Before I get into a bit of a story here. I want to know: What was the best homebrew beer you have ever made and why!?
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I have brewed approximately 40 batch of homebrew and I am on a quest to replicate the best homebrew I ever made. I think mine has a lot to do with personal taste but it was Patersbier all grain kit from NB. This is funny because I dont really care for belgians. But this beer didnt have that phenolic flavor.
I just finished my brew day and this will be the 4th time I’ve brewed it. The first time it was awesome (the best) except not all the bottles carbed up. Second time it was way too Belgiany, third time I tried using US-05 and it was less flavorful than a Coors Light. I am a little worried this time around because my yeast packs were pretty old (May) so I made a starter, but didnt see any activity in it before I pitched. (I brew 2.5g batches so I dont usually make a starter).
Anyways wish me luck, and What is the best Homebrew you have ever made?
The best beer I ever made was a honey pilsner. It was a total PITA since it was my first time lagering. (Not an easy feat in AZ) But, it turned out great! I will try again this January. I am celebrating my first year of home brewing this Christmas, so hopefully many more great beers in my future.
Good luck with this next go around! What type of yeast did you use this go around?
I’m still at the point where I’m mainly experimenting with recipe ideas and haven’t gotten around to trying to really nail down a perfect version of any of them yet. With that said, I think my best brew yet was my Hoptoberfest that I brewed this summer. It’s basically the grain bill from Jamil’s Ofest recipe in BCS, but loaded with late and dry hops. I was really happy with how well the lager yeast worked in such a hoppy beer. I will definitely be exploring some hopped-up lagers this winter.
I’ll drink to that! That’s what keeps me so excited about this hobby.
For me it’s the last one(most of the time). The next one will be a little better.
The porter I’m drinking right now is pretty damn fantastic, the rye stout I have in the fermentor tasted excellent when I took a sample, and the Belgian strong dark ale I brewed 18 months ago and is sitting in a keg in the garages should be amazing by now. They are all my children and I love them equally for their different talents and shortcomings.
I’m not sure how to gauge the “best”…I had a Weihenstaphener style lager this summer that went in less than 2 hours for a 5 gallon keg with about 8 people drinking, so that was probably my most “popular”. The best may have been Denny’s Rye IPA - it didn’t go as quickly, but it sure got a lot of compliments.
By the way, Thanks, Denny! Keep up the good work and legacy. Between you and Jamil and Gordon, I really don’t have to think much on the recipe front and I can just keep dialing in the system…
My best was an extract Happy Holiday Brew kit from Midwest Supplies. I made it 2 years ago on a horrible windy and cold day. My wife and I huddled around my propane burner on a tiny patch of sidewalk on the North side of my house. My wife usually doesn’t sit through an entire brew session, but she was a trooper. We had a great time talking and hoping we wouldn’t run out of propane. We finished the brew with only about a pound in the tank. The beer wasn’t the best tasting I’ve ever made, but it was the best experience. I still have 10 bottles left of that beer and so far they’re still very good. It’s not always about the final product, but how you get there.
mine has to be a doppelbock that i triple decocted. i found a bottle tucked away that i had forgot about . it was about a year old and i would put it up against any commercial dopelbock. but damn its all gone now.
5 gallons of american barleywine, extract and grains, from AHS. i havent tried to duplicate with all grain yet. i was such a good aroma and taste. drank my last bottle last year. best beer i made/created recipe was a belgian trippel. dont keep good notes so i cant tell you exactly why but it still sticks out in my mind.
I made am Imperial Oatmeal Stout with Icelandic grains… And wow, what flavor! Unfortunately, the trip to the Iceland HBS is just a little out of range…
These are great replies. I find it interesting that the best beers seem to be the biggest/aged.
I just tapped the keg of O’flanagain’s stout I brewed. Its good, but I think it will become better with some age. Also, my Patersbier has yet to take off… I know it hasent been that long, but I would rather have a shorter lag phase. Well see!
That used to be the way I thought, my strong Belgian is the first strong beer I’ve brewed in the past 3 or 4 years. Most of my best beers are moderate ABV and ready to drink a week after hitting the keg. It is nice to have a selection but I’m not the kind of person who likes brewing beers I can’t drink for a year.
Nice story TJ.
I have been brewing for, hmmmm…lot’s of years. My husband just brewed his 1st batch after being dragged to many club meetings and NHC. Guess he finally decided it would be helpful to be conversant rather than just pretend he knew what people were talking about. The beer was an experimental recipe I made up for him. Very simple, very pale ale just to test the Belma hop. The beer was very so, so. He was sooooo excited. Even though he has an excellent palate… for quite a while it was the best beer in the world to him!
But for a good story, the best beer I ever made was the barleywine I made for my wedding. I had just started brewing. Looking at my notes it was batch #6!! It was way too young, hot and boozy, at the wedding, but I instructed all the groomsmen (each got a 4 pack) that they had to age them and only drink one per year. I kept a 6-pack and my wife and I drank one on or near our anniversary. We missed a year or two. They last one was drank on our 10th anniversary! It was delicious- darker, sherry-like. Awesome.
What was cool also was that I brewed it on one of my groomsmens’ birthday (November) and bottled it on another one’s birthday (February). The wedding was in September.
one of the best beers I ever brewed was a maibock that I overnight mashed in my oven with loads of carapils. It was the best maibock I ever made (and I have made some good one’s IMO) but I’ve always been chicken to make it again for some crazy reason.