Comparing your home brew to other peoples..

[sboyajian]

This has been on my mind for a while.. figured I'd post it up and get some other people's thoughts on it.

I've been brewing for a while, but really serious about it for the last year.

I've only made one beer that didn't go as planned, but after adding more sugar and recapping, letting sit for a while, everything in the end worked out ok. I had a few that at first I wasn't sure of, but with time conditioned nicely into a drinkable beer. I'd call them good. Not great.

On the other side, I've made some beers that I personally think are fan-damn-tastic. I've had beer drinkers who both love and hate stout try my oatmeal stout and tell me they love it. I would choose my stout over any other stout I've ever had from a real brewery.

Now, my initial instinct here is: "You made it, of course you like it" .. even though I'm my own biggest critic, I have to still believe there is a bit of a pulling the wool over my eyes effect. I have one friend who drools at the thought of my stout, while openly admitting he does not like my cream ale. Honesty doesn't seem to be an issue with him.

Now, that being said, I've got other friends that home brew. One just started and told me flat out none of it is good. I thought he was being down on himself. He was right. I almost threw up when I tasted his brown ale.

Conversely, I have another friend who brews .. A LOT.. I think he's done 30-40 batches in the past year. I've tried every one of his styles. Pale Ale, Stout, Scotch Ale, etc.. while they are definitely beer, I seem to always be let down. Too thin, too sweet (almost all are too sweet), too bland. The last stout tasted fruity/sweet. Many in our circle compliment his beer, and it appears to be genuine.

So I guess the question is, am I putting my own stuff on a pedestal, or is it possible his get's praised because the friends who praise it would normally be drinking BMC and to them, it's a substantial upgrade for them? Do you find when drinking other people's home brews you are too critical or perhaps find you are simply putting yours higher than it is?

I'll admit I'm a beer snob in the respects of I simply do not enjoy macro beer. Am I now becoming a home brew snob as well?

 

[Jhoss]

I can tell within the first 12 ounces if its good or not. Bad, OK, good, fantastic - all in the eye of the beholder.

 

[ArkotRamathorn]

Yes and no is the best answer.

I've been to club meetings where I entered a scotch ale that I 100% thought was way way way too dry and hoppy, I really thought it tasted like cherry IPA (cherrywood smoked malt) and the final gravity was around 1.010 I believe. Took it to club meeting and several placed my scotch ale in 1st place, while I picked the club presidents scotch ale as first place (SWMBO actually scored almost 100% the same as me and put the club presidents in 1st place). I thought mine was not a great example of a scotch ale but others in the club thought mine was good.

Same thing but reverse, I took two examples of a stout I brewed. One was 1+ year old, the newer one was approximately 2 months old (6 weeks in bottles). The recipes were more or less the same, I simplified it a little on the newer example otherwise same yeast, same IBU and hop schedule (switched from using German hops to English hops) and used a Marris Otter instead of 2 row for the base malt (figured, lets give it some more malt character). I thought the newer version was far far far and away better than the older recipe. Everyone on the brew club scored it exact opposite. I'm going to save 2 bottles to try them when they hit the 1 year mark and see if it was mostly the age.

My point? People have different tastes, different palates. My scotch ale I thought was crazy hoppy, crazy dry, SWMBO aggreed with me, everyone else thought it had the nice caramelly sweetness normal to the scotch ale style. Everyone tastes and smells different and will come in with different biases. So yes, you might be putting your beer on a pedastal (I swear to the brewing gods the newer version of my dry rye stout is by far and away a better beer). But also, no, you probably arent if you feel like you are being objective then that should be good enough for you. I'm entering some beers into competitions to try and get a (hopefully) completely objective grading of my beers, I trust SWMBO and she's honest but she doesn't always have the vocabulary or the interest to dig into what shes tasting and describing it to me so I can improve it later.

