Do you prefer homebrew to commercial micro-brew?

Yesterday I had a chance to sample my latest porter next to Central Waters Mudpuppy Porter. My porter was much much more enjoyable. It was smoother, richer and the chocolate coffee notes really popped out. The CW porter was somewhat bland, thin and tasteless in comparison.

I was honestly really surprised at this - Mudpuppy Porter was one of my go-to beers before I started brewing my own, and I think it's a great beer by most people's standards, so what gives? I've found I prefer my homebrew over much of the beer I used to drink, though there are still a few commercial beers I really enjoy (Sam Smith Oatmeal Stout, New Glarus Crack'd Wheat both come to mind). is it simply because the commercial beer is filtered? Do you generally prefer homebrew to micro-brew too? Why do you think that is?

I just like beer

All kidding aside, it depends. I still buy commercial beer for the plethora of varieties and styles at the store. I can only have 2 beers on tap right now. Not that there is anything wrong with that. I sometimes want a porter in August when I don't necessarily want to have 5 gallons of it.

I have found I'm am less and less impressed with run-of-the-mill commercial brews. Some microbrews leave me thinking "well I can do that, and better". I do still enjoy well done commercials are out of my league at the moment. So to question, I prefer homebrew for most daily drinkage, but enjoy a "special" commercial once or twice a week.

For any beer I brew, I can find a commercial example worse and a commercial example better.

Try starting a thread asking people if their kids are above average or below average.

Yeah, it totally depends. I love my beers, but I also enjoy a good micro when I'm out (and sometimes when I'm in). I love trying to varieties and getting to know what's out there, and learning what I do like about them. Also, some of my beers have certainly come out less than great, and given the choice between one of those and a Mud Puppy, I'd take the Mud Puppy.

remilard said:

For any beer I brew, I can find a commercial example worse and a commercial example better.

Try starting a thread asking people if their kids are above average or below average.

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yeah I agree, but my point is that the more I brew the less I enjoy beers I used to think were exceptional. I don't even think the homebrews I am enjoying are that exceptional (atleast, not yet), but they win out most of the time. I guess the fact that I've been learning how to brew to my own tastes probably has a lot to do with it, that and the fact that I have a somewhat limited availability when it comes to commercial brews (don't have a mega beer store around here).

remilard said:

For any beer I brew, I can find a commercial example worse and a commercial example better.

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I agree with this too, although I'm still relatively new to brewing. I am yet to taste a homebrew that I thought compared to my absolute favorite commercial beers -- but that doesn't mean it can't be done.

I brewed a clone of Sam Adams Summer and like mine better than the original.

I've made better and worse homebrew. My IPA was less great than Bell's Two Hearted, but the Centennial Blonde was very delicious! I've gone back and tried several micros that didn't really do it for me after making my own. Like the Wit I made. First batch was awesum. Second infected. Third good. Blue Moon... not as good.

Now that I'm AG, I really should make another Wit and see how much better it can be!

I haven't made anything that I'd hand to someone and say 'This is better than anything you could buy,' or even 'Better than ___.'* I have made stuff that people have tasted and said 'wow, you made this?' to, which is good enough for me. I do this as a hobby, not a profession, and while I know I can (and will attempt to) improve I don't need to be better than Stone to feel like a success.

* Well, actually, last weekend my sister in law, who doesn't drink beer, said that my brown was better than Guinness, which I'd say is true but isn't really a fair comparison.

I have a refer packed with homebrew and microbrew. I there's one thing I enjoy about beer it's the plethora of choices out there. I love to brew but I can't drink the same stuff night after night.

I guess if you asked me if I prefer homebrew of if I prefer microbrew, I'd say "yes".

I drink micros for "research"

To answer the OP's real question.Yes.Especially Guiness.I used to LOVE guiness.I think my beer snobbery has got me to the point where I find it medi ocre at best.While that sucks really bad The reason for it is because I(as you or some one said) Brew to my tastes now.And for certain styles(stouts being the main one) I make the best beer Iv'e ever had!I'm yet to find a cream stout that I like better than my "Larry Allen" and no it's not named after the football player.But I go out and buy a 15-20 dollar sixer once a week

I definately prefer my homebrew to most commercial stuff. Part of it is for the reasons already mentioned, but also live, unpasturized beer is just plain better. I use to enjoy Sam Adams and even Magic Hat, but they can't compete anymore. There are still plenty of great micros that I think are better than my homebrew, but in general I prefer my homebrew over commercial stuff. And I always have at least a dozen different homebrews to choose from so variety isn't an issue.

