Looking for that WOW factor - am I falling out of love with beer?

[dad_of_jon]

I am sitting here looking at two glasses, one of them is commercial beer ie Any wychwood beer and the second is one of my own but extract beers that I made (victorian bitter bought from our sponsor - hint hint Brew2Bottle).

As I sit here tasting the commercial beer which I used to love btw, and it just doesn't do it for me any more. It's lost that zeal, that guile that I first had for it and any of its similar cousins. And the same goes for the extract brews too. Very few of them I sit there, brew and drink and think omfg that's just WOW!

So I think it's time I get a divorce and perhaps go all grain in the new year. But what I ask is when I do this, am I gonna get that WOW factor back from all grain brewing or am I just gonna need to be a cheating bytch and rekindle my love of bourbon again?? xD Is it time to start all graining? 3-2-1 GO!

just try a style you've never had? that will confirm or bust your theory

 

[jeg3]

My 45th AG is fermenting currently and I've been doing AG since 2015. I've experimented a lot with stouts, porters, wheats, saisons, speciality christmas brews, and they were all good, but I've since gone back to brewing what I really like and that is pale ales and bitters.

From time to time I get fed up and give it a rest for a while. I didn't brew anything in 2019. I find that when I do come back to it I'm really excited to get going again.

 

[Arcs]

just try a style you've never had? that will confirm or bust your theory

Too set in my ways, I know what I like. More likely to take a punt on the Wethy beers tbh as it costs less time xD

 

[Justin Dean]

all grain is a game changer

 

[foxy]

The 'WOW' factor comes back as you progress, the difference is the 'WOW' will come from your own beers. You will no longer buy commercial or even craft brews, the best beers will be those you make.

 

[Arcs]

Aye, but I am baulking at the price of a brew kettle/pot. Surely I can find one for less than sixty quid. I only need the pot and bag surely. Thermometer's np. I don't want to buy some still or super duper AG kit as I don't have the room. Even if I am brewing short at say 4 gallon end result is fine for me as I don't have a 33l FV.

 

[strange-steve]

You will no longer buy commercial or even craft brews, the best beers will be those you make.

No offence but this is nonsense. If you limit yourself to drinking only your own homebrew then of course it'll be the best beer you taste, by definition however it will also be the worst. Why would you close your mind to the vast world of beer that exists out there, and yet still be confident that your own is better.
I've said before, if your homebrew is better than anything you buy then you're either the best brewer in the world or you're buying the wrong beers.

 

[Milesey]

You haven't developed hop tolerance from drinking too many lovely hoppy brews have you?

I think hops are like heroin and you have to keep increasing the dosage to keep getting that wow factor.

But yeah, go AG. It is awesome and you will make awesome beers.

More crack coke I’d say

 

[obscure]

You haven't developed hop tolerance from drinking too many lovely hoppy brews have you?

I think hops are like heroin and you have to keep increasing the dosage to keep getting that wow factor.

But yeah, go AG. It is awesome and you will make awesome beers.

I would say you can also go the opposite direction Scotch Ales, Milds, etc where it’s all about the malt with only very small amounts of hops. After drinking large amounts of very hoppy beers during the Summer a pint of Heavy reminded me that their is far more to beer than just hops.

 

[foxy]

No offence but this is nonsense. If you limit yourself to drinking only your own homebrew then of course it'll be the best beer you taste, by definition however it will also be the worst. Why would you close your mind to the vast world of beer that exists out there, and yet still be confident that your own is better.
I've said before, if your homebrew is better than anything you buy then you're either the best brewer in the world or you're buying the wrong beers.

On the contrary, I have imbibed many beers over the years, my fridge was often stocked with various Samuel Smiths and Hook Norton beers, etc, though I still go out and have a beer, I have long since stopped stocking takeaways. The best thing about home brew is you can improve to ones own taste those beers which one enjoys. For instance I prefer a bitter hop finish which I can produce easily, some may like a more malty finish it all comes down to being able to replicate the beers one once enjoyed from the bottle o and just tweaking them to ones own perception of taste. To me that is what home brewing is all about.

 

[strange-steve]

The best thing about home brew is you can improve to ones own taste those beers which one enjoys.

I'm not a good enough brewer to improve on the best commercial beers I've tasted unfortunately.

 

[foxy]

Keep trying you will get there.

 

[MagnusTS]

I still think that a short break, or just a change, helps to reset the wow factor. I come back to a drink I've not had for a while and I notice flavours more and remember why I loved it. Just thought I'd post this cos I am drinking a glass of cheap red wine (first red wine since last Christmas) and it tastes amazing. With all this beer, I'd forgotten how much i like wine.
Cheers!

 

[Arcs]

No offence but this is nonsense. If you limit yourself to drinking only your own homebrew then of course it'll be the best beer you taste, by definition however it will also be the worst. Why would you close your mind to the vast world of beer that exists out there, and yet still be confident that your own is better.
I've said before, if your homebrew is better than anything you buy then you're either the best brewer in the world or you're buying the wrong beers.

