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chewse

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I've had some amazing beers over many, many years. It's my love for beer that got me interested in home brewing of which I've been at it for the last couple of years. Although I've not entered any of my brews in contests, I've been happy with my beers and generally they have been well received by friends.

Over the last couple of nights, I've had a few of the beers from Sierra Nevada's Beer Camp Across America. Each beer so far has been excellent! So I say to myself, can I home brew a beer as good as a commercial brewer's beer. And the honest answer in no. In fact, in comparison to the average craft beer, I have to give myself a C- or D+.

How would you grade your brews in comparison to the beers produced by craft breweries?
 
I've just started, and have only brewed 4 batches. I don't know if I would grade myself yet, but so far I've liked 100% of what I've brewed. I can't say that about what I've bought.
 
It is easy to brew a single beer that is better than your favorite commercial brewery's... The hard part is doing it repeatedly. A brewery has its reputation at stake when it bottles every batch of beer. If the bottle that just came off the bottling line doesn't taste just like the one that you had 3 months ago, then there is a problem. The key to being a great brewer, is repeat-ability. make the same beer over and over and over, if they all taste the same, than I salute you as a great brewer!
 
How would you grade your brews in comparison to the beers produced by craft breweries?

Pretty good, usually. I brew what I like, so that makes it better in some ways to commercial beers according to my taste.

I have a pretty good technique and repeatable process nailed down, and have fermentation conditions nailed pretty well. I have quite a store of fresh supplies, and an RO water system for my brewing needs.

I had a bad batch about a year or two ago, from an infected yeast starter, but otherwise they've all come out pretty good in the last 5-7 years or so.

I haven't entered any competitions lately, as we are gone in the winter when I would have to brew for the NHC and other big comps, but when I did enter competitions I did quite well.

I'm a certified BJCP judge and find that I tend to be very critical of my own beers but they still tend to be better than many other beers I judge in competitions. Most homebrew I judge is generally in the "C", or maybe "B" range if it's really good. I've had folks send me beer as well, and a few are excellent but most are average to good.
 
i have been brewing for one year. i made the jump to all grain 6months into brewing. i have learned a lot and still am learning something new every day. i would give my self a low C, C-.
 
I've noticed a difference now that I'm using BruNWater and treating my water to style, so I'd say whatever grade I was at...I have upgraded a bit. D to C, or C to B..who knows. I registered 3 styles in a keg only homebrew competition next month, so I guess I'll get my answer.
 
Are we just talking in terms of flavor here? If so I guess I'd go with about a B. My CDA is a huge hit (to the point that I feel compelled to always make sure I have some "in stock" as much as possible) with my friends and acquaintances, my stout is a big favorite too and it scored a 41 of 50 in my first homebrew contest entry and most of my beers run from "okay" to "great" (though there have been a lot of failures on the way).

Of course, if we talk about other factors like efficiency I tend to do much worse, my efficiency hovers around 69%. In that case I'd give myself a C.
 
I would give myself a B rating. Having entered comps and scoring anywhere from the mid 30's to low 40's and earring some ribbons it reassuring to know for the most part my recipes are well received.

I'm most pleased with the fact that I have 5-7 year round beers that I can consistently brew at any time with no discernible difference from batch to batch unless something was intentionally changed.

I've got my fresh supplies, solid fermentation control and a setup that consistently garners me 80% eff. I'm happy with it.

Always striving to improve though.


Sent from the Commune
 
Interesting thread. Beginners to Judges and nobody rates an A. Well I think I'll break the trend! :rockin: Well, maybe not!:drunk:

There are parts of our brewing that I would like to control better, mainly fermentation. I'm working on that. My partner takes care of that but he's not exactly a detail oriented person. But then again, he probably thinks I'm an anal bastard!:D

The earlier statement about macro breweries making perfect beer day in and day out is true to the consumer but as someone that knows how it really works I will say that even they can't really do that! The malt and hops are constantly changing and even the process, no matter how automated, will always generate a slightly different flavor. That's why those giants "blend" different batches together to get the profile they are looking for. So don't feel too bad about not getting perfect reproduction every batch, even the big boys struggle with that!

So I'll rate myself as a B. Been doing this for a long time and have excellent equipment. Still need to improve water and fermentation but getting there. We've won several awards including a couple of first and a best of show. If you want to test yourself then brew uncle Joe a light lager some time. See if you get any off flavors. If not, consider yourself an excellent brewer!:mug:
 
I have been all grain for years but just got serious recently. I'm a D and am brewing like a crazy person to get to a B by the end of the winter. That said I find good home brew to be far above good commercial brews. Most commercial craft brews don't get more than a B- from me. Accomplished homebrew is what commercial brewers are trying to emulate but can't because of losses in flavor and freshness due to packaging and distribution constraints. But I digress. Beer has that effect on me.
 
