Naming Your Homebrew

[riromero]

I name my brews for a variety of reasons...

1) When I give three different beers to my non-brewing friends and family they like it better if it's labeled. Plus it gives them a name to use when telling me which one they liked or disliked.

2) It gives me something beer-related to think about during my bike ride to/from work every day (or any other moment of enforced idleness).

3) I'm making my own beer the way I want to make it. Incredibly, plenty of people seem to think that's lame. I like to name and label my beers, and if someone thinks it's lame, well... BITE ME.

 

[GaryJohn]

I don't find it hard to think of names usually. I actually come up with the name and "personality" of the beer before I even formulate a recipe. Sometimes its more elusive though.

For example, with my first beer, I just get this voice in my head, and it was me, and it said, "I will brew an IPA, and it will be called SPLENDID LIBATION." Then I got to work.

 

[specialkaye]

Gotta chime in on this one. Naming a beer is no way like replacing a cover on a book. Recipes can not be copyrighted, but the actual instructions, and books, can. So, even if you use someone's recipe, it really belongs to you too because a recipe is really nothing more than a list of measurements. IIRC, one of the first things mentioned in the nOOb thread is to ditch their instructions and use the instructions from the forum. So, right off, before you even put water to heat, that "recipe" is totally yours. Yours, right from the start.

Now, as I see it, we're all in this for enjoyment and good beer. If you derive enjoyment from taking the time and burning the brain cells to come up with a cutesy brewery name for a 10x10 square foot section of garage that holds a couple pots and a turkey burner, or for a beer made from someone else's recipe, or stirred together from a pre-made kit, that you've babysat for a month and a half while dreaming of a sweet pair of bigger kettles, have at it. It's your time, and your dime. You can do with it what you will. You're not hurting anyone and having fun. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to crack a cold one and come up with a cutesy name for a certain section of driveway concrete and the fermented grain water produced there. All the while, I'm still dreaming of that sweet pair of bigger kettles.

 

[voodoocurt]

Gotta chime in on this one. Naming a beer is no way like replacing a cover on a book. Recipes can not be copyrighted, but the actual instructions, and books, can. So, even if you use someone's recipe, it really belongs to you too because a recipe is really nothing more than a list of measurements. IIRC, one of the first things mentioned in the nOOb thread is to ditch their instructions and use the instructions from the forum. So, right off, before you even put water to heat, that "recipe" is totally yours. Yours, right from the start.

Now, as I see it, we're all in this for enjoyment and good beer. If you derive enjoyment from taking the time and burning the brain cells to come up with a cutesy brewery name for a 10x10 square foot section of garage that holds a couple pots and a turkey burner, or for a beer made from someone else's recipe, or stirred together from a pre-made kit, that you've babysat for a month and a half while dreaming of a sweet pair of bigger kettles, have at it. It's your time, and your dime. You can do with it what you will. You're not hurting anyone and having fun. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to crack a cold one and come up with a cutesy name for a certain section of driveway concrete and the fermented grain water produced there. All the while, I'm still dreaming of that sweet pair of bigger kettles.

HELLS YEAH, preach on specialkaye!
I absolutely agree, "it's your time and your dime"!!+++++

v

 

[SamuraiSquirrel]

I'm a namer lol. Can't brew all the time. In between recipe design and during the work day it gives me something to think about. Usually not much thinking is required to name my beers. The names are usually based one or a combination of a few things ......... the beer's characteristics/key ingredients, special/catastrophic event occuring during the brew day, ninja's, video games, or other things that I think are awesome.

