What was the best beer you ever brewed?

[Limbrizik]

May be my most memorable because it is still on tap but my APA. It is very well balanced between a smooth bitterness and a dry but full mouth feel. I'm drooling at work thinking about it.

APA 1.053 ~6.2%
11.5 gallons

19lb Maris otter, 1.5lb munich, 0.5 lb carapils
1oz Magnum 60min
1oz Cascade & Willamette 10, and 1.5oz of each at 2 min
0.5oz Cascade & Willamette dry hop

Nottingham at 68

 

[mwilcox]

It was a Vienna lager. Nov '14. I entered it in NHC '15 where it was scored 15.5/50.

It later scored 38 on its first birthday and a still-decent low 30s last month when used in a tasting exam.

(It) happens.

 

[ChelisHubby]

I have only been brewing for 2 years with maybe 40 or more brews but I am still improving. I will probably start with water chemistry next year for more improvement!

 

[unionrdr]

Finally gonna brew the mumme' soon, so I may just change my mind in a couple months. A gruit that enhances weight loss, tastes good, etc would be an interesting " health Ale" that I've been thinking about. Like Force Factor X180 Ignite, & BioTrust's BellyTrim XP, both organic derivatives. so I got to thinking this gruit, maybe others would go/work well with them???

 

[smokinop]

A simcoe IPA I brewed a few months ago has been my favorite but as of late, I have used the same grain bill & only using one kind of hop through-out the brew with great success.

12lbs 2 Row
1lb Munich
.5lb C60
.5 oz Simcoe 60min
2 oz Simcoe 30min whirlpool
2 oz dry hop for 5 days
Safeale 05 yeast

 

[Redlantern]

A rye IPA I made a few months back comes to mind. It started off as crazy bitter. Even a month after bottling, was quite off-putting. Somewhere after the 6th week, it all came together and was amazing. Very dry IPA with Amarillo and Sorachi Ace. Everything was in balance, the flavor, smell, color, carb - it was all there. Wonderful brew.

For 5 gallon batch
11 lbs Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM)
2 lbs 8.0 oz Rye Malt (4.7 SRM)
8.0 oz Wheat, Flaked (1.6 SRM)
4.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM)
2.0 oz Carafa II (Weyermann) (415.0 SRM)

1.0 oz Magnum 60 min
0.50 Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 10 min)
2.0 oz Cascade 1 min

2.0 oz Amarillo Steep/flame out 25 min
1.0 oz Citra Steep/flame ou 25 min
2.0 oz Sorachi Ace Steep/flame ou 25 min

1.0 oz Cascade dry hop 5 days
1.0 oz Sorachi Ace dry hop 5 days

 

[luckybeagle]

The concept of this thread is so great that I'm reviving it from the dead.

For me it's my Amber Biere de Garde. Leagues above my next best beer, which is saying a lot after 200+ batches! Amazing aroma, persistent head, lovely ruby glow, subtle alcohol warmth without being harsh in the least... absolutely smashing beer.

OG: 1.074
FG: 1.010
ABV: 8.4%
IBU 30
SRM: ~23

65% Pilsner malt (Weyermann)
16% Vienna
7% DIY Candisugar (made using DAP to 290F, very similar to D90, following SnickASaurusR's recipe)
3% Briess Special Roast
3% Caramunich
3% Simpsons Dark Crystal
1% Chocolate Rye

152F mash

18 IBU of Tradition at 30
12 IBU of Mittelfruh at 30
1 oz of Mittelfruh at flameout

Water profile: Malty (I believe Brewer's Friend Light colored and malty profile)

Large starter of WY1007, pitched at 64F with a 1F raise over 7 days to 71F, hold 71F for an additional week, drop to 50F for 1 week, bottle condition at 2.75 volumes. Tasted fantastic at 2 weeks in the bottle (5 weeks post brewday) and got even more refined with time. Wish I entered it! I have one bomber left that I'm saving for a truly special occasion, TBD, and I'll be brewing a 10g batch next time--and another 10G batch when I'm down to 5G, so that I never, ever run out again. Brew it!

 

[AlexKay]

I'll play! Here's the recipe for my lavender-smoked Helles Eisbock:

4 lbs. lavender-smoked
2.5 lb. Vienna
2.5 lb. white wheat

7 g Magnum (10.6% AA) @ 60 min.
14 g Tettnang (3.3 % AA) @ 15 min.

