Best compliment you've received?

[unionrdr]

Well, I'm humbled by some of the responses so far. Mine are nothing so grand as Ray Daniels, or some other giant of the HB world. But the Hellfire IIPA was the result of a late Friday conversation with #2 son while #1 son & I were watching Bonanza when he called. He had the idea, even though I'd read all the hot pepper threads you folks have posted.
So he'd say he'd like this amount of heat, still taste the malt, yada yada. I'd shoot back with we'll need to use this much of these & so much of that, These kind of hops to match the flavors of super hots, etc, etc. A couple months later, & it's ready for Christmas. They brought us a bunch of presents ( my son & his fiance), & I sent him home with a mixed 6'r. 4 Hellfire IIPA's, 1 Queen Anne's Revenge Whiskely stout, & one Cooper's English bitter, now an ESB.
He mentioned that he wanted to do a video of the beer. I'm thinking, "cool! He's finally Slipped over to the dark side"! What I saw was, a post with a pic on Facebook. So he waxed ecstatic about the color, just the right amount of heat, the malt standing up to the heat/hot pepper flavors (ghost, fatalii, scorpion), how the hops matched the super hot's flavor so well, etc. He gave me major props on the ale, saying great job! and all that. So I felt pretty good about the beer at that point. Kinda bugs me that he likes it better with the trub & yeast in the glass. I saw the pic on his post, & did the WTF? routine. That was his reply. My beautiful clear ale was cloudy at show time! Oh well. And I just know it would've been that much better re-hydrating 3 packets of US-05, rather than my cheapskate 2. But the artist is always the most critical of their own work, aren't they? That's about the biggest props I've gotten yet...unless we include the 20-something blonde hottie that gushed when she saw my Morebeer! hat, then I just had to tell her it's a home brew site. And what I brew & all, albeit briefly. She just kept smiling & talking as we made our way around the isles...& me on a brokebackbuggy... Damn, if I was single & 10 years younger...

 

[Oginme]

The second best compliment that I have received was a comment on a score sheet for one of my beers where the judge wrote "I'd drink this IPA anytime!"

The best compliment I have received was from a childhood friend, of German immigrants, who I had not seen in 30 (some odd) years. He brought his son over to see my goats and they stayed for supper. I tentatively served him my Bock. We started eating and chatting. He took a long drink of my Bock and stopped the conversation. Then he got up and came over and gave me a hug, saying "This is the best lager I have had in years; since I was last in Germany actually!"

 

[indymedic]

The first recipe I developed I entered into a free LHBS competition. Also my first contest. I got average scores but one judge commented that he would buy my beer. That felt pretty good.

 

[MindenMan]

A few weeks back, I did a historical presentation in my college History class, explaining "How Beer Saved the World" and gave out historical samples. One of my classmates who told me he "doesn't drink beer", was so surprised he asked me if he could buy some to take home to share with his g/f. I gave him some the following week when class met again.

 

[Clonefan94]

Thats the best kind of compliment, the "blind taste test" kind. I feel like sometimes people will say good things about a HB cuz they dont want to offend you. I had a beer go completely sideways when my ferm temp controller broke and kegged it anyways to see what would happen. My mom happened to be over and poured herself one and looked at me and said "oh this is good". i told her I thought it was sh*t and that I was planning on dumping it. She replied with "oh good, I didnt want to hurt your feelings but its gross" haha.

I enter competitions with this stuff, Im open to criticism.

So I think your buddies saying that without knowing that it was HB is a huge compliment.

Yeah, even better is that they weren't close friends. More like friends of friends. So yeah, not even knowing I was a homebrewer at all really made me feel good.

On the opposite side is my Dad. Complete, die-hard, Miller Lite drinker. He'll drink my beer, go, "Oh, this is good."

So I say, "I bought a 12 of Miller Lite for you too."

"Oh yeah, I'll have that."