I stop by a place once every few weeks. They have the usual swill on tap and Flying Bison Oatmeal stout. Its a good beer. It has been for a year or so. I get Chicken fingers that are really good and the oatmeal stout. Well, I brewed my own oatmeal stout and the home brew is FAR better this time. (tonight I stopped there and had a Smithwicks instead).

I will always try a beer I have not had no matter what it is. So the commercial or craft or what ever brews that are not BMC are a good thing. I want to brew an ESB, so I will be sampling every kind I can before I brew my own.

I like Hop Devil, but don't need 12 gallons of it.

David

I'll take the homebrew adventure any day over commercial. That's how I like it.

I enjoy good craft beer, whether brewed commercially or at home.

I'm still too new at the craft to think my beers are better than a commercial brew...but..I feel this pride in my creations whether it be beer or food that makes them taste better than anything I've had commercially, does anyone know what I mean?

Curt

I would have to say if my beer turns out the way it should (not always) I really do like my home brew better. Three are some of those beers that you just cant clone tho, like double arrogant bastard, or Dog fish 120, but for the most part I just enjoy my beer as it should be. Thats the nice thing about brewing, you can tailor your beer to your tasts, thus hopefully with a little experience you should like your beer much better! I think this is a great post man!

I have found my wheat beer to be better than some other micros. But maybe I am just biased. I prefer good micro and craft beer over homebrew because my pipeline is low and their beer always seems to be satisfying. But sometimes I like a cold PBR after work too. So I love beer

Definitely a pattern here. We all like beer. We like a variety of beer. We like to be adventurous with our beer. We've all made some great beers that we're very proud of.
I concur. I love some of the beers I make, others I'll pour out if they are only "ok". I admire the "polish" that's on the commercial and microbrew beers, but I also love the less refined finish thats on my beer.
What a feeling when you pull the tap and the beer that you crafted comes out rich and flavourful!

Your own brew gets extra points just because of the pride of ownership. I really think my better efforts are as good as anything I have bought commercially. Every once in a while I taste something that is fantastic and I use that as a basis for trying to equal or best it. When I make my own pizza I know that I am making something that is better than 99% of the pizza I have ever had, hope to get to that point with the beer. The research goes on!

It's interesting that it's hard for me not to have biased opinions about my beer. I made a hefe last month that I liked, but my friends raved about as being the best hefe they've ever had. I thought it was comparable to Pryamid's Haywire Hefe, if not slightly beter.

I think I would like to do a blind taste test, my hefe against a few commercial ones and see what happens. Maybe I'd do OK, or maybe I'd learn that I have a way to go. Could be interesting. Anyone tried this kind of thing?

KatoBaggins said:

It's interesting that it's hard for me not to have biased opinions about my beer. I made a hefe last month that I liked, but my friends raved about as being the best hefe they've ever had. I thought it was comparable to Pryamid's Haywire Hefe, if not slightly beter.

I think I would like to do a blind taste test, my hefe against a few commercial ones and see what happens. Maybe I'd do OK, or maybe I'd learn that I have a way to go. Could be interesting. Anyone tried this kind of thing?

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Interesting idea, but I think that unless I hadn't had any of that particular homebrew before, or not in awhile , I'd be able to pick it out instantly, thus negating the "blind" part. Going through 5 gallons of a beer makes you get to know it very well.

Ketchepillar said:

Interesting idea, but I think that unless I hadn't had any of that particular homebrew before, or not in awhile , I'd be able to pick it out instantly, thus negating the "blind" part. Going through 5 gallons of a beer makes you get to know it very well.

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For you, as the brewer, it might be easy. But, I was thinking more along the lines of letting your friends or fellow brewers do the taste testing. It may prove to be an ego crusher or an ego booster. For me and my current skills, it could go either way.

Recently that's been a tough question, because I just kegged and tapped my first ipa and it was probably one of the best ipa's I've ever had. Killed it! The thing is, I can drink more different beers on the weekend than I can brew in one month. And there are some companies that really try to do dope ish like southern tier, brewpubs like the tap havrerhill, ma and Boston beer works... It also helps to live near Boston , cuz it's really becoming a beer city.