Naming Your Brew

Nothing really matters, anyone can see. Nothing really matters to me.
I use song names and/or lyrics.

 

you'll have better luck with names that's aren't puns. Pretty sure every hop pun has been used.

 

I try to use rock album/ song names also. With some 2000 (?) breweries now very hard to come up with original names. Pretty sure my Endless Summer APA and Goodnight Vienna(lager) have been used before, someplace. Unless you're trying to sell'em, nobody is going to hassle you.

 

Except hoppy ending. No one has ever used that.

 

It depends on my mood. I usually go for a god or goddess from a pagan religion that embodies the attributes of the beer. Asteria, the goddess of darkness, was my last imperial stout. Lucifer, aka the morning star, was my last brett (last forever) beer. My hoppy beers are all part of operation KUSH.
edit, a local homebrewer won a comp and the brewery who was supposed to brew his beer for GABF pro am backed out on brew day. He entered a slew of beers into that brewery's homebrew comp and named them some hillariously evil names. Most of the beers medaled, and the beers were named things like "breweryx can lick my balls" and "breweryx are full of shit". Every beer that medalled got its name read at the winner ceremony. It was a pretty ingenious way to get his story out to the rest of the homebrew community.

 

I call it beer. For friends of high sophistication, I call it ale.

 

Ha! The hop pun of all hop puns. Ever look on untapped under that name? There are so many.

 

I used to name most of my beers and create a full page label (with stolen images off the web) with all of the stats on it and magnet it to the fridge or kegerator, but I haven't really done that in a while. When I started to brew more and more, I just found it silly and a waste of time...I guess it seemed to me like I was doing it more for my friends to see (I guess it made me feel more like a real brewery) and less for myself. I finally realized I didn't need their validation of my beers, I enjoyed and was very satisfied with my brews and that is all I needed. Now that I brew even more often and keep more beers on tap, I don't have as much time to waste when it comes to brewing and thinking about brewing, like I did when I only had 2 on tap, idle hands and the desire to always think about things related to brewing (especially trivial things) because I couldn't always be brewing. I'll still name a beer on occasion, just on paper, but only if its hits me for some reason...and I don't make a label anymore. I'd rather the focus be on the beer and its ingredients than some catchy name, so I usually just refer to it as its prominent ingredient, especially the hops in my IPAs.

If you do name your beers regularly, who cares if you name them the same name as an already existing commercial brew, as long as its not a widely popular and known name. Its not like it matters and the existing commercial brewery is going to come sue you...you arent a real brewery and they definitely don't see a first time homebrewer as a threat to their brand and name. Whatever you do, do it for yourself and who cares what others think!

 

You sing to your beer, do `ya?

 

This has been around a while. http://www.strangebrew.ca/beername.php
I try to google names I come up with. If they are taken, it's easier to adjust so it's more original if you know what it can't be.

 

I enjoy naming my brews and always try to make sure they are unique... Come from shows, music, different languages, etc...

Beast Incarnate (DIPA)
Critical Acclaim (APA)
Cryptic (Smoked Robust Porter)
Jaro Pils (Bohemian Pilsner) - Jaro is Czech for "spring"
Prime Time Porter (Porter)
The Mighty Boosh (Cream Ale)
Puppy Love (Hefeweizen)
Wee-Wee See! (Hefeweizen)
Creature (Milk Stout)

And I have a 12%+ RIS aging right now that will be called "Waking the Fallen".

Just part of the fun!

 

The mighty boosh cream ale? How about a good homebrew crimp?

 

Most of my beers end up getting called "IPA with Simcoe" or "English Mild Version 2", but occasionally I'll get super duper creative and call a beer "Spaceman Red Ale" if it happens to be a red IPA with space-themed hops (galaxy, apollo... and cascade)

 

(Willie) Nelson Stardust was my last nelson sauvin/galaxy IPA.

 

They don't criticize my falsetto. They don't talk back. They love what I love.

 

The more you drink the better you sound.

 

There's an 'amber smashed face' by 3F (collab with Cannibal Corpse) so you came close!

I'd try to avoid the 'pun' names as much as possible, they're starting to annoy me - names like 'Ready Set Gose' and 'How Rye Am I?"