Do you brew better brews?

I voted sometimes because I'm not going to kid myself. If I had to break my beers down, I'd say ~50% are as good or better than commerical, ~40% are ok but could be better, and the rest (one batch a year or so) I'm not very happy with at all. Drinkable sure but as I'm critical of my beers, I'd say they have some flaws. My latest that fits that category is a bock. IMO it is to sweet and caramelly in flavor. I probably used too much crystal (9%) and mashed too high. On top of that it finished at 1.022 instead of ~1.017.

 

If I ever brewed the same beer twice I am pretty confident that I could brew a beer better than almost any commercial example. As it is now, I think I make beer better than 90% of the commercial beers out there. I mostly brew sour beers now. I am not near the level of Cantillon, but probably better than most smaller breweries that only dabble in the occasional sour.

 

I interpret "yes" as "pretty much all the time", and "sometimes" as "once in a while to 1/2 the time". The other 3 choices all say "no" to me.
I'm not trying to be conceited, but I do think that my regular efforts (not experimental batches) taste better to me than almost all commercial examples of the styles. But since I brew to my tastes, it makes sense, no? I'm positive that some folks would find flaws in them, but for me they represent years of tweaking to fit my palate and are nearing perfection. Although I share the vast majority of what I make, this hobby is definitly a selfish one as I only make what I like.

 

Guess I read it differently. It's arbitrary, but I would interpret 'I brew better beers than the name brands' to mean 'my beers are world class.' In competition terms (for example), that would mean never scoring below 45. So far, I haven't met anyone who can say that.

 

Myself and most of my homebrew club all seem to be our own worst critics, as far as I have noticed. But, I vote yes on this poll for a couple of reasons. I think my average homebrews are as good as any average commercial brand. I think my amazing homebrews are just as good as amazing commercial beers, but fewer and farther between (since I only brew so often). With all of that said, I don't buy average brands for the most part since my homebrew is much cheaper and just as good (or better), but I do buy some of my favorites (Furious) and special beers (Abrasive) often to taste and try new things. Since I am using Surly as an example: Bender is my wifes favorite beer (this time of the year), but she much prefers my homebrewed brown ale right now of Bender...

 

i have tried maui's coconut porter, and liked it. it was an extra in a trade and about 8 months old, so i'm not sure if its coconut flavor died down at all (i know the coconut in my beer died down after a few months). haven't tried kona, maybe will grab a single in a mixed 6pack next time i'm buying beer (at the moment, i have more beer than space...).

thanks for the witbier compliment, i'll try to send more good homebrews in future trades.

 

I think it's important to say that even if it isn't up to commercial quality all the time, I enjoy my homebrews as much, or MORE than commercial brew. I created it and that goes a long way for the palate, even if the beer isn't stellar. Most of us have done something stupid along the way or done an experimental beer that we pawn off on our friends.

 

Ever been to a mediocre local brewpub and thought "Wow, its better than BMC but by no ways great." I have to say, many of mine are better than those mediocre brewpubs, but not as great as some of the Bells, Founders, 3F, and other great commercial and reliable breweries.

 

Kind of depends...do I brew beers that are better than a great commercial brewery's claim-to-fame regular or special limited seasonals that get the utmost time, care, and attention of the pro-brewer? Nope, probably not. Are my beers better than the standard lineup of your average regional microbrewery? Yes, sometimes they are. Sometimes, though, I fuck up a batch. I can't even approach the level of repeatability or consistency that a pro brewer can achieve on a dialed in pro system, but I stumble on something beautifully crafted now and again. I give my beers to beer geeks and ask for real, honest critiques...they tell me about off-flavors sometimes, and sometimes they say, "dude, that's amazing."

 

I brewed a double IPA (from recipe) that was incredible. It was an extract beer, not all grain, but it was delicious. One of the best DIPAs I have had. The only down side was there was a ton of sediment in the bottles.

But besides that not yet. hoping to get there at some point.

 

Some of the best beers I've ever tasted we're my own creations. As we're some of the worst. I can definitely brew better beers than the commercial beers that are widely available ...just not consistently. It's kind of like homemade chocolate chip cookies. Mrs Fields' are consistently good. But my favorites are the occasional mind blowing batch made at home. but not every batch blows my mind, for whatever reason.

 

Depends. When I first started...hell no. 9 years later I make some what I consider good beer. Not all styles are equal in terms of quality, but pro brewers have enjoyed what I make. Everything I make now is better than anything made by Shityard. For example.

But it wasn't always that way, I don't enter competitions so I can't really say I'm the most awesomeist brewer evar. I'd say pretty much everything I make is B+ or better and those that are in the B+ range I'm working on improving.

90% of brewing is cleaning, procedure, fermentation temp control and your packaging methods + storing. 10% is recipe design.

 

I'll add a vote for a buddy of mine. He is a brewer at a well known brewery but I'll have to say that his homebrews are some of the best beers I've ever had. Something about the small batches brings some amazing flavors that I've never had in even the best of the best. Maybe it's the experience that makes me biased but he's a damn good brewer.

 

I don't brew better beer - I just brew better suited to my taste beer.

 

People who think homebrewers can't make better beer than commercial breweries probably don't really understand the actual brewing process. Believe me, its possible.

I have made some bad ones, but also some good ones. Its a constant learning process and there are a lot of variables.

I was once told by the brewer at a very well known local brewery that my freshhop beer was better than theirs was.
That was a confidence booster.

And then I enter a different beer in a competition and fail miserably

 

Better? No way. But that's not really the point.

 

Yeah, I think a "usually" option would be helpful here. I didn't vote, but that's what I would prefer to select, meaning that I think the beers I brew are usually better than the *average* craft beer in that category. I haven't made anything I would consider to be world class along the lines of Hill Farmstead, Three Floyds, Founders, Russian River, etc. However, I think mine are better than a sizable majority of beers that I get as random extras and plenty of brewpubs that I've visited.

Those statements add up to a lot of caveats, but I didn't actually vote in the poll, so I'm good with defining my own parameters

 

I would say this is the case for me as well. I am not going to kid myself and say i brew close to the likes of Founders or Sierra but mine are more often than not very drinkable and others seem to like them. I've been to many brewpubs that serve adequate beer at best (for whatever reason) and i would put mine up against some of them.

 

As I said, some of the best beers I've tasted were mine. Similarly, some of the best steaks, chops, soups, breads, etc I've tasted were mine. I'm not sure what the point is if you can't do it better than 'they' can, at least occasionally (consistency is the key to their success, IMO). Theirs is more consistent, but the occasional home run I hit with beer, steak, cookies, bread, or whatever makes the effort worthwhile. Otherwise, I'm just saving money -- not nearly enough motivation for me. If mine didn't have the demonstrable potential to be better than what I can get elsewhere, I likely wouldn't do it.