That first homebrew that made your jaw drop

I made this 10% Dark wild wheat ale with Wyeast De Bom that I aged on cherries and raspberries and it came out really badass when I bottled it. It's still conditioning now, but I'm already trying to replicate it.

 

I brewed a Pliny clone that has been my greatest beer so far. What made it work? I'll give credit where credit is due -- Vinny Cilurzo and his creative genius for developing that recipe.

 

I brewed an Irish Stout for St. Pattie's Day. I even added a little bottle of Irish cream liqueur. It came around a week before St. Pattie's Day and I had about 10 bottles left between me and my friends.

I tried a similar batch a few years later and it tasted like Pepsi. Really strange and way too thin.

 

Brewing can be such a touchy science.

 

Completely satisfied? Nope. Not yet. If it did happen, I'm not sure there would be any reason to continue brewing.

 

I popped a bottle of my NZ IPA last night after 7 days in the bottle, carbonated but not fully. But my god it is exactly what I wanted. Hazy, pulpy looking orange juice, and just smooth as the day is long with huge aromas of trop fruit. My last 4 brews have gone to another level which is nice after spending so much time and effort on homebrewing. It is really fulfilling to see results from practice!
My graham cracker imperial stout is off the hook. Had someone tell me it was better than the Founders Porter they were drinking the night after they tasted mine. I don't believe that it's better, but the compliment really solidifies my trials.
Cheers!

 

I made a Zombie Dust clone last spring and it was really outstanding (for my homebrew that is). It's an easy recipe so even a knuckle-head like me can make a great tasting beer. I've made it a few times after that and it always comes out great!

 

Hah, can't say that I've really made a beer yet that blew me away, but then I've only brewed 8 times so far (and 2 of those batches I haven't tasted yet). I'm very critical of my own work, so I don't believe that anything I've made comes close to the best beers out there - although some of it handily beats some of the worst commercials beers I've had! My best so far was probably the NB Kama Citra kit that I made - huge hop aroma, tons of tropical fruits, though the actual hop flavor was maybe a little lacking. Still, that was one batch that disappeared pretty quickly. I still remember the smell in my basement on bottling day, it was like the fruit stand at the Jean-Talon market.

Say, would be willing to share that recipe? I'm thinking of brewing up an APA when the weather gets warmer and this sounds right up my alley.

 

I think a lot of us are really critical of our own work. I'm kind of curious to know if most of us would be as judgmental if we were stuck with a corny of a commercial brew.

 

I added 1.5 boxes of graham crackers too the mash. You can tell it's there, but not as pronounced as I wanted. Some honey malt may have helped. It was based off a Ten Fidy clone recipe I found, and I was looking to mimic a dessert my family makes, 7 layer bar, with graham, vanilla, coconut and chocolate. I aged half on vanilla beans, cocoa nibs and toasted coconut. It turned out fantastic other than the muted graham flavor, but it's a winner.

 

Absolutely. I'll PM it to you..not because its secret, just don't want to clog up the forum. STBY!

 

I brewed his Hopfather recipe last year, and was very pleased. He knows his way around a hop

 

I'm with @VikeMan on this one, in that I've never been completely satisfied with my brews. I'm always looking for something in them that's flawed, that I can hopefully try to correct in the next batch.

I will have to say, however, that my most recent beer – a berliner weisse, came out surprisingly well. It tasted almost exactly how I imagined it would taste. I guess you could say it made my jaw drop, because I've never created a beer of this style before, that turned out as well as it did.

 

I actually did it all in primary, lol.