black Pearl Stout (I later saw someone on here had the same idea) bc I love the Pirates trilogy, and my IPA was named Misty Mountain Hops (like my name) bc during every aspect of the process from boiling to kegging I turned on Led Zeppelin and of course bc the IPA was super hoppy.

In other non related beer news - it just came across the TV that Michael Jackson died a few minutes ago. I know he was strange, but it's still kinda sad.

eschatz said:

Aunt Flo's Raspberry Wheat...

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that's just wrong and i love it!

i am planning to name more of my beers. i've only named 1 ever. it was for my first sons baby shower. called it "Impregnator Oktoberfest" the label had one of our ultrasound pics. i am planning on a "Gear Oil Stout" (i'm a big Land Cruiser 4x4 enthusiast).

for the homebrewery, i'm still working on names. it's been fun thinking about it.

1) Think of something that will offend the largest amount of people.
2) Make a pun involving the style of brew and said offensive comment.
3) Profit.

beerkrump said:

My beers are in plain brown bottles with numbers on the caps written with a Sharpie.

My wife wants me to make labels and give them cool names. Sometimes that seems appealing, but sometimes I think it's kind of goofy, like I'm playing brewer. I mean, I'm making beer in my kitchen and fermenting it in plastic buckets in a closet.

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+1 on the circular labels on the bottle caps. I plan on making labels once I create my own versions of my favorite styles. And you are a Brewer damnit!!!! Do not let any one tell ya different

Names usually come from the madness ensuing after everyone has tried the brew and are kinda drunk. I go with what works.

I just number mine. Although I think I missed 2 or 3 batches somewhere along the way.

Hambone said:

May The Schwartz Beer With You

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Oh my gods, yes.

bionicbrew, Impregnator should be a doppelbock. I really, really wish I'd have thought of that. Damn. Too late; I'll have to make that one in celebration of Minifoos 2: Still Foosin'.

Sigafoos said:

bionicbrew, Impregnator should be a doppelbock. I really, really wish I'd have thought of that. Damn. Too late

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yeah, i knew that when i did it, but it was just too appropriate for the event and an oktoberfest is what i had made. feel free to use it for whatever you make! I am not possesive over my beer names. chances are we won't be serving our beers to the same people. or call yours Impregnat-her.

Benjibbad said:

I name mine after units or weapons systems that I have worked with or bailed me out of trouble...... If they are my recipes....... The Yellow ribbon is one for the swmbo

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Right there with ya. I started naming my brewery after an Army acronym I picked up in Balad, Iraq....Bohica Brewery (bohica - bend over, here it comes again). That acronym originates from instances where you get screwed...for instance, you have been out on mission for 3 days with no sleep, little food, etc. As soon as you roll back inside the wire, you get radio'd that you need to re-arm, regroup, and roll right back out. Well, BOHICA. So, I named my brewery that. My ale names vary in topic from political (bailout ale) to rhyming (dubbel trubbel).....just be original

About half my beers get named. It often is about the brewing day ie. Wintry-mix Porter. I have one that is a clone of the Dutch beer Oranjeboom, and we happen to have an orange cat who will go on tears around the house hence Orange Kitty Zoom. I made a version of Loose Cannon IPA at the request of a friend named Mary, and this became Merry Goes Round. I've got a CAP on tap that use some hops grown by my friend Linda (I provided the rhizomes) and this is Lindy Hop (Cap on Tap would be a good name too). For our annual Pig roast I brew my Alt Nouveau and Eau de Cologne. Last year I made an experimental beer based on a Scottich ale, this became Out of Kilter

So far I have named 3 brews that I've done, the other ones were named by style.

My very first brew I dubbed "Epic Fail Pale Ale" which actually turned out pretty decent despite my best attempts to ruin it.

The second named beer was after my friend Dee, who is named that because he looks like dee snider. Anyway he cut himself somewhere along the brew process, at which point a torrential downpour also started. So we ended up naming it "Blood of the D - Rainmaker Amber Ale"

Then the last one I named was after my sister Stephanie. She wanted something "like purple haze" so I threw some raspberry extract into half of my wheat beer and dubbed it "Stepheweizen"

There was a stout I never named, a SNPA clone, and a SN stout clone which are already named.