If I compare when I began to brew and now, I believe that number would be unobtainable, but today maybe a C, or C+. My process is pretty well nailed down, but I still get brain farts and miss stuff along the way. I have ADHD, I know I have ADHD, and people with ADHD (like me) are distracted easily, and yet, I still forget to take notes until it's too late:D To date, my highest score was a 38, and with that I won the Category.
 
I give myself a C rating. I feel I have a staple of ten beers I brew which I feel pretty good about. I feel it really helps my favorite styles (ipa, stouts, apa, cream ales) are some of the least difficult to brew.


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I grade all beers according to how I would respond when served in a pub, and according to my own harsh grading scale, I'd give myself a solid B to B+:

A = I loved the beer and will definitely order one more – The aroma, mouthfeel, flavor, all of it was on point and I wouldn't change a thing.

B = I love the beer and will order another one, but it wasn't banging on all cylinders. Something could have been better.

C = I like the beer and I'll finish it, but I probably wouldn't order that one again. It might just be unremarkable, or something about it might be not that great. Either way, I'll finish it, but I won't be savoring it.

D = I don't like this beer, I won't finish it, I'll probably dump it and get something else. It just tastes bad – flavor, aroma, mouthfeel, it has no redeeming qualities that make it worth finishing.
 
Overall, I'd give myself a B- or C+. I'm always learning, always reading about new things, so I'm always improving. The amount of time I've spent reading and learning about beer over the past two years is just sick. lol

I've been brewing for about a year and a half now. The first six months I brewed 12 extract kits, most of which turned out well. One, a baltic porter from Nothern Brewer, I added 2 oz of oak cubes and a vanilla bean soaked in Makers Mark for 10 days. I let it age about 3 months, force carbed it, and brought it to my wedding - it was a huge hit. 5 gallons of it were tapped out long before any of the 5 gallon commercial kegs did.

Since then, I've brewed 23 all-grain batches - some were fantastic, some were mediocre, and one got dumped down the drain after the first glass. After the 10th, I started playing with brewing water chemistry. It wasn't until the 16th that I finished building my fermentation chamber - the combination of tweaked water chemistry and temperature control made huge leaps in the quality of my brews, but even a couple of the early ones were damn tasty.

Of those 23, I've brewed one of them 3 times. I made some changes between the first and second, but the second and third were brewed on back to back weekends, kept the same, and ended up tasting identical.

I feel my process is down solid, but my recipe formulation could still use some work. Though like I said before, I'm always reading and learning. I think right now I'm doing a pretty good job, but theres still plenty of room for improvement.
 
Interesting thread. Beginners to Judges and nobody rates an A. Well I think I'll break the trend! :rockin: Well, maybe not!:drunk:

There are parts of our brewing that I would like to control better, mainly fermentation. I'm working on that. My partner takes care of that but he's not exactly a detail oriented person. But then again, he probably thinks I'm an anal bastard!:D

The earlier statement about macro breweries making perfect beer day in and day out is true to the consumer but as someone that knows how it really works I will say that even they can't really do that! The malt and hops are constantly changing and even the process, no matter how automated, will always generate a slightly different flavor. That's why those giants "blend" different batches together to get the profile they are looking for. So don't feel too bad about not getting perfect reproduction every batch, even the big boys struggle with that!

So I'll rate myself as a B. Been doing this for a long time and have excellent equipment. Still need to improve water and fermentation but getting there. We've won several awards including a couple of first and a best of show. If you want to test yourself then brew uncle Joe a light lager some time. See if you get any off flavors. If not, consider yourself an excellent brewer!:mug:




I didn't grade myself, I guess but I would grade my beers as a solid A/B depending on what I am making. My expertise is in American ales so when I make a German lager, I have to think about it!
 
Judge Smails: Ty, what did you shoot today?
Ty Webb: Oh, Judge, I don't keep score.
Judge Smails: Then how do you measure yourself with other golfers?
Ty Webb: By height.


Sent from my van, down by the river.
 
D+/C- I've been brewing a little over a year and just went to All Grain. I'm very excited about that. I've made a few beers that were ok, a few that were good, a one or two that I felt very confident on. Always learning!
 