 

[porterpounder]

I think most homebrewers seem to be good, generous people. When we taste a beer that is sub-par or totally sucks most are in the habit of handing out the criticism gently as to not discourage the beginning brewer from continuing to try to make it better. Some people are much more sensitive than others. Most brewers think their own stuff is good at first, then like anything, experience leads to pulling out subtleties and recognition of truly great and awful aspects of beer. Everyone's tastes are different and tastes definitely change. Balance in all things. It comes down to respect in the end, respect for the hobby, respect for the effort and respect for the person. Brew what you like, only seek opinions when you really want them and when you do, accept what you're told and average the opinion over time and the experience level of the taster. If you want technical feedback, don't ask your best BMC buddy. If you want an ego boost, don't ask the nearest Master judge if you suspect up front it's not amazing.

 

[Psylocide]

This is a tough question, but takes a little inward thinking.

On the one hand, you are undoubtedly your toughest critic. On the other hand, we have brain chemicals and egos to keep in check when we try to give an unbiased review of our own beers.

My good buddy is a craft beer nut (aren't we all?) and has a great palate. However, he was unable to pick up a fault in my latest beer that simply came from it being green. The flavors hadn't completely melded yet, and I thought it was soooooo bad at that point.

He loved it, even after I told him that it was only a week in the bottle. 2 weeks later, he thinks it's MUCH better, but didn't have a basis to compare it to. He didn't know what to look for and didn't pick it out.

I think anyone that considers themselves a home brewer has some idea of what flavors absolutely should not be in a beer and that may lead to a better understanding and review of the beer.

But as we all know, the world don't move to the beat of just one drum. What might be right for you, may not be right for some. It takes different strokes to move the world.

 

[sboyajian]

Balance in all things. It comes down to respect in the end, respect for the hobby, respect for the effort and respect for the person.

I do agree with this. Even though I've been let down pretty much every time, I still try every batch. The important thing is he enjoys them, it's really not important I do.

I think anyone that considers themselves a home brewer has some idea of what flavors absolutely should not be in a beer and that may lead to a better understanding and review of the beer.

Perhaps this is my issue. When I taste things in others beers I know doesn't belong, I get critical. Fermentation temp, yeast health, etc.

I've had other people's home brews that I've enjoyed. A friend who got me into it makes a great porter.

I try to be polite about it.. "This isn't bad. Maybe a bit too sweet for me.. what did the gravity finish at?" and hopefully bring it into a conversation. I totally understand if a giant stout stalled out and they couldn't jump start it..

 

[Hammy71]

Everyone loves their own brand. However, I only give away the stuff I'm very proud of. Let's just say.....I wish all home brewer's held the same ideals. But sadly this isn't usually so.

 

[Psylocide]

Everyone loves their own brand. However, I only give away the stuff I'm very proud of. Let's just say.....I wish all home brewer's held the same ideals. But sadly this isn't usually so.

Totally agree with this... for the uninitiated or unacquainted it should definitely only be the best of the best.

However, in my case, I'm trying to get this guy brewing as well and showing him the ins and outs while I learn.

I think there are certain situations where you can hand someone a terrible beer (in your opinion) and see what they think.

 

[ArkotRamathorn]

Everyone loves their own brand. However, I only give away the stuff I'm very proud of. Let's just say.....I wish all home brewer's held the same ideals. But sadly this isn't usually so.

If someone says "yeah I'll try your plum belgian dark strong ale" I always add in a disclaimer "Yeah this is some of the stuff thats off about it, so, just FYI be prepared for x, y, and z". Otherwise I only ever give out beers I'm proud of, if I'm giving it to a friend who I know will give honest opinions I won't prep them for anything other than the style and such.

 

[C-Rider]

I can tell within the first 12 ounces if its good or not. Bad, OK, good, fantastic - all in the eye of the beholder.

That would be "in the eye of the beerholder". LOL

 

[Hammy71]

Totally agree with this... for the uninitiated or unacquainted it should definitely only be the best of the best.

However, in my case, I'm trying to get this guy brewing as well and showing him the ins and outs while I learn.

I think there are certain situations where you can hand someone a terrible beer (in your opinion) and see what they think.

Of course. If friends are over I will tell them if there is something I don't like about the beer. As home brewers we are often our own worse critic, I know I am. It's the beer swaps or when someone comes up and tells you how great their beer (or cookies, cake or any variety of home made items) tastes and forces it on you.....and your first thought after your first sip/bite is....WTF.

