homebrew Vrs shop beer

[happyhoppytaff]

i had a great party on the weekend. i brewed like crazy over the last few months so i would have enough to go around. (i have a few bottles left) i managed to brew three different beers, all kits, an edme super gold bitter, a geordie ale and a youngs deffinitive bitter.

the edme was the least popular, and was the most expensive kit :shock: it is however my favourite, dry and bitter.

one guest tried my home brew and then opened one of his 'shepards neame' bottles. he quickly moved back to the home brew and stuck with it through the night.

there was a lot of shop beer left the next day.

i tried a shop beer yesterday. a shepards neame bottle i always used to really like, 'master brew'. i couldnt belive the taste. there was a metalic twang. the beer was watery and made me burp a lot almost immediatly. there was no depth of flavour. it was very disapointing.

i havent drunk anything but my own kit brews for months. (although i did try some very nice beers at the welsh beer and cider festival last friday)

i was worried that if i tried shop bottles i would find my kit brews were inferior. now i am very sure that they are not.

home brew rules! :

 

[StubbsPKS]

Love these stories :) Useful to remind everyone why we brew our own rather than buying terrible tasting over-priced "beer" : :

 

[Runwell-Steve]

I have to agree with you there.

I occasionally pick up a bottle of beer when in the supermarket and am usually left very underwhelmed.

I used to enjoy trying different beers from the supermaket, I don't anymore, they mostly all seem so tasteless now I am homebrewing.

When I started homebrew one of my concerns was whether I could produce decent beer or not, or whether buying all the kit would just be a waste of money. Now I walk into a shop and look at a bottle of beer and think, 'I could buy some hops instead of that'. :)

 

[anthonyUK]

Anyone care to mention what shop bought beers they buy.
I cannot believe the sweeping generalisation that they are nearly all rubbish but I agree that some are.
You just need to be selective in your choices.

 

[Runwell-Steve]

I agree not all shop bought beers are rubbish, and perhaps not rubbish at all, but just struggle to compete against some well made homebrew. What's better home made Steak and Kidney pie, or Supermarket finest?

I really like some of the Marble beers, Lagonda and Vuur and Vlam, although Vuur and Vlam is a bit pricey

Some of the Thornbridge beers are good, Jaipur stands out.

Meantime Chocolate is a bit special as well.

There are others, I could name a lot of beers that are nice, however I just find that if you walk into a standard supermarket and look at the bottles on the shelf, they are generally from some of the larger breweries and lack anything really special. I'm not saying they are rubbish, I just don't enjoy them as much as I used to now that I brew my own beer.

It is probably mainly down to economies. I never devise a recipe and hold back on the hops to save money, for the volumes I am making it's not worth it. If my ingredients come to 25 p a pint then I'm happy with that (not that I've ever bothered working it out), a big commercial brewery wouldn't be, they want to reduce cost as much as possible and the result is often a reduction in flavour.

 

[tazuk]

Leffe Brune 0000000000000 yes every time :thumb: :drink: :drink:
black sheep gold mmmmm once you drink this you will not want to drink standard black sheep :drink:
Merrydown Vintage Medium Cider
Abbot Ale Strong Bitter
Ruddles County Premium Ale
Mcewans Champion Ale
Newcastle Brown Ale

 

[Springer]

Keep up the good work, the bought stuff in usually very poor compared to a good home brewed beer, if you are happy now you will be seriously over the moon if you get into all grain brewing. :party:
I have been busy recently on other missiions and am down to my last five bottles of stock, a pedigree clone better, than the proper stuff, according to a "pedi mad mate" and several other reliable tasters.
Price wise my bottles work out at less than 20p, so I will not be paying good money for something very inferior to what I am used to. Whilst I get my act together I will have to go on the wine for a couple of weeks

 

[bungouk]

I agree with you but i'm a lager drinker myslef and i went to the pub and had a pint of carling and carlsberg and kept on saying to my wife that my homebrew was so much full of flavour than the pints i had at pub.

 

[Kev888]

I tend to buy types of beer that I don't brew; its a convenient way of trying new things and increasing the variety a bit. But I do sometimes buy 'premium' beers that are a similar type to mine, to see how mine are comparing.

I don't think that I'm bragging (as I'm sure that I'm far from alone) in thinking the beer I brew regularly is better than the majority on sale, and frankly with all the time, effort and money I spend in brewing it to that level, it needs to be!

But I'm not doing down the commercial breweries here - I almost certainly 'feel' that its better just because I brew specifically to my own personal taste. Objectively theres not much about mine thats of superior quality to the better commercial ales, I've just chosen and done things that suit me better than most.

