Naming Beer

[cclloyd]

To me part of the fun of brewing is coming up with an appropriate name for each batch. Hell, my brewing notebook has some brew day pages with 8 or 10 possible names that I come up with before settling on one for that particular batch.

 

[StunnedMonkey]

I absolutely name every batch, even if it's someone else's recipe. If three guys brew the same recipe, it'll taste 3 different ways. Anyway, it's rare to follow a recipe exactly...mostly due to the hop shortage.

I haven't named Jamil's Red Rocket clone yet though. Still thinking.

 

[DD2000GT]

That wouldn't be Lou Ricetti by any chance would it?

Why yes it is!

 

[Kung_Pow_34]

so if you subscribe to the naming of all beers, if you reattack on trying to make a batch better, does it get the same name? calling it ---- Ale II would be lame like naming a pet that.

do any of you mess with labels?

 

[StunnedMonkey]

so if you subscribe to the naming of all beers, if you reattack on trying to make a batch better, does it get the same name? calling it ---- Ale II would be lame like naming a pet that.

do any of you mess with labels?

For myself I can only speak theoretically to the first part, since I'm early enough in the game that I've not made the same batch twice. But if I get to the point where I have a "haus ale" that I brew the same way repeatedly, I'd name it the same each time. If I was altering the recipe going for something different, it'd get a different name.

I don't use labels, because I keg. But even if I bottled, making labels for everything strikes me as something that'd be fun...once. And after that not so much.

 

[Dukester]

Why yes it is!

Haha, I knew it. It's not the best series of fantasy books, but for some reason, it's one of my favorites! Nobody messes with The Engineer!

 

[cclloyd]

do any of you mess with labels?

I still bottle - no kegging yet - and I use the 3/4" round labels to record the name, brew and btl dates and the a.b.v. - just stick them on the cap.

 

[tnbrewer371]

yah i know im that guy who awakens a two year dead thread but oh well. Heres the answer to this looming dilemma. If you formulate the recipe, not just "tweak" it you name it, if not give a nod and keep the name the same as the person you got it from called it. I just dont see how you if you didnt take the time to formulate the recipe yourself test it, rebrew it, tweak it rebrew it, tweak it, rebrew it you can pass it off as something originally yours, me personally there is no way I would even want or consider doing that. As a matter of fact when I label my beer if it is from a recipe out of the complete joy of homebrewing or brewing classic styles i give a nod to the author of the recipe right on the label be it jamil or charlie or whoever formulated the recipe that I essentially copied and stole whether I myself brewed it or not. I dont know why you would want to pass something off as yours when it is truly not, so let this be encourangement to go forward and design your own recipes and try them out and tweak them and than you can proudly name them something unique to you and your love of brewing and you can put your name proudly on the label and noone will wonder whether its a book recipe or a kit because it will say it all on the label that this beer is genetically and uniquely yours. flame on rant over.

 

[Strangebird]

I have yet to name mine, but definitely enjoy hearing folks' names so now I'm on to the idea. Now I'm racking my brain...

 

[LuckyRVA]

flame on rant over.

I completely agree with you.

When I took down my stepmother's maple walnut salmon recipe and served it to a few friends awhile back I didn't try pass it off as my own...even though I'm sure my iteration tasted slightly different than her's. Same goes for beer recipes IMO.

 

[92greenyj]

I always name all of my beers. Then again, i've never used a kit. I started out whole hog doing all grain and writing my own recipes for the most part. (first few were heavily modified versions of others recipes) So yeah, I always name my brews. How else can I distinguish whats on tap? I cant just say "stout", "kolsch", "IPA", etc. well I guess i could, but that wouldn't be much fun and it would make for some boring beer labels

 

[yummybeer]

i recently started naming the beers i brew. i think it's all part of the fun of brewing my own beer. hawkeye wheat, blackhawk bock, o'pattys irish red, ect., ect.

 

[rjwhite41]

I have never named my beers. Recipes are named based on which generation of the recipe I'm working on (i.e. Bohemian Pilsener #2) but once they get on tap they are IPA, ESB, Bohemian Pilsener, etc. I keep saying I will name one when I get the recipe exactly how I want it but it seems like I always change something when I brew it the next time. Anyway, my belief is that if you take a recipe word for word it is not yours to name but if you change even one thing then it is yours and you can name it whatever you want.

 

[edie]

Name your beer after the team that will dominate the NBA in the near future - Trail Blazer Ale! Roy Ale! Oden Ale! Aldridge Ale!

THUNDER ALE !!