Don't F it up Homebrewers!

[DaYooper]

http://www.corkscapsandtaps.com/?p=1967

Of course, this most certainly does not refer to anyone on THIS forum!!!

About time to head out to the LHBS so I can improve on Blue Moon for SWMBO tomrrow. I promise <to try> and not F it up.

[Brewbirds]

Interesting.

I've seen a few posts in the beer review thread where commercial/craft brews were not well received.

Since I'm not there and only have the article to go by I would say it came off a bit harsh in my interpretation of the way it read.

I'd think they would be trying to encourage new micros to enter more competitions or they would offer tastings or something like that to give the new guys feed back on the bad stuff they find and advise on how to improve instead of saying "don't F it up" or "you are giving the rest of us a bad name".

It doesn't seem like a very proactive or positive approach for an industry association to take; I wonder if they are actually somewhat alarmed by the numbers of new start ups and find it beneficial to try and discourage some of them?

In the mean time I will be doing my best to make better beers at home and aspire to nothing grander.

EDIT TO ADD: I just went off to look for a copy of The Austin Beer Guide and couldn't find the one I wanted.
There was an article/interview from the owner of one of the craft beer pubs in town and the whole ting on his mind was how he trained his staff to serve and care for the draft beers they served. He was fanatic about getting them to keep the beer lines properly cleaned etc. so that there were no off flavors coming from their "system".

I respect that he recognizes that if the hygiene/cleaning/sanitation at his place was not good it could reflect badly on the brewer.

I think if I wanted to try a new beer I might want to get a bottle instead of a glass on tap just so I knew I was reviewing the beer and not the pub's possible flaws.

[Chuck N]

I don't know. I've been kind of thinking lately that the beer market is starting to get a little over saturated. And it's not that are so many breweries. To me it's that there are so many breweries that are trying to become so big so rapidly. How many years did it take for Sam Adams to become the national brand that it is? Or Sierra Nevada? And some of the other "big guys" in the micro brew market? And now it seems we've got all these small brands - way too many to list here - trying to imitate that success and do it over night. So there are going to be some corners cut in the process.

But, as I've said before, I'm a simple man. And all this "outside labs to do bacteria counts" stuff is something that I, with my very limited knowledge, don't see as necessary. Just make good beer - beer that tastes, smells and feels good - and start it out as a local brew. Build it up from there as a regional brew, etc. Baby steps. To me that's how it's done.

[berryman]

Good post Chuck. I myself just like to make and drink my beer and have no aspirations of doing anything else ($hit I still mostly extract brew with a few BIAB partials) I like the beers I make and my friends like it, but I would never consider thinking I could/would go to a commercial scale. There are a lot of good home brewers that could do it though and I think what the guy said "Don’t f*ck it up.” is a little harsh and discouraging for those that want to try to make a go of it. I don't like that type of attitude from someone that should try and help to encourage people.

[woody]

as far as brewing to sell gos , its not my bag, but I have tasted a lot of small breweries beer and although some are vary good , what I find is that my brews are on the most part are better then 1/2 of there's. Now I'm talking about the real small guys. I made a porter that was so good I have yet to find one out there that holds a candle. the other day I had a beer that came from one of the small guys and after drinking it cold and then warm, found that if I had made it I would not serve it to anyone. Its a good thing I never have to dump a bad batch over 5 gals. don't know what I would do if I messed up 500 gals at a time.

[jimjohson]

think I'd loose the will to live.

[mashani]

As you know, at least many of you, I like sours, and a good Berliner or Flanders Red is just my thing in the summer.

But there is a local micro here that makes beers that I will not mention by name which intentionally allows their beer to get infected with local wild bugs (vs. a commercial bug farm type of yeast) in open fermenters. Unfortunately, this is not Flanders, and the wild bugs here in general do not make the best sours. And they bottle their wild beers young, not aged for 1-2 years.

The beers taste OK if you drink them from a fresh keg on tap at the brewery if you go on a beer tour. That's how they would be consumed exclusively in Europe if made like this, within weeks of fermentation - a nice light bodied fresh sour can be fun. But beyond fresh, yet not aged well, in the bottle they get into that sour beer territory where its all disjointed, flavors do not mesh, sour is strong, vinegary, and unpleasant. And they use bittering hops too heavy handedly for sour beers quite often.

I personally think they give sour beer a bad name, and they are an example of what this article is describing.

[DaYooper]

A place by me does a pretty good job with managing risk, although if you are an outside you might not understand it. He has his standard brews that have been perfected on tap, and once a week (or every other week) he has some small batch cask brews he brings out for a tasting. Some are better than others but most people understand that they are experiments that he is sharing with the patrons. If something gets a strong reception it may get put on the standard rotation. I think many places are trying to be unique for the sake of being unique whereas others have not learned how to be consistent.

[Funky Skunk Brewing]

I think many places are trying to be unique for the sake of being unique whereas others have not learned how to be consistent.

Great comment right there. I see many breweries trying to do something all the time over the top or so unique they have nothing to cater to the every day patron that comes into their brewery/brew pub. It's great to experiment, get creative and discover something new and interesting. However, you still have to have your main stays or you'll be out of business rather quickly.