W34/70 for fermentation to 8% ABV, followed by freeze-concentration removing ~1/3 of the water.

 

[Kickass]

4 lbs. lavender-smoked

Can you elaborate on this? One of my most acclaimed beers was a Belgian style triple with lavender.

 

[AlexKay]

Can you elaborate on this? One of my most acclaimed beers was a Belgian style triple with lavender.

The malt was from Sugar Creek, though it seems that right now they're out of stock. It's actually fairly subtle stuff, and the taste is spicy-sweet as much as it is floral. I've definitely made smoked beers with overpowering smoke, but with this stuff, even at nearly half the grist, things really worked.

I did make a saison with lavender flowers, about 5 g/gallon, introduced in a hop stand, 10 minutes at ~160 F. Possibly the worst beer I've made, felt like eating one of those little pillow sachets. Way, way, way too much. When I try this again, I'll use 1/10 the dose, if not less.

Can you post your lavender tripel recipe?

 

[gewehr43sniper]

a homebrew store on the coast has a guinness clone kit that I brewed. all of the members at the homebrew club that tasted it loved it. It tasted just like guinness extra stout from a bottle.

 

[pfmeyer]

Charlie’s Rocky Raccoon Honey Lager, although it was like 30 years ago. I wish I remembered exactly what I did. I know I used as an ale yeast (early 90’s, probably Edme) and I don’t recall the hops although the recipe calls for Cascades. It was very delicate and floral. Always thought it was the clover honey. Recently had a Shipyard Export Golden which reminded me of it. That beer uses Willamette, Cascades and US Tettenang. Perhaps it was the hops which contributed to the beer more than the honey. Every once in a while I try to brew it again and never get quite the same result. Every batch is a little different. I’ve learned over the years to take good notes.

 

[Culinarytracker]

My best and most consistant beer has been my Cream of 3 Crops. I have used only slight variations in ingredients.

My absolute favorite has been the clone of Westvleteren 12, a Belgian quad. Just awesome flavors and at 11.4% abv it packs a punch!

I've been thinking of brewing a quad this winter. I will probably try this one. Any words of advise?

 

[Kickass]

@AlexKay I’ll dig it out tonight and post it.

 

[bike2brew]

The last one. Now drinking a Porter bottled 11/26/22.

 

[HM-2]

Don't think I can pick a top one...too diverse. Top three though? Probably these:

7.2% Imperial Special Bitter (88% MO, 5% Crystal, 5% golden syrup, 2% wheat dry hopped with Mandarina)
6.8% Bretted Belgian Pale Ale (was almost a dumper, saved by 3 months in secondary with Brux)
7.2% Simcoe/Vienna SMaSH fermented with Verdant

 

[Miraculix]

I think my first American IPA was REALLY good.

But in total, by far the best beer I've brewed was:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/threads/miraculix-best-classic-english-ale.661073/

 

[aceluby]

My best was probably my really simple Helles I made over the summer. Super simple 90% pilsner, 10% munich, 90 min mash, 90 min boil - 1/2 oz of German hops at 60, 1 oz at 30 - fermented at ale temps with MJ's Cali Lager yeast. Let it go for about 10 days, kegged it, then let it lager in my keggerator for about a month. Crystal clear, super clean, really highlights the malt. Just a really crushable beer. I've got another going right now, in fact, but this time fermenting with 34/70.

 

[seatazzz]

For ales it's got to be my Sabrotooth recipe, that I've done many times and try to always keep on tap. Simple grain bill of 50/50 two-row and pilsner, NO bittering hops. 1oz each Citra and Sabro at 10 and 5, then 1.5oz each at flameout. Then a whopping 2.5oz each at high krausen for dry hop. Best yeast I've found for it is Imperial Loki, fermented about 80-85°; throws some lovely pineapple esters that complement the coconut from the Sabro hops. For lagers it's one I did a couple years ago, that got the name To Hell And Back Light lager; the ferment fridge did a dramatic fail while it was in there, and the temperature rose to 80° before I could catch it. Think it was on Diamond lager yeast. Perfectly crisp and clean, and the first lager I ever won a medal with, a silver at that year's Cascade Cup. I'm too chicken to try to replicate it.

 

[grampamark]

We’re supposed to get better with experience, right? So, I just assume it’s the next one.

 

[chthon]

A St.-Bernardus Tripel clone with only Dingemans Pilsner malt, Eastwell Goldings for bittering, taste and aroma (a Goldings variant which is grown in Poperinge) and St.-Bernardus yeast grown from the bottle. Should redo this one, but need to find time to drive to Poperinge to buy hops from the latest harvest.

