Confession time: would you buy the beer(s) you have brewed in a bar?

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Braumeise

Braumeise

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Now, serious answers please:

would you go to a bar to buy your beer? Like would you go and pay money for the beer you brewed if it was on Tap somewhere?

I am currently bottle conditioning batch 3 and 4 if I include my testruns (5 and 6). Just opened one bottle and it is fairly good.

Now I am wondering, if I would order my beer in a bar and with one exception I would.... BUT... that applies for my dwelling in the USoA only! If I was still in Munich I would order Augstiner!

I am still miles off from my goal of brewing the perfect Wit Beer, yet I would not be disappointed, had I ordered my beer in a venue and paid for it.

I am curious what your experiences are:

- would you go to a bar to buy the beer you brew?

- Have you ever brewed anything, that, if offered in a bar you would not order again, yet you drank it anyway?

- how do you rate your success in general in terms of "great beer"

?
 
Just noticed you're from Doylestown. Me too! Moved to San Luis Obispo, CA 2 years back. Hows the new Doylestown Brewing Co place?
 
Absolutely, there have been a few exceptions in 10 years of brewing, but that's what happens when you take big risks on a small scale.
 
There are some of my beers I have been proud of and some that were mediocre. The ones that worked out well I would happily order at a bar. The ones that didn't work out as well were still ok beer but not great. Last week I did a blind tasting in my kitchen between my maibock and Troegs Cultivator Helles bock. I could tell them apart right away and preferred mine to Troegs. That's one I'm proud of. The oatmeal brown before that was meh.
 
Some of my beers I would definitely buy, and some I don't even want to drink for free. I am still pretty new to brewing, so obviously some of the early batches were nowhere near commercial quality, but there are others, like an all centennial IPA I made, that taste just like commercial beers to me.

There is a failed attempt at a hoppy Scotch ale that is really not very good, would NOT buy that.
There is a RIS that is still bulk aging, hopefully this one is a keeper.
I brewed the Centennial Blonde, and while it tastes decent, it isn't my favorite style, so I don't think I would order it in a bar if there were options more to my liking
I have a centennial IPA, an imperial IPA with simcoe and amarillo, an Irish red ale, all of which I would pay for.
There are also beers that I made that I am now out of, some of which I would buy, some of which I wouldn't.

In the end, doing this as a hobby means the experience of making the beer is the biggest attraction. If I just wanted really good beer every time, I would simply buy commercial beers. I brew my own not because I could open a brewery and blow the competition out of the water, but because I enjoy the process of making the beer, going from grain to glass on my own. The technology, the science behind brewing, the hands-on approach to making the beer itself and to putting together a system to make better beer, and pouring a glass of beer knowing that I made that are all the reasons I brew and will keep brewing, even if there are commercial beers out there that are better than what I am brewing (so far).
 
I have a cream ale recipe which I think is better than the average commercial cream ale, but then again I am biased.

I made a citra pale ale, which I received some good compliments.

Aside from that I don't think I would pay $5 for a pint of my home brew.
Maybe if it was a 2 for 1 happy hour special!
 
I very rarely brew the same thing twice. For me, playing with recipes is the best part of homebrewing. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

That said, I've dumped homebrew and I've dumped commercial beer that I paid good money for.

Between the time and money, we all already do pay for our homebrew. If the majority of it wasn't worth that investment, I'd stop brewing.
 
All of my beers in the past year..yes I would pay for them at a bar. In fact 4 of our beers were made commercially and we did pay for them at bars (we won a couple beer comps that allowed us to brew the winning beer at a brewery).
And then you sit there and say...as cool as it is to have your beer available in bars....I have this for free at home lol. Still very cool.
For those on untapped our beers that were made commercially are; Brathair Eric, Jac The Sipa, Czech Out Eric, & He Don't Know Jac.
 
List of beers that I wouldn't purchase at a bar or brew again:

Blueberry Hef (just can't stand that combo)

Strawberry Hef (maybe I just can't make them)

Edworts Robust Porter that I put way too much coffee in.

Tried Hoegarden clone but couldn't get the right ingredients at the time, it was miserable.


Now for the positive:

I've made several beers that if I found on tap somewhere I would be inquiring with server as to where they were made and who made them.

Northern Moss - Kitchen sink beer from everything I had left in my basement which was a very smoky and malt forward beer with a bunch of honey malt.

I make an IPA with mostly Amarillo that's very popular

Not my recipes but I've made Yoopers House Ale and the Three Floyds Zombie Dust clone that i would put up against all but one brewery here.
 
At a bar I tend to order:
1. Something that I know that I like
2. Something that I've heard is good
3. A style I've not had before but want to try.