There are a lot of terrible commercial beers out there. Not hard to beat many if them. Will my beers ever be as good as the really good breweries? No.

To me, it's just like cooking. If you like to cook and strive to learn/improve at it. You can make food thats better than many, many restaurants.



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The earlier statement about macro breweries making perfect beer day in and day out is true to the consumer but as someone that knows how it really works I will say that even they can't really do that! The malt and hops are constantly changing and even the process, no matter how automated, will always generate a slightly different flavor. That's why those giants "blend" different batches together to get the profile they are looking for. So don't feel too bad about not getting perfect reproduction every batch, even the big boys struggle with that!

True that the Macros blend to keep their consistency, but I don't believe the OP was asking about comparing our homebrew to MBC. I was talking about the Micros and other small craft breweries. I don't buy or drink any of the Macro beers, but I do taste the local micro and a few of the regional craft breweries. I will put some of mine ahead of theirs on a one off, but I know that mine can be even better and I strive to continue making my beers better and better.
 
My report card would read:

Hoppy beers: A-
Dark malty beers: B-
Belgians: D
Amber Lagers: C+
Lighter Lagers: D+
Wheat beers: B

All other styles are N/A since I don't brew them on any sort of regular basis. My typical beers fall into the higher grade categories so that is probably the reason for disparity. Practice, practice, practice!
 
It is easy to brew a single beer that is better than your favorite commercial brewery's... The hard part is doing it repeatedly. A brewery has its reputation at stake when it bottles every batch of beer. If the bottle that just came off the bottling line doesn't taste just like the one that you had 3 months ago, then there is a problem. The key to being a great brewer, is repeat-ability. make the same beer over and over and over, if they all taste the same, than I salute you as a great brewer!

With all due respect, I couldn't agree with this less. If I want a beer that tastes exactly the same every time, I'll go out and buy it. I brew because I want to push the envelope, and make things that I've never had. I stopped entering competitions awhile ago (mostly due to a long graduate school-driven brewing hiatus), but I used to do fairly well; the NHC silver medal was pretty sweet. But, excepting that beer (which I love), I've never made the same beer twice. There's always something to improve, something to change, something new with which to experiment. I don't think being able to repeat a recipe over and over makes a brewer great or not. My measure of a great is if your technique is sound enough that everything you make is good (save for the occasional mistake, which happens to us all).

That said, I'll label myself a solid B/B+ brewer. I like what I make, but there's room for improvement. But having said that, I'd probably give that rationale for every aspect of life. It's how i keep getting up in the morning. :)
 
With all due respect, I couldn't agree with this less. If I want a beer that tastes exactly the same every time, I'll go out and buy it. I brew because I want to push the envelope, and make things that I've never had. I stopped entering competitions awhile ago (mostly due to a long graduate school-driven brewing hiatus), but I used to do fairly well; the NHC silver medal was pretty sweet. But, excepting that beer (which I love), I've never made the same beer twice. There's always something to improve, something to change, something new with which to experiment. I don't think being able to repeat a recipe over and over makes a brewer great or not. My measure of a great is if your technique is sound enough that everything you make is good (save for the occasional mistake, which happens to us all).

That said, I'll label myself a solid B/B+ brewer. I like what I make, but there's room for improvement. But having said that, I'd probably give that rationale for every aspect of life. It's how i keep getting up in the morning. :)

I think you missed his point (I don't disagree with what you wrote though).

The challenge for a commercial brewer isn't just to make a great beer. It's to ensure that the beer you brew is always the same, year after year, and sometimes between far-flung breweries. They have to deal with hop shortages and replacements, grain suppliers, the vagaries of yeast dynamics, and employee problems that easily can affect each batch. The head brewers that can keep the beer exactly the same, all the time, are superstars.
 
I don't know, I've noticed differences in professional brewed beers from bottle to bottle. Their consistent for the most part, but I've found flaws in many commercial beers. Personally, I'd rate most of my beers at about a B-. Just got my ph meter today, so hopefully my pale beers begin to improve.
 
I am super critical of my beers. Honestly, the metric I have tried to reach is that in a blind test of random craft beers, a decent craft beer fan could not pick the homebrew from the micro. I think in most cases, I have hit that mark more often than not.

I'm not saying I'm better than a monster micro brew - but on most days you can't tell my beer is homemade compared to the local micro brewery. Especially in brown ale / pale ale.
 
