The made it myself effect.

Sounds to me like you are a perfectionist and you haven't brewed that perfect beer yet, or you don't recognize perfection when you drink it. Ease up a bit.

 

I feel the other way around. I can be very critical of my own beers and food but when I nail it I enjoy that beer more than an equivalent beer somebody else made.

If that's how you feel then why brew at all? Seems like you would be happier sinking your money into purchasing beers that you will gain maximum enjoyment from.

 

I agree. Although better to be overly critical it it leads to better and better beer in the long run. The flip side is what Ray Daniels refers to as being "cellar blind" where everything you make is great regardless the obvious flaws.

 

I definitely agree about the cooking syndrom. 100 times out of a hundred a meal cooked by someone else tastes better. I'm usually pretty happy with my beers, however, I consume them pretty fast and they are usually hitting their stride just as the keg is spitting at me.

 

Sounds like you need to get some friends over to help drink you brew. When you run out completely, and only have commercial beer on hand, I'll bet you would miss the homemade stuff.

You could also try brewing some funky stuff, or maybe a mead?

 

I'm the same way; overall, I feel like my beer isn't as good as friends say it is. However, I usually give the benefit of the doubt to friends' homebrews. Perhaps just a weird humility thing?

 

With 100 liters on hand it's time to have a beer tasting. Whip up some simple ores de hoevres and throw a good SST ( super sonic twister) where everybody can enjoy your home brew on hand. This will give you a great basis for which direction to take your future brewing pursuit. You know not how much your hard work in your brewing will be appreciated.

 

Brewing shouldn't be the same as cooking, I think. When you cook, you've been "in" it the whole time: you've done any pre-cooking preparation (chopping, whatever), done the cooking where your nose has been in it, your hands have been in it, you've been doing the work, even tasting a bit here and there, so that when the final eating comes around, your senses are "dulled" or something and it doesn't seem as good as it really is. Curious, but I agree with the others who think you're your own worst critic.

 

If you do throw a tasting party, maybe you can ask people to write comments down for each beer anonymously? Stress that you're looking for ways to improve your beer and maybe folks will be more honest with you.

 

I am pretty tough on my self also. I still buy commercial beer as well but would prefer to drink my own. My problem is my reserves are low. Good luck with your dilemma.

 

I've felt the same way about my homebrews often. For me, it comes down to the following:

1. I've always been a tough critic. It's the only way to avoid cellar blindness.

2. I've been fortunate enough to have plenty of world class commercial beers (including lots of whales of exceptional quality) so that is the bar I'm always aiming for and rarely achieving.

3. I've become a bit complacent with respect to my general approach / technique on brew day, as it's fairly locked in. That means my resulting beers are tending to be of similar quality. I need to look for ways to improve my approach / technique if I want my quality to improve.

4. I've become a bit complacent with respect to recipe formulation, knowing that my general recipe formation sensibility tends to make very good beer. Rarely do I make a beer that isn't very good, however it is probably equally or only a little less rare that I make a beer that is truly excellent. When I go to the craft beer bar and drink readily available commercial beers, I find that most of them are good, few are very good, and rarely do any stand out as truly excellent. So I'd say my homebrews are as good or better than most readily available commercial brews. I need to start to repeat more recipes and really make an effort to dial them in rather than always brewing new styles or using new malt bill combo's / hop bill combo's.

5. While I obviously study, know a good amount about brewing, and have a passion for making great beer, I still find myself not being completely anal retentive about the hobby. If I was, I'm sure that most of my BJCP comp entries (which tend to score in the 32 - 42 range) would start scoring in the 36 - 46 range.

 

I completely agree. I've told people that ask me jokingly if I'll ever open a brewery that the quickest way to ruin a hobby is to make it a job. For me personally, I think that being overly anal retentive at some point would have a similar effect. At the end of the brewday (or over time) if you are more stressed, it may not be the best hobby.

 

I'm picking up some multiple personality problems here . Let's break this down into manageable solutions:

1. IMO your personal bias will never let you accurately evaluate your own beer by just quaffing. To truly judge your beer try tasting it blind (need a trusted pourer). Pour two samples of your beer and two of top-rated commercial beers of the same style, if different colors use an opaque glass or put on a blind-fold (here's why the trusted poured is needed). Let your tastebuds give the score, not your pre-determined opinions.
2. Have your friends take the same test as above, but don't tell them what they are drinking. Give them multiple samples of yours and commercial, then maybe two commercials or two homebrews so they can't game the system. My unsophisticated drinking friends always try and describe the beer with high-flautin terms they don't understand . . . sort of like putting lipstick on a pig, it just doesn't come out pretty. Insist they describe which ones taste the best, don't ask for BJCP-style feedback. Randomly pour 3/1 samples to keep them on their toes and have the trusted pourer do the same to you.
3. Nothing wrong with buying commercial . . . but complaining about 100 liters of good beer sitting around may require more help than this humble brewer can offer . . .

 

Enter competitions. Its worth the price tag for professional advice.

 

One possibility is that your beers are meh, compared to commercial beers, because you are not as good as they are at keeping oxygen out. Oxygen is one if the causes of meh.

 

Mash pH as well.

 

I don't think of mash pH as impacting flavor, generally. More about enzymatic conversion, to my mind. But pH of the finished beer is another matter. And there are other water chemistry elements that can be important here, too.

 

Mash pH is somewhat of a precursor to final pH though.