I'd be more offended, but I've been to plenty of breweries with him and his comment is usually, "You know, Miller Lite is still the best"

I've given up the fight, just easier to let him be happy.

 

[kev211]

Yeah, even better is that they weren't close friends. More like friends of friends. So yeah, not even knowing I was a homebrewer at all really made me feel good.

On the opposite side is my Dad. Complete, die-hard, Miller Lite drinker. He'll drink my beer, go, "Oh, this is good."

So I say, "I bought a 12 of Miller Lite for you too."

"Oh yeah, I'll have that."

I'd be more offended, but I've been to plenty of breweries with him and his comment is usually, "You know, Miller Lite is still the best"

I've given up the fight, just easier to let him be happy.

My grandpa is like that. Budweiser, always has always will. His line has always been "Beer is beer". He said my beer was good but that if he could imagine what panther piss tasted like, that my beer would probably be it (it was an IPA). That beer has since been affectionately named... Panther Piss IPA

 

[Yooper]

Oh my gosh, I almost forgot this one!

My dad and I were buddies, but he claimed that my beer was "that homebrewed ****". So when I went to visit him, I brought good beer (my own or commercial) and he'd drink his Genny Cream Ale.

Still, we'd go to craft beer bars together, and he'd drink Budweiser and just be quiet so he really supported my obsession when I visited him.

One year, he was coming for one of my kids' graduations. I made a keg of cream ale just for him, along with a couple other beers.

It was abnormally hot, and he arrived with my brother and my brother's family after a 14 hour drive in 80-90 degree heat.

I greeted him right at the van with a very cold cream ale. He eyed me up suspiciously and said, "This ain't none of that homebrew **** is it????" I smiled and told him, "Shut up and drink your beer, old man".

He drank it down and exclaimed, "Now THIS is what I'm talking about!" and he and my brother (not a big drinker at all) kicked the keg that evening.

When it was gone, they went to the store and bought Bud.

But my dad kept saying, "Why didn't you make more of that beer, instead of all the P I ****?". (IPA, I assume he meant)

Ah, heartwarming stories of a parent's love.

I really miss him. He died almost exactly three years ago, and I still miss him so much. His funeral was on 1/8/13.

 

[drainbamage]

He said my beer was good but that if he could imagine what panther piss tasted like, that my beer would probably be it (it was an IPA).

That means you're doing it right.

 

[Dangeruss]

Just recently a friend said my Cream Ale is better than New Glaurus Spotted Cow. The beer I brewed was actually suppose to be a Castle Danger Cream Ale and my wife thought mine was better than theirs. I also got some other in-laws who drink a lot of local craft beer that on my Black IPA tasted like Steel Toe's Dissent. I take those comparison of local breweries more of a compliment than getting it saying it is better than large marco beers

 

[Tactical-Brewer]

"Well, it didn't kill me... Yet..."

 

[mhurst111]

I donated a keg of my pineapple hefe to one of the charities my sister supports, mainly for the workers to have something to drink after hosting a silent auction. I had warned her about all the various potential legal issues of serving home brew and they couldn't sell it. The charity lawyer said 'Wine, beer and appetizers were all covered in the ticket price, just don't tell anyone it's home brew'. So they served it to the crowd.

They kicked the keg in under an hour and several people were asking who made the beer and where could they buy it, my sister had to lie and tell them she didn't know, she was just the person serving it. It felt pretty good knowing people couldn't tell it was home brew and were wanting to buy it.

 

[jiMithing83]

Made a saison (someone else's recipe, modified) not too long ago, that I was fairly happy with but not completely. Shared it with a few homebrew friends and asked for honest feedback. Two told me it was fantastic, a third told me it was the best saison he'd ever had and asked for the recipe. Made me wonder if I'm over critical of my own product, but also felt really good.

 

[JKaranka]

I served a 3 gallon keg of a wartime style porter I made over a dinner with seven people, most of them either not beer drinkers or not that much into dark beers. Nobody made any comments and kept drinking with their food until the keg was gone. I think a beer that doesn't draw attention to itself and doesn't detract from the meal is well worth the time.