It's not often that I would see, for instance, an IPA I've never heard of & give it a shot if there are IPAs there that I know I like.

I'd buy a few of the beers I've brewed because they were styles I wanted to try but had not seen them around commercially (category 3).

If the question presupposes I was already familiar with my brews and asks whether I would choose them over something else (category 1), then yes for many but not all. A couple of my beers that fit category 3, above, I would not buy if I was already familiar with them. I've also bought many commercial beers that I now know better than to buy again.

I don't share my brews with many and the only one whose opinion I really put much stock in is my son. He also gets out a lot more than me and tries far more beers than I do. There have been a few of my beers that he likes more than commercial versions of the same variety and I would likely buy them based on his recommendation. (category 2)
 
Braumeise said:
I am curious what your experiences are:

- would you go to a bar to buy the beer you brew?

- Have you ever brewed anything, that, if offered in a bar you would not order again, yet you drank it anyway?

- how do you rate your success in general in terms of "great beer"

?
Click to expand...

I ask myself those questions often. As I'm tasting the beer, would I be happy with it if I was served it at a bar? I was drinking a Session IPA I made, the recipe found here on line:
https://www.brewtoad.com/recipes/love-you-long-time-ipa
and I was thinking if it would be something others would buy. More malty than most IPA's interesting hop flavor and bitterness, but balanced.
As I pondered this, I drank two bottles in a very short time and wanted another. So I suppose it passed the would you pay for it test.
I've brewed many clones from the can-u-brew it series and then done side by side taste tests with the commercial examples and so far, my beer has come out on top 100% of the time. I suppose if there is a difference in taste, its not really cloned, but that's not the point, the question is which is the preferred beer. Its not really a fair comparison to the commercial example, mine is fresh and hasn't been transported around, theirs has been sitting around in who knows what temperature for a while.
Some of my experimental recipes I would not buy, although I haven't had to do any drain pours (yet). I started out all-grain, but did try a few "quick" extract brews that I would not buy, but I drank every drop.
I've become much more picky since I've been a home brewer. Many commercial "craft" beers are just mediocre. Better than drinking BudLight, but for what they are are charging, I just don't think they are all that good.
I think I've made a few "great beers", a Rye Saison, A Czech dark lager and a Belgian Quad that aged for a year. Most of my "average" beers are just as good or better than what I get at the local pubs.
 
Of the 80 plus brews I have done, 20 or so I feel were better than anything you would get in a bar. 40 were good enough, and 9 were good but I would be disappointed if I got them served in a bar and one has been used mostly for making beer bread.

So, definitely yes, yes, no and definitely no......
 
Certainly ... but less of them. When I buy beer in bars I lie to myself about the calories. When I make my own I know how many calories are in them and therefore I drink less.
 
I'd say the majority of my beers I would definately pay good money for at a bar. I've messed up a couple with infection. And there's a couple that at if I were at a bar I might not go back for a second, but I like to try new things.

I prefer my house APA to any of the pale ales readily available. My Kolsch and my alt, I think are closer to style and "better" than any available locally. There's some stouts and wits here that I haven't been able to compete with, but I bet if I spent my time and figured out what I like in those styles and what I don't I could make one I prefer.

I knew this crazy old man that used to say "you know who makes the best bloody marry? Me! 'Cause I know how I like it!" I kind of feel the same way about beer. It's all about knowing what you like.
 
I have a Pale Ale I just brewed that would be a big seller. The Irish Red Ale I just kicked would probably not sell as well. I have high hopes for the Vienna Lager that is still lagering now. And the Belgian Blonde I brewed yesterday will be the best I ever brewed. In other words -- there's always that next beer.
 
I brew the styles of beers I like to drink. So yes I would buy them in a bar. The question is would I buy a second round of the same thing. Some yes some no. But the same goes for commercial brews I have bought. I've only had one batch I had to choke down/dump. And another expirimental I use for cooking.
 
safedude said:
Just noticed you're from Doylestown. Me too! Moved to San Luis Obispo, CA 2 years back. Hows the new Doylestown Brewing Co place?
Click to expand...

Lol! How are the chances for us to meet here in this virtual place! ? Wow :)

I have to admit, I never been there... from what I hear it is awful ;)

I came here from Munich so brewing my own beer is an essential of survival strategy :)
 
csurowiec said:
There are some of my beers I have been proud of and some that were mediocre. The ones that worked out well I would happily order at a bar. The ones that didn't work out as well were still ok beer but not great. Last week I did a blind tasting in my kitchen between my maibock and Troegs Cultivator Helles bock. I could tell them apart right away and preferred mine to Troegs. That's one I'm proud of. The oatmeal brown before that was meh.
Click to expand...