Or perhaps, what you haven't considered is that I have been traversing through the extract beers that are out there and not been best pleased with their outcome. Sure, there are times or have been that I've thought OMG that's awesome, without pimping them to sh... But I have been brewing for 2 years now. Brewing extract beer is kinda boring as I can do it on autopilot now lol. Thus it's time to AG =)

 

[Arcs]

I still think that a short break, or just a change, helps to reset the wow factor. I come back to a drink I've not had for a while and I notice flavours more and remember why I loved it. Just thought I'd post this cos I am drinking a glass of cheap red wine (first red wine since last Christmas) and it tastes amazing. With all this beer, I'd forgotten how much i like wine.
Cheers!

I get my break by going to the pub. Unfortunately I am mostly not hungry when I want to go to the pub. Heaven for some, but I like to move around Liverpool and there's plenty of craft ale to try around my city centre if you wanna walk around to find it. Especially in the Ship and Mitre in town.

I am tending to find that WOW factor atm in brewing meads because of the unknown factor. And that it muddles my wits rofl. I'd brew a Saison if I knew what it tasted like (if someone wants to sell me one and I'll pay teh postage then contact me).

Seriously though, this pandemic has done wonders for my pocket. I barely spend any money on beer now and because of that I am getting more things done at home =)

But yea, AG is the way to go for me now. I've a whole book for 1970's recipe's to go through which once I get the hang of it, there'll be some nice reading here from my posts xD

 

[Arcs]

I'm not a good enough brewer to improve on the best commercial beers I've tasted unfortunately.

Aye, you will get there. Quite often I've been to the pub and thought my beer is better than theirs. I am not showing off, it's just that extract beer is so easy to get right and more often than not it usually is better than alot of commercial beers out there depending on what you are brewing. That shouldn't be hard to achieve considering you only did the final bit of the work =)

 

[Arcs]

I do have to say though, brewing meads, lawl!!! So easy, so many different recipe's and experiments to be had which == fun! No ordering from sponsors, supermarket ingredients and good to go. It does require much more patience. But it is worth it if you brew en masse xD

 

[Sandimas]

I'm going to go against the grain(!) here and say that AG is not necessarily better than Extract. Yes you can brew a far greater variety of beers using different malts, but a simple brew Extract is right up there quality-wise.

When I moved over to AG I was disappointed. When I started brewing, I skipped the kit brewing stage and went straight to Extract, which I stuck with for years, I then took the plunge with AG BIAB and was a bit underwhelmed as my Extract beers were so good and I couldn't really justify the extra time vs little perceived improvement in quality. I've stuck with it, but I'm yet to be convinced that AG is so much better than Extract.

With your Extract brews do you do a reduced-volume boil? If so, do you add extra hops to compensate? I only picked up on this late on and it made a big difference to me beers, there's a good calculator online IBU Calculator Beer Bitterness - Brewer's Friend

I reckon 70-80% of my beers are better than those I can buy in a pub, but I still come across commercial ones that blow me out of the water. One local ale in particular, Uley Old Spot, I've been trying to clone it for years but not even got close, they do somersetting very special with that beer.

 

[strange-steve]

Keep trying you will get there.

I don't think so but that's OK. Even if I did I would keep buying beer. A Michelin starred chef will still eat in other restaurants.

I'm going to go against the grain(!) here and say that AG is not necessarily better than Extract.

I would probably agree with that. The best of show winner at the INHC competition a few years back was an extract brew.

 

[Arcs]

I'm going to go against the grain(!) here and say that AG is not necessarily better than Extract. Yes you can brew a far greater variety of beers using different malts, but a simple brew Extract is right up there quality-wise.

When I moved over to AG I was disappointed. When I started brewing, I skipped the kit brewing stage and went straight to Extract, which I stuck with for years, I then took the plunge with AG BIAB and was a bit underwhelmed as my Extract beers were so good and I couldn't really justify the extra time vs little perceived improvement in quality. I've stuck with it, but I'm yet to be convinced that AG is so much better than Extract.

With your Extract brews do you do a reduced-volume boil? If so, do you add extra hops to compensate? I only picked up on this late on and it made a big difference to me beers, there's a good calculator online IBU Calculator Beer Bitterness - Brewer's Friend

I reckon 70-80% of my beers are better than those I can buy in a pub, but I still come across commercial ones that blow me out of the water. One local ale in particular, Uley Old Spot, I've been trying to clone it for years but not even got close, they do somersetting very special with that beer.

I have experimented and pimped to hell. It is as you say very hit and miss. I use harvested Voss Kveik mainly, not that it should matter. Yes I have used other yeasts. But what I am saying here is I guess that I am getting used to what I am drinking and what I am drinking is good sh.. I guess I am like a spoiled baby throwing his rattle out of the pram hehe. I used to think plum porter by the liverpool brewing company was awesome but not any more. Like I said, spoiled for choice, the beer taste and brew is as good as it lasts until the next fad/beer =)