 

[TheHappyHopper]

If someone says "yeah I'll try your plum belgian dark strong ale" I always add in a disclaimer "Yeah this is some of the stuff thats off about it, so, just FYI be prepared for x, y, and z". Otherwise I only ever give out beers I'm proud of, if I'm giving it to a friend who I know will give honest opinions I won't prep them for anything other than the style and such.

Same here. I only give out the stuff that I am happy with, or I give a disclaimer saying what I think is wrong with it.

However, I recently had a batch in my fridge that I thought was terrible but I was powering through them anyways - my brother in law was in town (drinks all different kinds of beer) and he had a couple of them before I could give him the warning. When I told him, he said he thought they tasted fine.

 

[Jayhem]

I tend to stick to the 4-5 main recipes I have brewed 6 times or more each and improve on them. Those are my "house brews". I love them and almost anyone who tries them raves about them. I don't relish criticism so I only give away my experimental brews to real beer lovers in hopes of getting some good criticism to help me improve them.

I think being honest in our own opinions of our beers will help us improve them. I am not above realization of a flaw in my own beer and will admit it to anyone who tries it before they take their first sip.

 

[paperairplane]

Few different layers here - I am pretty honest with myself. I know my beers that are good and I know when they are damn good.

The difference in most cases is that the average beer drinker, even a craft beer drinker, is lack of style knowledge and depth of palate. I don't like Scotch ales, but I can tell if a beer is a good example of style and appreciate it on its merits.

Similarly, there are flaws that I can detect because I know what to look for - but may not really impact drinkability. A common one is when a pale ale or brown tastes like a Belgian - and used a neutral yeast. You know ferm temp was too high, but the average drinker may just assume that was the intended flavor or that homebrew tastes "yeastier" than commercial beer.

 

[Hoppity]

I brought a keg of Belgian White and an IPA to my niece's college graduation party and had a great time meeting a fellow homebrewer who brought a keg of IPA. His was much hoppier than mine. I told him I should change the label on mine to an Amber Ale. I really liked his IPA, preferred it to mine, and told him so. He was gracious in his praise of my IPA, but raved about the White which was the hit of the party and kicked way before the other two.
It was the only time I've shared brews with another homebrewer and I found it reassuring that I was making progress as a brewer.

 

[clairecunn83]

I've been thinking about this a lot lately, too. I'm a noob, and only have 7 brews under my belt, but I like to still think of myself as having a good palate when discerning "good" from "bad." I'm also super proud and confident in my cooking...but that confidence has not transferred over into my brewing, which frustrates me. It's not that I think my beer is bad; in fact, I quite love it! But I'm scared to share it with others because I feel ignorant, so to say, in my general assessment of beer.

I love my beer; I prefer it to going out for beers at the bar, for sure. I also know I brew to my preferred style, which is low IBU/malt forward beer. My biggest challenge right now is having a hard time taking not-so-positive reactions from my self-proclaimed hophead friends when they taste my beer. I'll get remarks like, "It's pretty sweet," which blows my mind because I don't think it's overly sweet at all. I have to bite my tongue from screaming, "Well, if you wouldn't have fried and desensitized your tastebuds with all that high IBU, hairspray tasting sh!t!", calm down, and remind myself that of course they wouldn't be a fan of my beer because it's not their style...and that's nobody's fault. If they were brewing beer, and I was asked to taste their high IBU homebrews, I'd squint my face in disgust, as well....but that doesn't mean their or my beer is "bad."

Bottom line...I like my beer...a lot...and that should be what matters most to the brewer.

 

[Teromous]

Don't be ashamed to make something great and don't be so critical of a compliment. Of course there is always the chance that your palate is either not keen enough to gauge its true quality or that you are biased to your own beer, but what does it matter if the end result is that both you and your friends enjoy your beer? There is plenty of time in the future to have a batch go bad due to infection, a poor recipe, or any other reason. Relish in what you have now and don't second guess it.