 

[JohnSand]

It's between: "This is professional quality" from a member of my brew club; and "Why can't we serve this here" from a hot young bartender. I'm leaning toward the bartender. Literally.

 

[Azbrewboy77]

From my wife after many mediocre beers " this is actually drinkable "

 

[Stillraining]

It's between: "This is professional quality" from a member of my brew club; and "Why can't we serve this here" from a hot young bartender. I'm leaning toward the bartender. Literally.

Pictures or it didn't happen..

 

[Kharnynb]

The fact that my porter now officially replaced the "koff porter" for our christmas dinner time with blessing of both my father-in-law and brother-in-law.

(for you yanks, koff/sinebrychoff porter is a commercially made finnish porter that is actually considered one of the best baltic porters)

 

[JKaranka]

The fact that my porter now officially replaced the "koff porter" for our christmas dinner time with blessing of both my father-in-law and brother-in-law.

(for you yanks, koff/sinebrychoff porter is a commercially made finnish porter that is actually considered one of the best baltic porters)

Ha! I do like Koff porter! Not sure I could brew something equivalent.

 

[JohnSand]

From my wife after many mediocre beers " this is actually drinkable "

That's good. My first compliment at all was from the homebrew club, where my third batch was deemed "okay". You have many brews to look forward to, and that fine moment when someone says "You made this? It's great!"

 

[specharka]

Don't have too many, but I've only been brewing for a few years now. The one that stands out most was from my best friend...

He's a craft beer drinker but mainly sticks to pale ales and the like. I offered him a Gose, which is a little bit outside his comfort zone. Did not expect him to enjoy it, but he said that it was one of the best beers he's had. Later that night, we were playing video games or something, and I offered him another one. His response?

"I'm going to save the next one for when I'm sober." Ha!

 

[Rayi]

Had a died in the wool Bud Lite drinker ask if I could make him a batch of my beer. It was Bevr nuts extract for Northern brewer

 

[SpentBrains]

My neighbor who was my first official taster once I got the keezer up and running, said, "My boss used to make home brew... His always had 'stuff' in it. Yours doesn't have any stuff in it at all. It's almost like store bought"

 

[Mark_]

The company I work for, about 200 people in all, decided to host a holiday party to raffle off gift baskets and they asked all the home brewers to brew up a batch for a "competition". For a minimum $5 donation you got a taster cup and went to the different Brewers for a taste. We had 5 Brewers and some really good brew! I brought a pale ale with Citra/simcoe and Amarillo as well as a cream ale and some mead. In the end I was voted "Master Brewer." I've since had people offer to pay me to fill growlers for them to serve their friends and family. That's some validation right there.

 

[ghohn]

On a session beer (~low-mid 2%) recipe I've been working on for a while ..

"I was expecting it to feel a lot smaller."

 

[Tactical-Brewer]

"Hey, yeah man, this isn't bad!". Up from "Well, it didn't kill me!". Getting better! Lol

 

[msa8967]

I was brewing in the garage last week when this man walked up with two growlers telling me that my neighbor shared some of my beer with him and now he wants to "buy" some from me. Told him I appreciated the thought but that it would be illegal to "sell" him any. I filled up one of the 64 oz growlers and gave it to him telling him to pay it forward by helping someone else out when needed. Also had to mention that this was a one time deal.

 

[Qhrumphf]

I've gotten a lot of compliments up to and including "this is the best beer I've ever had", however I can't always take those objectively so with a grain of salt they go.

The one I took most to heart was when I was teaching a BJCP class, and while we were on Strong Belgians I had both St. Bernardus Abt 12 and my own Quad as examples of Belgian Dark Strong, both tasted blind. Not only was it readily accepted that mine not homebrew (they all assumed both were commercial), about half preferred it to St. Bernardus.