I can see this happen! Even all of mine have turned out very light so far - I like them better than Blue Moon (which I personally find to be absolutely awful!) but if I compare them to lets say Kronenbourg blanc, let alone Einstök white Ale... I have a long way to go.
 
theseeker4 said:
Some of my beers I would definitely buy, and some I don't even want to drink for free. I am still pretty new to brewing, so obviously some of the early batches were nowhere near commercial quality, but there are others, like an all centennial IPA I made, that taste just like commercial beers to me.

There is a failed attempt at a hoppy Scotch ale that is really not very good, would NOT buy that.
There is a RIS that is still bulk aging, hopefully this one is a keeper.
I brewed the Centennial Blonde, and while it tastes decent, it isn't my favorite style, so I don't think I would order it in a bar if there were options more to my liking
I have a centennial IPA, an imperial IPA with simcoe and amarillo, an Irish red ale, all of which I would pay for.
There are also beers that I made that I am now out of, some of which I would buy, some of which I wouldn't.

In the end, doing this as a hobby means the experience of making the beer is the biggest attraction. If I just wanted really good beer every time, I would simply buy commercial beers.
Click to expand...

If I was still in Germany: yes! I would not bother to attempt by myself!



I brew my own not because I could open a brewery and blow the competition out of the water, but because I enjoy the process of making the beer, going from grain to glass on my own. The technology, the science behind brewing, the hands-on approach to making the beer itself and to putting together a system to make better beer, and pouring a glass of beer knowing that I made that are all the reasons I brew and will keep brewing, even if there are commercial beers out there that are better than what I am brewing (so far).
Click to expand...

I am sort of getting to like to learn all the stuff about beer I never knew before. Yet I brew my own because I am exiled to Lager-Unfriendly- Territory :)

Thanks for sharing your thoughts and experience :)
 
Pyg said:
I have a cream ale recipe which I think is better than the average commercial cream ale, but then again I am biased.

I made a citra pale ale, which I received some good compliments.

Aside from that I don't think I would pay $5 for a pint of my home brew.
Maybe if it was a 2 for 1 happy hour special!
Click to expand...

:) *lol
 
AnOldUR said:
I very rarely brew the same thing twice. For me, playing with recipes is the best part of homebrewing. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

That said, I've dumped homebrew and I've dumped commercial beer that I paid good money for.

Between the time and money, we all already do pay for our homebrew. If the majority of it wasn't worth that investment, I'd stop brewing.
Click to expand...

I strongly agree to this view!

Since I brew the same thing over and over again, I expect mine to become better and me to become better at mastering the process. Just hope I wont look back in a couple of years thinking, Boy - what a waste of time and resources :)
 
Wow, great thread. I certainly wouldn't order all of them, because like many others on thus forum I love experimenting...but sometimes that will lead to a Frankenbeer. I think that most importantly, I'm seeing a pattern of success with more and more of my brews, where I drink them and think "yeah...yeah I'd order that at a bar."
 
Jacinthebox said:
All of my beers in the past year..yes I would pay for them at a bar. In fact 4 of our beers were made commercially and we did pay for them at bars (we won a couple beer comps that allowed us to brew the winning beer at a brewery).
And then you sit there and say...as cool as it is to have your beer available in bars....I have this for free at home lol. Still very cool.
For those on untapped our beers that were made commercially are; Brathair Eric, Jac The Sipa, Czech Out Eric, & He Don't Know Jac.
Click to expand...

That's awesome!
Congratulations... I'll take you for an Example now everytime I am disappointed that I did not make the progress I was hoping for!
 
oceanic_brew said:
List of beers that I wouldn't purchase at a bar or brew again:

Blueberry Hef (just can't stand that combo)

Strawberry Hef (maybe I just can't make them)

Edworts Robust Porter that I put way too much coffee in.

Tried Hoegarden clone but couldn't get the right ingredients at the time, it was miserable.


Now for the positive:

I've made several beers that if I found on tap somewhere I would be inquiring with server as to where they were made and who made them.

Northern Moss - Kitchen sink beer from everything I had left in my basement which was a very smoky and malt forward beer with a bunch of honey malt.

I make an IPA with mostly Amarillo that's very popular

Not my recipes but I've made Yoopers House Ale and the Three Floyds Zombie Dust clone that i would put up against all but one brewery here.
Click to expand...

tbh: blueberry and wheat beer sounds terrible to me :)
 
Hamaki said:
At a bar I tend to order:
1. Something that I know that I like
2. Something that I've heard is good
3. A style I've not had before but want to try.

It's not often that I would see, for instance, an IPA I've never heard of & give it a shot if there are IPAs there that I know I like.