Maiden Voyage IPA - First brew made on my rig and it goes well with the history of IPAs being shipped to India.

Agent Orange - Will be applied to my Imperial version of an orange pale recipe.

Debating this one: Fire Crotch - For my fermenting Imperial Strawberry Blonde.

Im a Noob but when I get going to AG im going to use my Paramedic experiences to name my Beers...And yes Ive thought most of em out already lol...1) Wenckebach (its a type of Heart Block) 2) Ole Sternal Rub (What we do to wake someone up thats altered 3)Torsades de Porter (Torsades de pointes-or Ventricular Tachycardia with a specific pattern typically reversed by Magnesium Sulfate) 4) Code Brown Ale (Code for someone ****ting themselves...lol) 5)Pale, Cool, Diaphoretic Ale (How we describe someones skin signs when in shock)...Well let me know what you think...lol...

Recusit8m said:

Im a Noob but when I get going to AG im going to use my Paramedic experiences to name my Beers...And yes Ive thought most of em out already lol...1) Wenckebach (its a type of Heart Block) 2) Ole Sternal Rub (What we do to wake someone up thats altered 3)Torsades de Porter (Torsades de pointes-or Ventricular Tachycardia with a specific pattern typically reversed by Magnesium Sulfate) 4) Code Brown Ale (Code for someone ****ting themselves...lol) 5)Pale, Cool, Diaphoretic Ale (How we describe someones skin signs when in shock)...Well let me know what you think...lol...

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I hadn't thought of doing that since I gave up my ticket a few years before starting brewing, but you just gave me an idea for my Russian Imperial Stout, Glasgow Imperial Stout. Some other names came to mind too, not necessarily for anything I've brewed, Asystole APA, AMI IPA, and MCI Porter.

olllllo said:

If you listen to the beer it will tell you what it is called.

If they tell you not to drink them, don't listen.

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My beer is always calling me to drink them. I listen.

i dont really have a brewery name, never put that much thought into it.

the beers...when i first brew it, it'll be something like APA #1. if it turns out well, then i'll name it, if not, then i'll change the recipe a little or just toss it in general, and called it APA #2 and so on until i like it, then its named. most of the time i just name it after the street i live on, friends, or my middle name or some other thing.

When I started brewing my wife called me the Beer Baron in reference to the Simpsons. I was going to call myself "Beer Baron Brewing", but then I saw Groundskeeper Willie in a kilt and thought whynot "Big Willie Brewing" - Because everyone want's a Big Willie!

Now I have "Ralph Wiggum's Raspberry Wheat", Chief Wiggum Wheat, Ned Flanders Nutbrown Ale, and Carl and Lenny Hard Lemonade.

Next up will be an Apu IPA. With all of the Simpson Characters, I'll never run out of names.

Recusit8m said:

Im a Noob but when I get going to AG im going to use my Paramedic experiences to name my Beers...And yes Ive thought most of em out already lol...1) Wenckebach (its a type of Heart Block) 2) Ole Sternal Rub (What we do to wake someone up thats altered 3)Torsades de Porter (Torsades de pointes-or Ventricular Tachycardia with a specific pattern typically reversed by Magnesium Sulfate) 4) Code Brown Ale (Code for someone ****ting themselves...lol) 5)Pale, Cool, Diaphoretic Ale (How we describe someones skin signs when in shock)...Well let me know what you think...lol...

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i'm a firefighter medic. i love those! Wenckebock (notice my purposeful misspelling), is my favorite.

olllllo said:

If you listen to the beer it will tell you what it is called.

If they tell you not to drink them, don't listen.

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Yea, thats kinda what I do. My (actually "our" because there are 3 partners) brewery name is "Satan's Anus Brewery" which I stole from this site with some permission after the label was presented. Our beer names are formulated after a few brews on the appropriate brewdays.