I personally believe I have made A quality beers. I just don't do it every time. I have an Amber Ale that I brew and consider my house beer. Mainly because I love Ambers and I worked on this recipe for about 8 months before finally hitting that sweet spot I love. For my personal taste, little roasty, nice malt backbone, with a little hop kick. I'd put it right up there with any commercial version I've had. Plus, it's repeatable. There is no difference from batch to batch.

Now I feel I still struggle with really dark beers, porters and stouts. Right now I'd give myself a C at best for those. They aren't bad by any stretch, just none of them have hit that mark that makes them stand out from the crowd. And a couple I brewed were definitely missing something.

IPAs and Pale Ales, I am all over the board. I'm constantly tinkering with malt, gravity and hop combinations. Some have been very good, most OK, but a few were good enough to drink, but I didn't serve them to friends.

I did just recently brew a Simcoe IPA that I really liked. My wife just bought me the Sierra Nevada IPA sampler pack. I truly think if you slipped a bottle of this in there, it would fit nicely. Conversely, the previous IPA I had on tap was OK at best. It had the bitter and the malt, but it was just plain lacking in the nose. There really was no discernible hop character to it at all. It tasted like what I would imagine most outsider people would consider a homebrew. It wasn't bad, but there was nothing about it that made it all that good either.

So, long story short that actually ended up being long. I'd give myself an over-all B- as a brewer. I'm still making mistakes, but that's the fun part.

As a homebrewer, I give myself an B+ because I'm always trying out new stuff. I have my one stand by that I can reproduce, but I'm always trying to find that new flavor combination that kicks me in the face and says, "Oh yeah!" So, it mainly is for effort, but I haven't reached that level yet where I can look at a mess of ingredients and know exactly what I'm going to get.
 
In doing this for 13 years, I have dumped two batches. For those, I give myself an F. Not because they were bad but, because I never gave them a chance. They were early on and I didn't what I was doing. This site showed me that. Every beer since then? All B's. Only because I'm not arrogant enough to give myself an A in anything. ;)
 
I am not a fan of the products from the BMC people. I will try a "new" beer every once in a while just because I hope someday they will produce something I like. I give the BMC people lots of respect though, Tens of hundreds of thousands of gallons of product that taste enough alike for the average consumer, year after year, to not sense any difference. Why do I brew my own beer?, a couple of reasons really: I really enjoy a nice beer, it is a lot less expensive to brew my own beer, and, I get to proclaim, "No, really, I made this". Do I get my ego both fed and crushed? Yup. I have only been brewing for 2 years and change, and I make some really decent beers nowadays, which is not to say, I don't still make some monster goofs.
I brew what I like, I like what I brew, (and so does my wife). When I brew a new beer, or a new style of beer, I stay within the BJCP Guidelines so I have a representable, or at least close, sample at hand.
 
The challenge for a commercial brewer isn't just to make a great beer. It's to ensure that the beer you brew is always the same, year after year, and sometimes between far-flung breweries. They have to deal with hop shortages and replacements, grain suppliers, the vagaries of yeast dynamics, and employee problems that easily can affect each batch. The head brewers that can keep the beer exactly the same, all the time, are superstars.

No doubt that this is true, and the brewers/breweries that successfully navigate this deserve the success they've attained.

My point was simply that, IMO, the definition of a great homebrewer and a great professional brewer are not the same, and don't follow the same criteria. I don't know if my recipes would come out the same every time bc doing that (largely) doesn't interest me, and that wouldn't be a criteria upon which I would judge my own skills. I certainly have recipes I've spent years developing that I love, but they invariably end up as base recipes for something new, bc I can't resist tweaking.

I've had commercial beers that haven't tasted the same every time, albeit mostly from smaller guys. I would guess that most fans of craft beer accept a level of variability that macro drinkers wouldn't, and wouldn't (necessarily) knock the brewery too hard for that. I used to work for one of the large macrobreweries in their QC department - few craft brewers could go to those lengths in the name of consistency. Consistency in technique, in my view, is far more important.
 
I don't know, I've noticed differences in professional brewed beers from bottle to bottle. Their consistent for the most part, but I've found flaws in many commercial beers.

x2. Maybe not BMC, but I've noticed significantly different flavors in beers from different batches by pro breweries. Heck, we admit all the time how hoppy beers taste different after a few weeks in the bottle/can, or if the handling was poor during delivery.

As for home brewing, I think it's pretty easy to be a B-/C+ brewer these days. There is so much more access to good equipment, ingredients, and information than 15+ years ago that if you pay attention you can make darn good beer.
 
