How do you tell a guy his beer SUCKS

[EvilTOJ]

Every time I give out one of my beers I expect criticism. I preface giving people my beers with a small explanation of what kind of style it is, and also saying "If you tell me you like this, and you're lying, I will be forcing you to drink more of it" I love getting honest, real critiquing of my beers, even if it's from uneducated rubes, like the guy who said my IPA was too 'stout' for his liking.

 

[jspence1]

Lol I love that plan.

 

[the_bird]

You've got to be honest and objective. You can't start with "dude, this sucks!" or you're going to piss him off and he's probably not going to listen to you. Tell him that the first beer is pretty sweet, sweeter than you usually like your beers, and that you wonder if maybe it's underattenuated. Then, you can start talking about things like proper time in the fermenter, recipe formulation, etc. The second one, just "seems like there might be a bit of an off-flavor, it seems to be pretty sour, almost like you've got an acerbacteria (sp?) infection." As long as you're not being too personal and just focusing on the objective facts, then you should be able to give this guy the feedback he needs.

 

[Special Hops]

If it were me I would welcome honest feedback and suggestions to make it better. I have had some less then stellar batches that I took to the brew club for a tasting just so I can get some feedback and to see how I can improve.

 

[ron1guz]

I would be honest with him and let him know your findings. You can not improve anything if you don't know what is wrong.

A guy gives you three homebrew's.

first one taste like syrup, very little hops all malty and buttery and I bet it was in the primary 3 days and bottled 7 days after that. (like the kit instructions from Wind and Hops Shop state.

second one was just bad - vinegar with a LOT of head (nice lace though LOL)

third one is an IPA - have not tasted it yet.

So now I have to give the bottles back and he will want my critique.

 

[SteveM]

I just can't lie to people like that. It hurts me to do so.

Be careful about tossing out accusations that I am a liar. Did I say I would lie to someone? Read what I said. If someone offers me a beer, I thank them and tell them I enjoyed it, even if it is bad. I am grateful that someone was willing to share a beer and a beer has to be awful bad before I will not enjoy drinking it in the company of fellow brewers.

If someone asks me to try a beer that they think is not good, and help them diagnose the problem, I will not BS them. If someone offers me a beer to simply drink and enjoy, I will drink and enjoy, and nothing more. The latter case sounds like the situation in the first post.

 

[snazzy]

my first few batches I thought were good and gave them to people to try, they always said they were good. Looking back at it I know they were awful.

Tell him, It will do him a favor!!!

 

[SteveM]

my first few batches I thought were good and gave them to people to try, they always said they were good. Looking back at it I know they were awful.

Tell him, It will do him a favor!!!

He asked what we would do. That's what I would do. Others will do differently. I was not the one asking for suggestions, nor am I looking for any.

 

[mysteryberto]

Give him helpful suggestions but don't totally insult his beer as he likely spent a good amount of time making it.

Maybe invite him to brew with you sometime or vice versa?

 

[slatkin]

Every time I give out one of my beers I expect criticism. I preface giving people my beers with a small explanation of what kind of style it is, and also saying "If you tell me you like this, and you're lying, I will be forcing you to drink more of it" I love getting honest, real critiquing of my beers, even if it's from uneducated rubes, like the guy who said my IPA was too 'stout' for his liking.

Ditto. I really want the truth so I can improve. I hate it when someone says they like it and then instead of asking for another gets a BMC outta the fridge.

 

[Darwin18]

I would tell the guy that the beers were "okay", but could be improved upon. I'm assuming that he gave them to you to try because he knows that you're a fellow homebrewer and can offer him feedback and advice. I would ask him about his process, how he is controlling fermentation temperatures, etc and then offer him some constructive feedback that will help him to improve his beer. I would not insult him and tell him that they sucked - maybe they did, but that's just going to discourage him from trying to improve them.

 

[knuckleheadbrewing]

I didn't read all 5 pages of this thread but, I would handle it like a BJCP judge, judge it unbiased, offer suggestions for improvement, point out flaws, etc. But I never hold back on a score sheet and when I enter contests I expect the judges to rip me up if my beer is wack, because I want that honest unbiased unwavering feedback....

If he can't handle the constructive criticism then he shouldn't ask for peoples opinions.

 

[Zamial]

Rise my dead servant. Go forth and devour flesh.

Ya this is the necromancer...

 

[cmybeer]

For know honestly point out the largest flaws while giving suggestions on how to fix the most pressing issues. It's buttery and tastes green; perhaps you could try letting it sit in the primary for three weeks before bottling next time. It's got a bit of a vinegary flavor to it which makes me think it has some sort of infection; how did you clean and sanitize?

