Home Brew in comparison....

[Brewnaldo]

My interest in home brewing comes primarily from A) a need for a hobby, and B) my love of creating things from scratch in terms of food and drink. So not neccesarily from being a massive beer guy.

My question is....

From as unbiased a point of view as you can, how do you guys rate what you make in comparison to their commercial counterparts and what stands out in particular as beating shop-bought hands down?

How to kits compare? How does all grain compare? What about wine kits or turbo cider/cider kits?

I know this might seem a daft question in the context of being on a brewers forum, but just looking for everyones opinion... If Guiness was a middle of the road 5/10, where does your favourite stout recipe that you slaved over stand?

 

[druid1966]

Like making foods...some are better than others. Some beer I make is better than store bought by a long shot..others...well...you know. I made a few stouts (my fav) that are great.....and some were average. that's the nature of the beast....and what keeps bringing me back.

 

[foxy]

My interest in home brewing comes primarily from A) a need for a hobby, and B) my love of creating things from scratch in terms of food and drink. So not neccesarily from being a massive beer guy.

My question is....

From as unbiased a point of view as you can, how do you guys rate what you make in comparison to their commercial counterparts and what stands out in particular as beating shop-bought hands down?

How to kits compare? How does all grain compare? What about wine kits or turbo cider/cider kits?

I know this might seem a daft question in the context of being on a brewers forum, but just looking for everyones opinion... If Guiness was a middle of the road 5/10, where does your favourite stout recipe that you slaved over stand?

By comparison and knowing when you have passed the bench mark of the commercial beers when you lose all interest in buying any commercial beers, there is just no point.
All grain is definitely better than kits though I have tasted some good kit beers, all grain gives you more scope in what you are trying to achieve. When it comes to stouts the world is your oyster, there are so many variables with the additions you can make. Apart from the usual Dry, Oatmeal, Milk it is up to your imagination for what you can come up with.

 

[Gerryjo]

My interest in home brewing comes primarily from A) a need for a hobby, and B) my love of creating things from scratch in terms of food and drink. So not neccesarily from being a massive beer guy.

My question is....

From as unbiased a point of view as you can, how do you guys rate what you make in comparison to their commercial counterparts and what stands out in particular as beating shop-bought hands down?

How to kits compare? How does all grain compare? What about wine kits or turbo cider/cider kits?

I know this might seem a daft question in the context of being on a brewers forum, but just looking for everyones opinion... If Guiness was a middle of the road 5/10, where does your favourite stout recipe that you slaved over stand?

Seems more like a survey TBH.

 

[The Baron]

Yeah add a survey say what percentage of yours beers are better than commercial how many are as good ans how many lower. Say over 70% over40% under 40% or something similar kit or all grain

 

[Brewnaldo]

Leave that with me guys! I require amusement when on nighshift so I will figure that out tonight!!

To be honest though as the concept is a dive into the unknown for me and I have mever had any pals or that who do it I really just wanted to know what kind of standard I could hope to one day reach

 

[Oneflewover]

Leave that with me guys! I require amusement when on nighshift so I will figure that out tonight!!

To be honest though as the concept is a dive into the unknown for me and I have mever had any pals or that who do it I really just wanted to know what kind of standard I could hope to one day reach

It's so subjective though isn't it? I was in the pub the other night and had a pint that was alright, but I was thinking that I could do / have done better. Others would probably disagree - after all, I brew the beer I like to my tastes......

 

[The Baron]

I think a lot of the AG-ers will and I include myself be able to make comparable and better ales on a reasonably regular basis with the odd one not so good. Some of the kits are well acceptable too and there are a few that can mod them and improve them to high standards too so will be interesting

 

[Brewnaldo]

Absolutely. I guess I was just looking for a point of reference really for how the more seasoned brewers see it

 

[The Baron]

I mean against average pub beers and not speciality craft beers

 

[An Ankoù]

Leave that with me guys! I require amusement when on nighshift so I will figure that out tonight!!

To be honest though as the concept is a dive into the unknown for me and I have mever had any pals or that who do it I really just wanted to know what kind of standard I could hope to one day reach

Commercial beer is essentially homebrew on a grand scale except that the move from homebrew to commercial needs to factor in the need to sell the product at a profit, and consistency. The first means that costs have to be carefully controlled and the second means that you can't really change the flavour of the product you're marketing even if you've come up with an improvement. So as a home brewer you have more scope than most commercial breweries.
There's nothing, good or bad, that commercial breweries can do that the home brewer can't do.

Edit: Except make lambic using the natural yeasts that fall from the rafters into your coolship. I gather that's not what we're talking about.

 

[Harbey]

From what you're saying about your motivations, I'd say you're definitely going to want to go down the all grain route rather than kits. That said, if you don't really drink beer then I'd be a bit cautious about investing much.

As for the standard you can achieve, it will take some time but you can certainly achieve as good and better than a lot of supermarket bought beers. My sons no longer drink shop bought beer as they think mine is better. That said, I'm not going to pretend that I can get near to the standards of some of the more speciality beers which are out there.

If you do take the plunge though, it is a very absorbing and quite exciting hobby if you're the creative type. I'm forever dreaming up new ideas for brews and I'm only limited by time, space in the brew fridge, and capacity to get through all the beer.

 

[Brewnaldo]

From what you're saying about your motivations, I'd say you're definitely going to want to go down the all grain route rather than kits. That said, if you don't really drink beer then I'd be a bit cautious about investing much.

As for the standard you can achieve, it will take some time but you can certainly achieve as good and better than a lot of supermarket bought beers. My sons no longer drink shop bought beer as they think mine is better. That said, I'm not going to pretend that I can get near to the standards of some of the more speciality beers which are out there.

If you do take the plunge though, it is a very absorbing and quite exciting hobby if you're the creative type. I'm forever dreaming up new ideas for brews and I'm only limited by time, space in the brew fridge, and capacity to get through all the beer.

I should clarify... I am not heavily into a lot of the craft beer type styles. I love drinking lager and would love to be ablento elevate it past whats generally available. I also like a stout. I will learn other styles too tho and with that its likely that I will emd up liking them.

Its no big deal if I dont like things I make though. I get plenty enjoyment out of other people enjoying stuff.

 

[Duxuk]

Approaching the 150 batches mark I've just about reached the point where my beers are better than almost all bottled pale ales I could buy. There's something about a draught beer that is harder to match, though it could be psychological since you're in a pub when you drink itI left my techniques the same for long periods in my 150 batch run. I let myself be too satisfied with my beers being good when I should have been seeking great. Hindsight now informs me that I should have been insistent on constant improvements.
Kit beers can be better than average and malt extract with steeped grains and hop additions like an AG can be fantastic, though more expensive and with less control of some aspects. We can all make drain cleaner from time to time