 

[Leezer]

@Miraculix , my friend recently brewed your British Golden Ale-Miraculix Best-Classic English Ale mentioned above and gave me some to try. It was very tasty. Definitely on my To Brew list.

 

[Miraculix]

@Miraculix , my friend recently brewed your British Golden Ale-Miraculix Best-Classic English Ale mentioned above and gave me some to try. It was very tasty. Definitely on my To Brew list.

Thanks, glad to hear!!

 

[Clint Yeastwood]

If I had to have only one of the beers I made from now on, it would be a lager I made with nugget and crystal hops. It was the color of an IPA. I generally brewed ales, but this beer was wonderful, and I have never seen anything like it in a store. I can buy IPA and stout and wheat beer whenever I want, but I can't get this stuff.

I also made a lawnmower lager to see if I could get a Bud-drinking friend to convert. It was thin, and I used corn flakes to make it, but it was really good on a hot day. Unlike Budmilcoors, it was balanced, and it didn't taste like soap. It still had too much flavor for my friend.

Then there was my only Belgian ale.

Okay, I can't decide.

 

[Protos]

Of my 275 batches to date, the best beer I've ever brewed (actually the best beer I've ever tasted in my life) was a thoroughly recreated clone of 1870 Vienna Lager, taken from Andreas Krennmayr's book "Historical German and Austrian Beers" brewed in autumn 2021. 3-hour cold infusion, triple decoction, 3 months lagering, authentic Austrian Wiener Malt (Stamag), Saazer leaf hops, S-23. Very labour intensive batch with absolutely heavenly results.
This year I hope to repeat the success making it again and adding two more recipes from the same book: 1856 Salvator Bock and 1870 Oktoberfest.

 

[BrewZer]

I tried to clone Piraat. I lost the recipe in a computer crash, but I remember it was the heaviest and most expensive beer I've ever made. And in several tasters' recollection, the best.

 

[grampamark]

TL,DR-I made a mistake but still made the beer I wanted to make.

This might be it. A Cold Smoke clone. I’ve brewed this recipe a couple of times before and it was close to the real thing but not quite a perfect clone.

This time I made a couple of changes, one on purpose and one by accident. If I brew this again (and I will) I will incorporate both of those. The deliberate change was to use K-97 instead of Nottingham. A German Ale yeast probably isn‘t the first choice for a Scottish Export Ale, but I had a freshly harvested K-97 slurry and thought “why not”. I made a SNS starter at the start of my brewday and pitched it, about 5 hours later, into 68° wort. The yeast took off in just a few hours. The accidental change was that I was fermenting a Lager on 34/70 at 55°. I intended to move the lager into my cold storage room which was, due to sub zero outdoor temps, at about 36°. Between cleaning up the brewery and getting ready to go to the city house I forgot to move the lager and reset the temp controller. Consequently, the beer was in primary for about 10 days at 55°. When we got back to the farm I walked by the ferm fridge, looked at the Inkbird, and realized what I had done. I moved the lager to the cold room and cranked the temp up to 64°. The yeast did appear to take off again, as I saw a thin layer of krausen the next day. I left it for a few days and moved it to the cold room where it stayed for 5 or 6 days. I kegged it a couple of days ago and poured the first glass today. I can’t tell any difference between the two beers. So, I screwed up and still made the closest thing to a perfect clone of a favorite commercial beer that I’ve ever made. The good news is-I know what I did so I can do it again. I didn’t make a unicorn.

 

[JAReeves]

From other's perspectives, my Red Rye IPA, Polish Rye IPA or Smoked Porter are their faves and the most requested.

As I get the weird bubblegum flavor from badly fermented/aged lagers, I have never liked them (no BMC, no craft either); until I brewed my own, aged it 3 months, and it was everything people told me to expect. Light, crisp, bitter, malty, and citrusy-floral (I used a mix of NZ and homegrown hops). I think it's the best beer I have made to date.

 

[Berk]

Best one is the Milk Stout. was supposed to be peanut butter and chocolate flavors, but the PBFit aroma and taste went away two weeks after kegging, was left with a Mocha flavor which is outstanding. It wasn't too sweet and not too dry, it was perfect.

 

[soccerdad]

My best came from right here .. Red Rye Ale from a brewer named cweston. Not too anything. A very well balanced beer.