I'd buy a few of the beers I've brewed because they were styles I wanted to try but had not seen them around commercially (category 3).

If the question presupposes I was already familiar with my brews and asks whether I would choose them over something else (category 1), then yes for many but not all. A couple of my beers that fit category 3, above, I would not buy if I was already familiar with them. I've also bought many commercial beers that I now know better than to buy again.

I don't share my brews with many and the only one whose opinion I really put much stock in is my son. He also gets out a lot more than me and tries far more beers than I do. There have been a few of my beers that he likes more than commercial versions of the same variety and I would likely buy them based on his recommendation. (category 2)
Click to expand...

Thank you!

Side question: how often are you disappointed with category 2?
I am most of the time btw. and ask myself how do poeple find that to be a good beer? :)
 
esteiner16 said:
Wow, great thread. I certainly wouldn't order all of them, because like many others on thus forum I love experimenting...but sometimes that will lead to a Frankenbeer. I think that most importantly, I'm seeing a pattern of success with more and more of my brews, where I drink them and think "yeah...yeah I'd order that at a bar."
Click to expand...

:) I was questioning my self very honsetly if I only like my beer because I have made it or if I would really prefere it over something on tab...

if Kronenbourg blanc or Einstök was on Tab I would not order any of mine - however... if no 1664 blanc or Einstök was available I would indeed order 5 out of my 6 brews so far... guess I might be on a good track here.

I was actually hoping, my talent for cooking, baking and mixing the most awesome cocktail would apply to brewing... guess I'll have to brew much more to figure out if that is in fact the case :)

Thank you all so much for sharing your thoughts and experience :)
 
If I wouldn't pay for it, I dump it. That's not to say that I would always choose my own beer over every craft brew. There are some Outstanding beers out there. And I have certainly had failed batches, but I dump them. It took me a year to produce any commercial quality brew, but now my standard is summarized in my first sentence, and I very rarely buy and craft beer to bring home.
 
I would order and reorder about 75% of my beers to date. The house porter is about perfect, and I've got an amazing imperial Belgian porter aging now. Frequently, I actually like my beer more than commercial. I hate piney ipas and am F
frequently not thrilled with the one-trick-pony aspect of many American commercial stouts and porter. I really prefer a complex, robust beer---no matter the style. That's really why I got into brewing. To make bolder beer. I finally nailed a great ipa, but it was a sort of kitchen sink endeavor. As of now, I've had the least success with pale ales, but that's because I recently started fixing my mash ph. It made my pale ales really start to shine.
 
madscientist451 said:
I ask myself those questions often. As I'm tasting the beer, would I be happy with it if I was served it at a bar? I was drinking a Session IPA I made, the recipe found here on line:
https://www.brewtoad.com/recipes/love-you-long-time-ipa
and I was thinking if it would be something others would buy. More malty than most IPA's interesting hop flavor and bitterness, but balanced.
As I pondered this, I drank two bottles in a very short time and wanted another. So I suppose it passed the would you pay for it test.
I've brewed many clones from the can-u-brew it series and then done side by side taste tests with the commercial examples and so far, my beer has come out on top 100% of the time. I suppose if there is a difference in taste, its not really cloned, but that's not the point, the question is which is the preferred beer. Its not really a fair comparison to the commercial example, mine is fresh and hasn't been transported around, theirs has been sitting around in who knows what temperature for a while.
Some of my experimental recipes I would not buy, although I haven't had to do any drain pours (yet). I started out all-grain, but did try a few "quick" extract brews that I would not buy, but I drank every drop.
I've become much more picky since I've been a home brewer. Many commercial "craft" beers are just mediocre. Better than drinking BudLight, but for what they are are charging, I just don't think they are all that good.
I think I've made a few "great beers", a Rye Saison, A Czech dark lager and a Belgian Quad that aged for a year. Most of my "average" beers are just as good or better than what I get at the local pubs.
Click to expand...

Thanks!

I am very picky by genetic disposition *lol...

did you do blind tastings when comparing your clone to the commercial one?
I am wondering if our pride of making something good at home all by ourselfs plays into the evaluation...

and I totally agree that many of the "craft brews" are just mediocre if not bad with a tendency towards terrible!
 
Braumeise said:
Thank you!

Side question: how often are you disappointed with category 2?
I am most of the time btw. and ask myself how do poeple find that to be a good beer? :)
Click to expand...

When my son makes a recommendation I almost always like it/love it. He knows my tastes. His preferences are a bit different than mine so we won't always rank them the same.

One of the brewers at a brewpub I used to go to routinely gave me some good tips. Recommendations from most friends, bartenders, etc. I take with a grain of salt. Generally the harder they push the more confident I am that I won't enjoy it.
 

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