And yes, I brew in a two car gargage and refer to it as the "brewery". It just adds an awesomeness factor or makes me sound like a loser (depending on who I am talking to lol)

 

[Dawas]

Naming my beers begins right after concept of the recipe and I brew a certain design of strong brown ales so, once the recipe is developed (in my head) then the fun of coming up with the "appropriate" name begins!

soon to be:
Oblivious Bitch

Fermenting:
- Angry Bitch
- Hopped Up Crazy Bitch
- Old Ass Ale
- Stick it up your Oatmeal Stout


Bottled:
Blow my Sail Ale

 

[specialkaye]

Oblivious Bitch
Fermenting:
- Angry Bitch
- Hopped Up Crazy Bitch
- Old Ass Ale
- Stick it up your Oatmeal Stout
Bottled:
Blow my Sail Ale

I like how you think.
When you go public, let me know. I'd love to walk into a bar, and I'd love to walk up to the little brunette bartender and say:
"Give me some Oblivious Bitch."
She'd look at me and say, "Old Ass Ale?"
Then I'd turn to another bar patron, "Angry Bitch? Hopped Up Crazy Bitch?"
That guy would put his nose back in his beer, "Stick It Up Your Oatmeal Stout."
I'd turn back to the barkeep, "Blow My Sail Ale."

 

[Sithdad]

I have only named 2 of mine and they were all beers I gave to people. If I am not giving them away then I don't take the time to name them, but I think it adds a nice touch when you put the name of the beer on a label.

Here are some of the beers I've named:
Fu Man Brew (Belgian Wit made for my younger brother whose nickname is Fu Man)
Fraggle Bock (Yup, you guessed it, a Bock. Made for a friend of mine)

 

[Jugger]

I think it's kinda fun to name my brews, usually after the fruits I brew with such as: Raspberry Sip or Blackberry Thumper. I have also been thinking about using some of the local towns, County or landmarks like: Jasper Co. Mead, Stone's Corner Cyser or Pawnee Rock Port. I have named some brews after people like Grandpa's Cellar Cider or Uncle Donnie's Cherry Remedy. I just like fooling around with it, I have never actually printed or labled a bottle. I usually dream up the name after a glass or two of the brew or while drinking it with friends and they ask me what I call it......lol.

Good luck all

 

[CptnRedbeard]

Oh I'm all about naming my brews. But then again, as a homebrewing Mormon, I'm fairly unique. So I just can't resist the irony of naming my home brew with play on Mormon culture. I even have some names set aside for recipes I haven't brewed yet. I'm really looking forward to getting my Porter Chocwell (Chocolate porter named after Porter Rockwell) recipe down.

 

[LoneTreeFarms]

all the time...especially since we try and keep all our names related to the bull

Longhop IPA
Fall Pasture Pumpkin Ale
Hard Apbull Cider
Star Buck'n Bull Stout
etc

really? i think that'd be fun!
8 second stout
blow it out your steer
longhorn lager
chocolate cow pie
seeing red-rye

 

[mytommygundont]

Naming is fun. I name beers and it helps because people can say "Remember Double Tap? I really liked that beer." Instead of saying, "That double IPA that you made a year ago-You know the one that was really good? You should make that again."

 

[Clonefan94]

I'm not really a beer namer. I usually just stick to the style and include whatever hops were used for bittering. So I would have a "Chinook IPA" or a "Falconer's Amber Ale." I think it's kind of cool that people do name their beers though, especially those who have a special recipe they came up with. If I ever get to that point and come up with a signature beer, I'll probably start naming. Just as others have said, it's easier to remember "Titan IPA" than "Hey, remember that IPA you brewed and had on tap back in September, that was good."

That being said though, my brewery has a name. Heiserbräu. Basically it was a given that was going to be the name considering every one who tasted it for the first time, without any prompting by me at all, said, "Awesome, my first Heiser brew." So, that one just seemed pretty simple. So I do have a little logo on the top of my tap handles, above, "IPA" or "Amber Ale"

 

[ChrisVZ]

If I create the recipie, I name it. Otherwise I just label it with it's style, date, and abv. I'm just starting my own recipies and have brewed 2, both worthy of naming. The Black Knight is a black IPA made with Warrior hops and is a nod to one of my favorite movies, Monty Python's Holy Grail. Crooked Stinger is a braggot made with 5 lb of honey, corriander, and orange peel. Others that I have in the works are Rusty Pail Ale and Brush Fire smoked irish red.