 

[timdillon36]

I made a lite beer a few weeks back and took it to my LHBS where we get together once a month where the co owener who is also a cert judge told me I should enter this in the state fair. I thought it tasted like BMC and so did they. It was just a pale ale with 05 @62 but came out very clean. It's hard to do what the big guys do but I might make it again if I can get a medal.

Just FYI I prefer my pale ipaish ambers

 

[dlutter]

93 year old man who has been homebrewing for longer than I've been alive pulled me aside the first time I attended the local homebrew club meeting and told me he really enjoyed sampling my beers.

 

[NCSU_Brewer]

My second-ever brew was a Blue Moon clone based on the recipes posted here on HBT*. My SWMBO is an avid Blue Moon drinker, so I thought I stood a great chance at keeping this as a hobby if I made something she liked. 2 weeks after bottling I bought a 12-pack of Blue Moon for SWMBO to do a taste test.

"I actually like yours better than Blue Moon."

I kid you not when I say it nearly drove me to tears of joy. As luck would have it, I spent the next week drinking the remaining 11 bottles of Blue Moon while SWMBO drank my homebrew.


* Side note, but I am extremely grateful for the HBT community and wouldn't have been able to get such a meaningful compliment without you guys. Thanks to the great information on the recipe and the many detailed how-to's on building a fermentation chamber, I made a great beer!

 

[Invertalon]

Told by quite a few people (friends and those I don't know who try my stuff at bottle shares) that the quality of my beers are easily as good as or better than comparable commercial examples... They especially liked my Zombie Dust clone saying it was easily better than the original... I got a few "wow!" out of that one. Good feeling for doing it less than 6 months or so.

 

[BrooklynTom]

The week before Christmas, I had some friends over for Wine (BEER) & cheese, Two of them proceeded to drink all of my Krampus Ale. (Doctored up Festivus from NB). That batch was about 9% AVB, and took over 2 months just to carb. 2 gals Gone in 2 hours. They said it was the best winter warmer they ever had. I will have to make more soon.

 

[tim_c7]

"I'm drunk"

 

[Twins_Dad]

The wife ASKING for a glass of my House Ale, after many failed attempts at making anything she could stand. Then saying "Wow babe, you are actually getting pretty good at this."

My father in law and brother in law kicking a keg of APA and asking if there was any more.

 

[unionrdr]

Getting asked to participate in a brewing project for article/review. Life sure gives you a boost when you need it...sometimes...

 

[NoIguanaForZ]

Met a friend at a local craft bar last night, brought a couple bottles of Homebrew oatmeal stout to crack on site (tweaked all-grain recipe kit) and poured taster glasses for the owner and bartenders (all pretty beer experienced) to be friendly. One of them mentioned that he couldn't tell from tasting it that it was homebrew rather than commercial craft beer.

I think that's a good thing?

 

[Magnushate]

It sound silly but I always think the best compliment is when people ask for another glass or if they can take some home.

I think the quoted wins. Ultimately it comes down to if its what people really want to drink.

My favorite is from a friend, it is in regards to my mead "its good... its like honey had sex with a grape and they gave birth to liquid cotton candy.... i like it"

 

[JawZziff]

I think the quoted wins. Ultimately it comes down to if its what people really want to drink.

Agreed. Friends and family are generally polite and say nice things but asking for more generally says it all. unlike my grandfather-in-law who had a sip of a questionable batch and said "know what this needs? a bit of clamato!"

 

[BobBailey]

My youngest daughter (25) never liked beer at all until she went off to college in Salem Oregon. After completing 4 years she too a years break before going back for her Masters. In that time she developed a taste for craft brews and actually went to work in a brew pub. While visiting she had a couple of my brews and told me that my IPAs beat most of what she had tried in Oregon. I don't agree, but my wife tells me she was sincere.

 

[rupert130]

Had a guy a homebrew competition / charity event tell me, "Those other beers are good, but this is what I would want a keg of at my house."