Is it silly to desire validation?

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shecky

shecky

Just an old guy
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I've been brewing for 2 years now and I've believed for the past year that my brews are at least decent, if not above average. My friends have always been complimentary and certainly keep me busy, but tonight I got the validation I've been hoping to get.

We had a couple we just met for dinner. I didn't know the dude from Adam so I bought some Sam, Coors Light and some Victory Prima Pils to cover some of the spectrum. I offered him my stout and winter ale to try.

He loved them. He even dragged his wife to the basement for the tour and explanations. The Sam, CL and Victory sat untouched. My theory is he would have politely asked for one of those three if he didn't like mine. Is it silly to need such validation? :confused:

On the plus side, he wants my help getting into brewing. :mug:
 
Some people just really go out of their way to seem agreeable. ;-) Just kidding. Most people are lame when it comes to beer appreciation so I can understand why you were smitten.
 
shecky said:
I've been brewing for 2 years now and I've believed for the past year that my brews are at least decent, if not above average. My friends have always been complimentary and certainly keep me busy, but tonight I got the validation I've been hoping to get.

We had a couple we just met for dinner. I didn't know the dude from Adam so I bought some Sam, Coors Light and some Victory Prima Pils to cover some of the spectrum. I offered him my stout and winter ale to try.

He loved them. He even dragged his wife to the basement for the tour and explanations. The Sam, CL and Victory sat untouched. My theory is he would have politely asked for one of those three if he didn't like mine. Is it silly to need such validation? :confused:

On the plus side, he wants my help getting into brewing. :mug:
Click to expand...

I found that after giving away homebrew for the holiday season that more of my friends and co-workers are now asking when my next brew is ready as well as how to get started in brewing.
 
Never... I know that I have the small group of friends (3 or 4) who give me opinions on my beer.. plus my wife.. It is ALWAYS nice to get some validation from people you dont know.. It's unbiased and pure.. I had a moment like that at Christmas where a friend had a party and 12 people did a blind tasting of twelve commercial brews.. I snuck one of my homebrews into the mix, and lo and behold, based on scorecard evaluations, my Sierra Nevada Pale Ale Clone won by a landslide over all the commercial beers.., I didnt know these people and they didnt know my beer wasnt commercial.. That was the best validation I EVER got for my homebrew.. And it felt good.. Relish in it Shecky.. Bask in the warm, spectacular, light that is your homebrew......
 
You've been brewing for 2 years and you have 12,432 posts on HBT? That's only 17 per day of brewing (or apparently 20.5 per day of HBT membership) :D

No really congrats man, that's a huge compliment.
 
Not at all. Unsolicited compliments are always a great confidence/ego boost. And it lets you know that your hard work hasn't just biased your taste buds towards your brew. Now, going out of your way to get validation and appreciation is when it becomes silly/sad.
 
i always love seeing people really enjoy craft beer generally, I feel like its one more "convert" to the movement. It's also especially nice to have your homebrew validated.
 
I think everyone wants to have a little bit of confidence that they are doing something right. Getting someone else's opinion can matter to most of them. It'd fine if you only want to drink your own beer and not give it away. If you like to share, though, it's nice to have a few people tell you that they like your beer.

I got into some comps last year to get other people's opinions on my beer, and to help me improve. I got some very good feedback and also took 2nd place in a nearby competition. My problem is what to do with all the beer that I could be making. Hard to get better when you only brew once every 2 months or so...
 
I'll always remember this event: I took a Mild to an OBC meeting, didn't expect any feedback from the hopheads, but there are a number of good BJCP types there. Anyway, this one woman was there with her BF, but didn't like homebrew, just being together. I convinced her to try the Mild. She did, then pulled a pint. Came back later for another. BF came by and got the recipe! Wasn't my recipe, but I felt good.
 
I have a few BJCP judge friends that incessantly pester me about competing every time they have one of my brews. The first few times it was nice and humbling. Now it's just annoying.

Honestly, I feel more validated my wife appreciates a brew I make. She is the biggest critic of beer I have met yet. Very particular about the "smoothness" of the beer regardless of what is meant to be forward.
 
No......I think it is important. We all pour more then just time and money in this. There is a certin amount of emotion as well. I know when someone truly likes my beer it means a lot. When someone is truly intrested in your beer it is great.

I held a poker event at my house and had my brew and some different types of beer and the highlight of the whole day was I kicked two kegs and put almost all the store bought brew away when the night was over.
 
We all need a pat on the back every now and then.

I have yet to have someone who didn't already know that I have a passion for brewing tell me my beer was good. I am not sure if the responses are legitimate or my friends and family are very nice.

It sounds like you have some real appreciation. Thats very cool.
 
I like validation.

For my more mainstream recipes I get validation from friends, family and neighbors when they ask me to brew for their events.

For more "beer geek" styles, I count on competitions.

Of course early on...competitions were more like scathing attacks than warm & fuzzies. :D

Validation if sincere is rewarding.
Validation if forced and polite is useless.
Honest criticism pointing out the flaws...is the shortest path to improving your beer.
 
Validation is addictive.

I've been brewing for a year and the feedback I've gotten is from "untrained" beer drinkers, Friends and Neighbors.
I'm the most critical of my brews, and only recently have I determined I need more critical feedback. Not that Validation from friends/relatives/neighbors is bad, I just want to improve my beer and need the expertise from others with more experience than I have.

So this year I'm brewing my beers in effort to create something I will send in to competitions, just to get the detailed feedback I need to improve my brewing.

Ok... so if I get good crit's... it will boost my ego too....:D:D:D

Cheers and Happy brewing
:mug:
 
I don't just desire the validation, I need it. If no one cared about my beer, didn't want to try it or didn't like it, I definitely would have just given it up by now.

I enjoy brewing and I do enjoy the beer I make, but without feedback and encouragement I would lose interest pretty fast. I recently offered a glass of homebrew porter to a friend who recently gained the distinction of having tried every one of the 160 beers on tap at the local taphouse. He not only said it was excellent, he suggested that it was worth entering into a competition. Coming from someone who has a receipt a meter long in his wallet testifying to his experience, that's the kind of validation that makes me keep pouring time and money into this hobby.
 

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