Naming your brews

[knelson]

I have my first beer in primary as we speak. I will be racking to secondary this weekend. But it still doesnt have a name. I've heard many differing opinions on naming. Some say to name the beer before brewing, others say to name it after its been bottled, other say wait until you taste it.

Personally I agree with waiting to taste the beer and giving it a name based on its characteristics rather than naming something that I have no idea what its going to taste like.

What does everyone else do? Where do you all find inspiration for names?

I have also thought about leaving this one a bastard brew, seeing as its my first one and may turn out to be complete junk...hmmmm maybe I should name it Bastard Brew

 

[hopdhopshops]

We named our first beer "Duckfood soup" because someone said thats what it smelled like while cooking.

 

[stedtale]

...or you could come up with a system...kinda like how they catologed Mozart's work.

i.e.

kN. No. 1 <<insert beer style>>

so

kN. No. 1 Pale Ale
kN. No. 2 Oatmeal Stout

If you're doing it that way, you can name it before you brew.

But, I'd say, If you want to give the batch a "name", wait untill you taste it. You may think it'll be "fire-bottom ale", but it may taste like "old-feet porter".

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

I name all my Pale Ales, umm, Pale ale. Etcetera, etcetera.

 

[BlueSunshine]

My first brew I named after the street I live on (Sheffield Ale). The second I named after the coffee I used when I brewed (Donut Shop Coffee Stout). The third I named after some inspiration from Fallout 3 and Star Wars (Imperial Death Squad IPA).

So, there's really no rhyme or reason for me when it comes to naming my beers.

 

[IrregularPulse]

I name mine sometimes and sometimes not. Usually the names come if I have free time at work to play with a label. The name is usually the last part of the label. Then the names don't really get used because when people ask what's on tap I'll say ie: "A Blonde and a Mild." Instead of "Outta my league Blonde" and "Jolly Gnome English Mild" as if that means anything to them. I had a Fat Tire clone that I named "Pilot Lite" (Furnace Room Brewery) and it just got referred to as "the fat tire clone".

 

[Edcculus]

If I make a beer to give away, I might fix something simple to it. I've done "Endless Summer Kolsch", "Winter Solstice Imperial Stout", "Punch you in the Rye" (for a Phish show). Most of my brews go straight to a keg and just get referred to by the style.

 

[AnthonyD]

My first brew I named after the street I live on.

Nice, if I did that I'd be making Corona!

 

[hopvine]

I used to name beers before they were finished, and it only ended it heartbreak when the batch didn't turn out as well as I would have hoped and the disappointment was permanently associated with that name. Now my policy is I don't name a beer until I've brewed it again without changing any of the ingredients.

 

[iron_city_ap]

My names just come from random thoughts that enter my head. Here are the 4 I have brewed so far.

1. Scotch ale - "If its not scottish, its crap, ale" - my 1st batch, so it was crap
2. IPA - "APIPA" (its my initials followed by IPA, which makes for a pretty cool palindrome)
3. English Brown Ale - I don't really have a name for this one (yet)
4. Sout - "Cliff" as in Cliff Stoudt (old football player)

I guess I try to play off of the name of the style. I'm not sure. Like I said, a name will just pop into my head and I go with it. Its not like I'm trying to come up with a gimmicky name because I'm trying to sell it. Its all for mine and my friend's amusement.

I like the street name idea. Might have to try that out.

 

[l1ranger]

But, I'd say, If you want to give the batch a "name", wait untill you taste it. You may think it'll be "fire-bottom ale", but it may taste like "old-feet porter".

lol, i hate when that happens.

I was just thinking about this last night, and seeing as how I like to fish, maybe going with a fish theme for all my brews. Mountain Trout IPA, or BottomFeeder Oatmeal Stout, etc.
of course, it won't really matter if it doesn't get to a point were my friends a family are asking for certain beers

 

[Bob]

There are a bunch of methods. One method is to have three stacks of index cards. The first stack is a bunch of names. The second is adjectives. The third is different words for beer or beer styles.

Pull a card from each deck. Add "'s" to the name. Thus, you can end up with "Bob's Succulent Grog" or "Airplane's Perpetual Ale".

There's a random beer-name generator on Teh Intarwebz - found here - which I often use for inspiration. For example, the name just generated is "Totally Radical Gas Cloud Old Ale".

Beer names should be fun.

Bob

 

[A4J]

I name mine sometimes and sometimes not. Usually the names come if I have free time at work to play with a label. The name is usually the last part of the label. Then the names don't really get used because when people ask what's on tap I'll say ie: "A Blonde and a Mild." Instead of "Outta my league Blonde" and "Jolly Gnome English Mild" as if that means anything to them.

+1 to this.

I have a friend who insists that I name my beers and make a nifty label for them. I do it sometimes just to shut him up (or to show off )

 

[ChshreCat]

I name mine whenever the name comes to me. My brown ale was named when I formulated the recipe. My pale ale didn't get it's name until after it went through a comp. My saison was months before it got named. Just depends on when something apt comes to mind.