Also mention that your first beer sucked even if it didn't

 

[TyTanium]

Let's hope he hasn't waited four years to tell the poor guy.

 

[MarcusKillion]

Simply tell him they are not good at all and tell him why they are that way . Perhaps you can offer up your brewing knowledge and some help so he can make a good beer . How ever I would make sure that the beer is actually bad and not just something you do not like . But being a kit it is likely that it is just not that great but they are usually not real bad tasting just lacking in hops and malt and balance and then too much silly instructions like ferment 3 days then bottle and drink it in a week.

 

[Johnnyhitch1]

If he hasent told him in 5 years...i dont think he will.

Threads like this should be deleted after 2...3...5 years!!

 

[Clonefan94]

Be honest and don't be mean about it. Constructive feedback should be offered and should be well taken if he really cares about his beer. If he does really care, I would think that he would be open to know what he's missing.

I actually emphasize, with every beer I serve, "I have commercial beer in the fridge, please, be honest, if you don't like this, tell me what you don't like and feel free to drink something else." I would gladly be open to hear what people thought were a fault with my beer.

 

[MarcusKillion]

Well I would say that after reading the Sam Adams thread that you just compare his beer to Sam Adams .

 

[kh54s10]

Well I would say that after reading the Sam Adams thread that you just compare his beer to Sam Adams .

Not to further a 5 year old thread....
But...
This would not work with me since I like Sam Adams beers!

 

[MarcusKillion]

Not to further a 5 year old thread....
But...
This would not work with me since I like Sam Adams beers!

no point in letting a good thread die

 

[Brewtah]

Die thread die.......2 cents
I would ask the brewer for his recipe and notes. You could say I want to see what style you were going for and technique you used. then say "oh, I see why this is sweet", a+b+c = sweet beer. You don't have to say you hate sweet beers. That is an editorial response.

 

[Dustinj]

I'm a new brewer. I took my first AG to the club yesterday. A French saison. It got rave reviews. I kept telling them to be honest. I made some mistakes so I know it wasn't just right. As a newby I want to be told what's off or what it should taste like.

I vote honesty if he's trying to get better at it. If he's doing mr beer kits. Tell him it's fine and go on. If he's going to get butt hurt about it there's no use in hurting your friendship over beer.

 

[Billy-Klubb]

I'm a new brewer. I took my first AG to the club yesterday. A French saison. It got rave reviews. I kept telling them to be honest. I made some mistakes so I know it wasn't just right. As a newby I want to be told what's off or what it should taste like.

I vote honesty if he's trying to get better at it. If he's doing mr beer kits. Tell him it's fine and go on. If he's going to get butt hurt about it there's no use in hurting your friendship over beer.

honesty, unless you might hurt their over sensitive feelers...

if I could go back to '08 when this thread was relevant: "Feelers be damned. Be honest."

 

[Black Island Brewer]

you never know, Maybe he knows there bad, and is looking to see if you will give honest feedback of his brews in the future.

I when I am offering constructive criticism, I like to ASK the person what they think of their own brew. It's easier to have the conversation if they already know it has problems.

 

[jonmohno]

I personally like critisim. But really the people I gave my beer to are only BMC drinkers so, I dont think their opinion totally counts.I was happy to hear that some of my beers they did like when they are just use to light beers, like my wheat beer for example. Although I still can learn something from feedback. An example would be a pale ale I made,if they said its too bitter and hoppy when I made it mild to begin with and only used like 25 ibu's or something then I would possibly consider that their palate is not adjusted to drinking pale ales or ipas. That and I realize most of the people Im around(mainly family anymore) are not beer connosiers like me that like most beer styles and buying craft beer,making beer and appreciating good beer.

 

[Cider123]

I would throw the bottles away and pretend you never got them. If he asks, tell him they fell out of the car and broke on the driveway. Then tell him you just bought a case of bud light. He'll realize you don't have any taste anyway and move on to some other dude.

 

[jhoneycutt]

Like this-"yo homie dis shiz sucks mang, you make me drank dis agin imma pop a cap in yo azz". Or some variation.

 

[newbies13]

Just be honest. There is no need to sugar coat things if he's your friend and asking for feedback. Maybe he actually does suck at brewing and should be doing something else, it's not the end of the world.

He won't be able to make that decision unless you give him real feedback and the chance to fix the issues before they become ingrained into how he makes beer.

 

[aeviaanah]

Now I'm thinking my homebrew sucks and no one has been honest!