Panty Dropper Huckleberry Mead (Awesome and 13.1% ABV)
Bra Popper Irish Red (A favorite of the ladies at 6% ABV)
Goat Scrotum (Our version from Papazian's book)
Funeral (Brewed for a friend's wedding)
Starfish Nut Brown (Very nice nub brown recipe)

Here is basically our amber label, the actual version was cleaned up a lot by a professional:

Sometimes when I brew, I have a special occasion in mind for drinking the first brew, i.e. "Cardinals Big Red Ale" for the (losing) superbowl cardinals.

Other times, it's just what happens on brew day. "New Pail Ale" came about because I started boiling my pale ale before I realized I didn't have an empty fermenter. Oops.... Had to run down the street to the LHBS for a new one

ezboarderz said:

I name my brews after metal bands or songs. I do it because its ****ing awesome.

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This are win. I saw Amon Amarth (with Goatwhore opening!) a couple months ago - that was an amazing night.

untill i can brew with great consistancy, none are getting named. I mean, if you cant replicate the same porter how silly is it to have a list of 90 different ones you've made? perhaps after the brewery gets the long overdue equipment upgrade and I start temp controling fermentations and get my butt a stir plate...

it's f'in good beer, why soil it with a name?

I named my first (and so far only) brew Gorilla. It's an APA, and "apa" means monkey or ape in Swedish. Haven't thought of a name for my next brew though.

All of my Beer names have something to do with pigs ... not because I am so fond of the critters but.... I have always wanted to open up a Brewpub/BBQ joint called "The Piping Pig Pub". The sign out front would show a cartoon pig wearing a Hawaiian shirt and sunglasses, playing the Bagpipes.... I know, twisted, what can I say...

Black Belt Stout - I have a purple belt in Brazilian Jui Jitsu.

My brews find their own names. For example, a recent pale ale was in the keg just after I built my kegerator. My wife wrote "Pale Ale Homebrew" on the kegerator in dry erase. I was upset because she marked on the door but she was showing how dry erase would erase off the door. She erased the "w." Instead of putting it back, I renamed it "Pale Ale Hombre." If it doesn't name itself, it's not worthy of a name. It just gets Beer-Style-and-Batch#. Off the top of my head, some of my names include:

"Pale Ale Hombre"
"TAlegate Light" (floated 2 kegs of it in an hour at tailgating)
"Mad Falcon Wheat" (after Dan Reeves was fired)
"Jet Red Ale" (song playing on the radio when I took my first swig of the finished product)
"George Wrighster Porter" (An inside fantasy football joke. In our fantasy league, Wrighster is the patron saint of foolish lineup decisions.)
"Clarke Bitter" (For the scene in Vacation where Eddie says "Looks like you could use a cold one, Clarke!" hands Clarke the already-opened beer he is drinking, and opens a fresh one for himself. My family uses that joke a lot.)

Eventually my basement bar is going to be dedicated to the Beatles. So my beers carry a Beatles theme, "carry that weight wheat" "the end" English Brown, "golden Slumbers Wit" My wife thinks it is stupid, so feel free to join in laughing with her, but it fits the theme of our someday bar. IF she keeps it up she wont get any of the wine I am making for her.
We are also Notre Dame football fanatics, and the rest of our basement will be Notre Dame, so every year I am going to be making an Irish beer. This year I made an Irish Stout, either Fighting Irish Stout, or maybe kick Nevada's ass stout, no probably the first one. I am in the process of drawing the labels for my beers, the Notre Dame beer will either have the Leprechaun or touchdown Jesus. Another one my wife laughs at me about.

I originally had the idea to name with a A Frunace room theme since that's my brewery name. But it usually doesn happen. I named a wit "Backlit" from an inside joke about my SIL. Fat Tire clone is "Pilot Light" Goes with the Furnace Room Theme, Rauchbier in fermenter now is going to be something along the lines or a Campfire Porter, because sitting around the fire in the fall was my inspiration for brewing it. Brewed an IPA yesterday.Thinking of naming it Hop Tornado, there were Tornado Sirens going off earlier that afternoon while I was making the hop schedule and I didn't think the brew would happen.

Just little things like that that might stand out during the brew or while thinking about it or what ever.

drunk friends think of the names