I have been brewing with varying levels of frequency for 5+ years. A bit over a year ago, I moved to all grain. 6 months ago, after having some very good batches, and some less than, I decided that I wanted to get serious about the hobby. I made big (and ongoing) equipment upgrades, and I brew nearly every week. It is amazing the strides that one makes with consistent brewing. It is easier to concentrate on consistency in your process, and tweaks from brew to brew and their impacts. Each brew is not such a singular experience. My beers have improved dramatically. That said, I would not give myself any more than a C- I have a long way to go. At this point, though, I have a clearer idea of how to get there.

On a side note- maybe I just have nice friends- but does anyone notice their friends being much less critical about their beer than they are. I think about every beer I make from a "would I be happy if I ordered this in a bar" perspective. Rarely do I have a beer I would deem 'pub worthy'. Other folks who come by to have one seem to consistently think differently.
I think I need to get to know more local brewers for some perspective that is less influenced by 'free beer is good beer'.
 
Consistency is my biggest issue. Recently, I brewed an A-/B+ (something I would order more than once at a bar and is indiscernible from commercial brews) and then turn around and brew a D (not something I would serve to others)... I attribute a lot of that to me still learning the art and still learning my system. Ive been at this for about 8 months, so a lot of room for improvement.

But consistency is really what I strive for. I believe you are only as good as your worst (recent) beer.
 
I would have to say C/B- (maybe C-/C+).
I like just about everything that I brew, but I'm not super picky either. My friends and family seem to like it too, at least they sure do keep my supply low.
How do I know if it is as good as a professional beer? If I like it or not? If that is the criteria, then my beer is much better than all of the IPAs I've ever had. But that is only because I prefer malty over hoppy. (Don't flame me bro. Not knocking IPAs)
I doubt I could be a judge, I don't think I'm sensitive enough to the off flavors. Which I'm fine with. More beer for me to enjoy.
I'm sure I could do much better. I don't pay enough attention to fermentation temperature control. My measurements aren't that great, I'll often add a bit extra of some malt or other if I have just a few ounces of it left over after putting the correct amount in. I just splash the cooled wort into the carboy to aerate. I don't take notes. I don't adjust water chemistry.
My water volumes are usual very close to what they should be. My mash temps are usually spot on. My OG is normally within +/-.002. I make starters when I use liquid yeast.
I have won a few ribbons at local competitions years ago, but never a 1st.

Hopefully, my self rating will increase in the near future, as I promised myself that I would start correcting my laxness in the very near future.
 
Well, you're only as good as your last batch.

My recent run of three beers using successive generations of ECY29 Conan has dropped me to a D at best. :p







Actually, when beer hits drain, it becomes a solid fail! :(
 
I would have given myself a solid B. However, I recently had a batch get infected. Not so happy about that. It was a fluke thing where the lid popped open even with the blow-off in place. I didn't catch until it was open to the environment for a couple of days. This is the first batch I've had to go south on me. I give myself a C as a brewer for allowing an infection to occur.

As for the my other brews, it varies. Most are pretty darn good. Sometimes the stars align and it is simply astonishingly good, sometimes its just ok. I've found that lately I'm experimenting less with different yeasts and recipes and brewing more of what I know I like best. However, what is good or isn't good is subjective. In the end, it only matters to me that I like my beer.
 
I've noticed that my beers have improved since going to all grain, so grading my beers when I was brewing extract at a B or B-... My all grain brews have been solid B+ or A (a couple!).

The only time I tried a clone (Two Hearted ale) it was good but not close to the original. I'd give it a B- or B for my tastes but a solid C or C- for being close to the original.


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I have only been all-grain a short period of time (yearish). I would rate myself typically as a C/C- brewer so far. I have two beers that I have refined to the point of being consistently excellent and tasting the same batch to batch. One of my friends that has tried both is a BJCP judge and said he would rate both the beers very highly if they were entered in a competition. I don't really know what that means in accordance to what they would be graded, but probably B's or B+'s on those two.

My issues lie in consistency. I experiment with different things (to a fault) until I find a flavor I like and then work on refining it. I have only made 4 beers that I have thought to myself, "This is f excellent!" Out of those 4 I have only refined the two above to the point where I am very happy with the recipe. I'm still working on the other two. To date though, I have only made 1 batch that I was unhappy with (my first extract batch that went crazy on fermentation temperature) and the rest have always been judged at least as 'good' by myself and people around me.

I think once I really start figuring out how to design beers that fit my flavor palette better and get a clear taste of all the ingredients, I will become a much better brewer.
 
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