Hyped-up Homebrews...?

I am late to the party here and for that I apologize.

I have had the privilege to try a lot of other home brewers' offerings that ranged from good to exceptional. I have been hyped up by other people about certain home brewers making "the best example I ever had of style XXX" and when I tried it, I scratched my head thinking it wasnt even average at best. A certain wakefield berliner is the most hyped brew I have had that totally lived up to expectations. But just like the others who were standouts, they have passed the threshold and gone commercial. (Or will be soon.)

Is trading homebrew for commercial beer even done enough to warrant/expect hype? I am not trying to be a jerk, this is a legit question as I consider myself an active trader and have not seen many trades of this nature. Usually i will throw in homebrews as extras but I would never dare consider using my homebrew as leverage for a commercial offering.

Millbock brewing is a local place that is owned/operated by 2 fellows who were a part of the local home brew club. Albert's stuff stood out to me as superior from the very first meeting I attended. They currently have a brew (s?) barrel aging that I am going to premeptively state are worth hyping up. But I guess that is beyond the scope of the homebrewing hype topic.

Thanks for the kind words man! I brew solo but usually have people swing by during the brew day to assist in making past batches disappear. The person who was with me that day when we were opening brews was my friend Bryan who use to be present on most brewdays at my house. The apple brandy barrel aged olde ale was his idea for a brew to make but he has since retired from beer drinking due to health problems and a girlfriend that doesnt allow him to drink.

You are too kind Brett, thanks again! I owe you some bottles...

 

Completely off topic, but were you at 7venth Sun (in Dunedin, FL) a few weeks ago?

I happened to be there meeting with the owners when a few people came in to share a few beers. I got to try a home-brewed apple brandy (I think) old ale that was really good! Small world, I suppose, if that was you.

 

Haha, yeah that was me. Did you also get to try my berliner? It was disguised in a 7venth sun midnight moonlight growler (no joke.)

 

Ha ha, nice! I think I tried that also - I definitely remember you guys opening it.. Was it a little less tart than midnight moonlight is?

 

In my opinion, mine is significantly more tart than midnight moonlight. Justin asked me more than once if I put some form of sour grape juice in mine. Which ironically enough I did not do to that one but I have another version that is aged over red wild fox grapes that was not in attendance that day.

 

Ha ha, then I probably didn't try it! I know I was on my way out right around the time you guys arrived, so I must have missed trying it. Bummer though - 7venth Sun has made me quite the fan of berliners!

 

If you ever trade with mflick ask for some homebrews. This year for BCTC "Belgium Comes To Cooperstown" his home brew line up that he's bringing for a special tasting. Its going to be AMAZING:

Nostalgia: Sour “Sour Cherry” Rye Saison
The “clean” version of this beer debuted at BCTC 2011. I siphoned off a bit and aged it with dregs from Isabelle Proximus and oak for the past year.

Funky Farmhouse 2009
A blend of biere de garde and saison soured with various bottle dregs and brett B.

Red Raspberry Lambic 2011
Red raspberry sour made with Bug Farm V, Drie Fonteinen Hommage dregs, and hand-picked raspberries from Highland Orchards.

White Peach Lambic 2010
White peach sour made with Bug Farm IV and hand-picked white peaches from Highland Orchards.

Blueberry Lambic 2010
Blueberry sour made with Bug Farm V and hand-picked blueberries from Highland Orchards.

Blueberry Lambic 2011
Same beer, different year.

Red, White, and Blue
An even blend of three lambics: Red Raspberry, White Peach, & Blueberry lambics.

Sour Cherry Quad 2011
This year’s version is unique in that it’s a 75/25 blend of SCQ to 6mo Sour Quad aged in a 60 gallon bourbon barrel with Bug County. The SCQ was fermented with second generation BugFarm V and aged 1yr on 20lbs of sour cherries from Highland Orchards.

Bourbon Barrel Quad
In late 2011 I purchased a 60 gallon bourbon barrel from Victory and filled it with my quad recipe and a whole slew of bugs from East Coast Yeast in the form of Bug County.

Strawberry Bourbon Barrel Aged Quad
The 6mo Bourbon Barrel Quad aged 2mo with fresh strawberries from Highland Orchards.

Sour Cherry Quad 2011: brewer’s blend
To obtain the optimal composition between BBQ and SCQ I needed to taste various blends. Once the optimal blend was achieved there was a decent amount of “leftover” beer. This is a blend of the beer leftover from that blending exercise.

Super Nano Bourbon Barrel Russian Imperial Stout 2010
This huge stout was aged for 9mo in a tiny 3 gallon bourbon barrel from Tuthilltown Distillery in NY.

Great Expectations
An uneven blend of four beers: SNBBRIS 2010, SCQ 2011, BBAQ 2011, S&E RIS 2012.

 

How do I get in on this???? Sounds amazing, ill be there friday through sunday with my wife. Would love to get in, I can definately contribute, not HB, but other rarities. Please BM me if there is any chance of getting in on this.

 

Fear025's liquid pie is incredible, I've also heard great things about a beer they make called Caramel delight

 

While technically not a brewer in the traditional sense, everyone goes ape shit over Uli's blends.

 

The only non-commercial brewer/blender I'm aware of that people will actively seek and trade for is Uli's blends. Otherwise, I'm not sure there are any others.

Homebrew is a lot of fun, though I can't imagine trying to trade any of mine. Wouldn't feel right. I once saw a guy on here trying to pimp and trade his own homebrew for commercially brewed limited releases, which was pretty funny. I would send out my homebrew as extras, but then again, I might as well use that space in the box for more commercial brews. I'd probably only send out homebrew is someone specifically asked me for it.

Jeff

 

Wakefield

 

I usually just send them out as extra extras, or to other homebrewers or people who have asked for it specifically. That being said, I have a really nice lambic aging on organic peaches right now. The peach tree died as soon as I picked them. I am going to name it the short bus. It should summon some walezbro I think.