 

[IrregularPulse]

I've had :
Mutt Dog Porter - After my black and Tan Mutt for a chocolate Hazelnut Porter
Freely Fest Nectar - Wit beer for Freely Fest (local music festival)
Pilot Light - The Fat tire clone
Outta my league Blonde - Tap label included my wife who is a blonde
Jolly Gnome Mild - Tap label included myself dressed as a gnome to accompany my wife on Blonde labelNew years
POW Nut Brown - THe nut brown was fitting for the first beer brewed when swmbo was pregnant with my boy (his initials are POW)
Back Shelf Ale - A collaboration of left over ingredients.
Clean House Ale - another cleanup of leftover ingredients.
MOGA and MOGA Oaked - 10G Marris Otter and Galena SMaSH. Half oaked.

Those are all I've named.

 

[Ragutis]

I tend to name them after different things.
old Bee Bitter - had a bee come out of the tap with the first pour.
Red Wasp IPA - got stung by a red wasp right before pitching yeast.
Three Hawks Pale Ale - I saw three hawks in my backyard at the start of brew day.
Tricksey Bug Black Ale - I named this one after my small, black dog named Tricksey Bug.
Midwinter Abbey - brewed at night during the Winter Solstice.

 

[blisterman]

Never name my beers. They don't last long enough to keep coming up with new names.

Just use a numbering system, started at 02. (01 being an extract batch I made a few years previously named 'Bomb Beer', due to it's explosive properties once opened.). Up to 19 now. I write the number on the bottle caps, and have a chart inside my cupboard door to remind me in case I forget which one is which.

 

[cheezydemon3]

I ink stamp the lids of my brews, so that I don't have to clean off labels.

I have red and black ink and many stamps........


Thus, many of my brews are "red ant stout", "black tick ale", etc.

I hope soon to expand, so that I can bottle my "green fly" IPA.

 

[khiddy]

I aim for plays on words, or to honor friends, or whatever:

Rye The Hell Not? (a roggenbier)
Don't Be Bitter (my first English Bitter)
Two Ladies Ale (for some friends' joint birthday party)
Fisher-Price My First Mead (just as described, my first mead...)
Max's Oat Soda (for my radio co-host, a Big Lebowski fan)

 

[mojotele]

My first beer was named "Chocolate Covered Donkey Butt" as that's pretty much what it smelled like while it was brewing. Turned out to be really good, though.

My inspiration is the Internet, so my next beer is going to be called "Old Beavershanks Thrice Hopped Death In A Bottle." Shamelessly stolen from Fark.

 

[DavidSteel]

I've set up a top-secret 6-name theme for an imaginable variety/sampler pack. I've got the artwork already in my head for each brew and I'm going to spend the next 2-3+ years trying to write amazing recipes for each of them. Besides my theme, I'm all for brainstorming names for my beers and deciding whether or not to go with it after I've tasted it, but I'm on a 6-recipe forming commitment atm.

Edit: 5-recipe commitment actually, already got one down.

 

[jgln]

I am not into the naming thing yet, maybe never. I do write down a description though but in my notes. On the bottle I put 1,2,3,4..... on the cap with a marker for bottling order but that is all. I tape a piece of paper with a brief description on to each six pack, that is all. I brew something different almost each time but I do like a basic wheat ale I make often but never called it much more than that.

Probably wondering why I even mentioned that, right?

 

[blackwaterbrewer]

wait until you have brewed the beer a few times and have it just how you want it before you name it. that way, you wont be naming some piece of crap recipe that you made up. or, you could name it, then tweak it out until it is perfect. i dont claim a recipe until i have brewed it, tweaked it, tried different mash temps, hops, hop schedules, ferm. temps, etc.....naming beer is so much fun, you may want to save it for when you have your beer just how you want it.

 

[joejaz]

I name my brews after my x-wives. My Big Butt Barley is appropriately named after my first wife cause it's a big old beer. My Dumb Blonde Ale is named after my second wife, no explanation needed. My Arrogant Bastard clone is named after my third wife and her picture is on the label and aptly named "That Arrogant Bastard". My Extra Strong Bitter is named after my fourth wife,and it's just called Rachael. And my American Pale Ale is named after my current wife, "It's Cheaper to Keeper Pale Ale"

 

[Boerderij_Kabouter]

I name all my beers and label all of them. I like the entire experience of a beer, and with no label I feel like I lose something.

In my house, everyone actually uses the beer name though. As in, 'I want a Titania', not 'I'll have one of the those American wheats.' I think it is more fun that way.

 

[rcreveli]

My wife and I are a bit geeky so this weekend I am bottling. DALEKS DELIGHT Cherry wheat ale. One of the Daleks on the bottle will say something witty like "I would EXTERMINATE the whole human race for another bottle."

Not sure if Daleks Delight is the Beer name or Brewery name.

 

[AnthonyD]

There's a random beer-name generator on Teh Intarwebz - found here - which I often use for inspiration.

I got Your random beer name is:
"Frickin' Craptacular Russian Imperial Stout"

That's a keeper!

 

[brewmonk]

Usually I don't talk to my beers, but once I named it Dave.

Quite often, I'll just name it "Brunch".

 

[StunnedMonkey]

I name all of mine after Seinfeld references, obvious or obscure, though it's mostly just for internal purposes. I rarely hand one to someone else and tell them it's a Low-Talker Brown.

 

[scratchypants]

Panic IPA - my first brew and it included a heavy dose of panic - from having to sub ingredients on the fly at the LHBS, to all the scary "you'll ruin it if you don't..." while brewing.
Bale Stacker Hefeweizen - because I could imagine no better refreshment after a day of haying.