Cheers
kev

 

[anthonyUK]

I don't think shop bought beer is bad and I'm glad some of you agree it's just that the decent stuff like most things are more expensive so my question was just to gauge that we were comparing like for like.
What I don't get thought is when someone says shop bought beers are no good and then in the same sentence says how they are cloning a commercial brew :wha:

 

[Moley]

one guest tried my home brew and then opened one of his 'shepards neame' bottles. he quickly moved back to the home brew and stuck with it through the night. ...(snip)... i was worried that if i tried shop bottles i would find my kit brews were inferior. now i am very sure that they are not.

As Springer has already said, if you are finding that after brewing kits, just you wait until you try some AG.

I never buy any of the mass produced beers found in every supermarket nowadays, and if I do buy anything it will probably be a bottle conditioned ale because I want to breed on the bottle sediment. Waiting down my cellar at the moment are another Wye Valley DG Golden, a Thwaite's Old Dan, a Worthington White Shield and a Duvel.

 

[dennisking]

I went to a family do last year where the choice was John Smiths or Carling on draught. I really wish I had saved the £30 it cost for 2 taxis and driven to the do. Came away annoyed I was been charged nearly £3 for pure ****.

 

[Moley]

I went to a family do last year where the choice was John Smiths or Carling on draught.

:lol:

I went to a family wedding last year, fairly posh venue, looked left along the bar, looked right, looked at the barman and said “got anything worth drinking?” and fair play to the bloke, he looked straight back and said “Nope, so what can I get you?”.

I started with a pint of Guinness which was far too cold and tasted of nothing in particular, but fortunately I had got a few bottles of homebrew in the minibus (which I didn't have to drive later).

 

[oldbloke]

I buy beer at Costco so it's either the Wychwood selection or the Badger selection, usually. Most of the Badger stuff is only "OK" but better than many commercial brews. I like most of the Wychwoods. Sometimes they have a Marston's selection which I like most of.
But I don't brew beer at home, only the gluten-free pseudo-beer recipes by Duncan Incapable, coz my missus is coeliac. And they're better than most commercial stuff!

Occasionally I'll buy a Thwaites Lancaster Bomber. I used to like Vaux Double Maxim, even after it was being made by Robinsons, but I haven't noticed it for a while.
Leffe and Chimay, obv.

 

[mickthetrick]

I buy beer at Costco so it's either the Wychwood selection or the Badger selection, usually. Most of the Badger stuff is only "OK" but better than many commercial brews. I like most of the Wychwoods. Sometimes they have a Marston's selection which I like most of.
But I don't brew beer at home, only the gluten-free pseudo-beer recipes by Duncan Incapable, coz my missus is coeliac. And they're better than most commercial stuff!

Occasionally I'll buy a Thwaites Lancaster Bomber. I used to like Vaux Double Maxim, even after it was being made by Robinsons, but I haven't noticed it for a while.
Leffe and Chimay, obv.

was at the vaux brewery must be 20 odd year ago now oldbloke and i drank the double maxim. bloody good pint it was.

 

[Sean_Mc]

Good thread and am taking notes of peoples choices of beers to buy whilst at the supermarket.

I could happily just buy Snpa, but at £1.79 for 300ml and with the bottles not worth keeping that's not going to happen.

One of the kitchen cupboards is full of stuff brought by guests for parties and barbies, cider,Guinness, various bitters and lagers.

If the lad tries to nick beer its usually mine, I really shouldn't be happy with that

I'm always asked to bring beer to family shindigs and if I don't bring some stout the Irish brethren now give me a scolding. Always asked to sell my beer, but few have taken up my invite to a five hour day in a cold shed :whistle:

 

[NickSinatra]

Enjoyed reading all the opinions about supermarket ales but, at the same time, feel really jealous....I live in Spain and can't get anything decent..........John Smith's or Newky Brown.....pass!

Please, all have an ace bottle of real ale for me. :

 

[Springer]

As Sean said good thread.

"What I don't get thought is when someone says shop bought beers are no good and then in the same sentence says how they are cloning a commercial brew."

Explanation required here, sorry.
My thinking is that some people tend to be prejudice against home-brew until they have tried it. So clones are a way of getting their interest.
Don't normally do clones but did the pedigree to prove a point to "pedi mad mate", also do a very nice clone, "in the style of Hobgoblin" if you like, but like the Pedi, several tasters said it was better. :?
Like it Den, but don't take the P--s out of John Smiths or Carling, they need all the flavour they can get. :lol:
S

 

[oldbloke]

Enjoyed reading all the opinions about supermarket ales but, at the same time, feel really jealous....I live in Spain and can't get anything decent..........John Smith's or Newky Brown.....pass!

Please, all have an ace bottle of real ale for me. :

Trying to remember if I've seen owt better in Carrefour in Reus, but I think not. There was a half-decent british cider in a tiny we-sell-everything shop in Tres Calles last time we were over. I generally drink Estrella Damm over there.
Console yourself with the decent wine being far far cheaper than it is here.

 

[Sean_Mc]

As Sean said good thread.

Nice to see you posting again S, hope yourself and the dogs are good :thumb: