How would you rate your beer?

[Epimetheus]

How would you rate your beer, on a scale of 0 to 10?

I have created brews I would rate as 7 and as low as 4, but there is lots of time to truly screw up a batch.:cross:


10. World Class. Legendary. Odin wants your recipe.
9. Won a competition
8. Placed in a competition
7. Share it with friends
6. Share it with the homebrew club
5. Only you can stand it
4. Use it for cooking
3. Choke it down rather than dump it
2. AB-InBev wants your recipe
1. Use it for trapping garden slugs
0. Garden slugs tried it, swore off beer

 

[nickydballs]

7 for me. I really like my brews for sure.

 

[Roughster]

My heffe was a 6. I am hoping the Blueberry Blonde I brewed yesterday will at least be a 7!

 

[jonnyp1980]

7 soon to be an 8..

 

[nickydballs]

7 for me. I really like my brews for sure.

 

[MaxStout]

7. My friends like it (and they WILL tell me if they don't).

 

[Andrikos]

Am I the first one to say "mine goes to 11"?

 

[STB]

Typically 5-7 with my current batch getting a solid 7 from friends included.

 

[Johnnyhitch1]

Deff a 7,
Although i dont enter comps because my numbers are usually way off from "classic" styles.

.....also 2. seems pretty great.
Who the hell cares how many comps you won when you can say...."Yep, buds brewing MY beer!!

EDIT: Id also give all of my friends beer before i send it to some hardcore "club members"

 

[dstranger99]

I'm at a 7 now, but 6 years ago when I did Mr Beer kits, I would go for # 3............

 

[the_trout]

I don't compete or belong to a club but Id say most of my beers are good solid beers, 7s I guess.
Ive made a couple that are as good as any commercial beer Ive had, Id call these 9s.
I occasionally make one that is just ok but clearly something didn't go right, 5s for these.
Ive had a couple that were just not good enough to drink, 1s for sure.

 

[Indytruks138]

7-8

 

[hunter_le five]

I've got two 7's and a 5 on tap right now.

I'm (relatively) new to all-grain (~1 year), and I'm still dialing in my process, so quality definitely varies from batch to batch. I've never made anything I would consider dumping, but I've certainly had a few that came out "disappointing" (both of my Bock attempts, fat tire clone, pumpkin ale), as well a few that were just fantastic (ESB, porter, cream ale, ginger snap brown, blond ale, cider, graf).

Once I can more consistently get 7s, I'll start doing the competition thing, and hopefully move up to 8 or 9.

 

[DaNewf]

5s and 7s for the most part.

I've never made a beer I couldn't drink yet. And a couple were decent enough that I wasn't ashamed to pour them up for visitors.

 

[Bulls Beers]

My beers are getting pretty consistent and to style I enjoy. I would rate my last keg as a 9 or 10..It was really really good. I've also tasted my next keg and is just as good. imo...

 

[capnjb]

On a scale from 1 to awesome they're super-great.

 

[Piratwolf]

I'd rate most of my beers around 5-6, but my wife, friends, & brew club guys usually say 8-9.
I have dumped a few 1s, however

 

[Bazaar]

Depends on the beer. I can make some awesome 8s, but they require a lot of work or ingredients (although I can make a pretty good 7 without a whole lot of trouble). Most of my beers fall between 4-7, though, for sure.

I think most experienced brewers feel this way. We all love our beer, but we know it could be consistently better.

 

[LowNotes]

I have never entered a competition, but based on the reactions from friends/family, I feel confident enough to call my best beers 8's or 9's. I would probably say my Red Rye Pale Ale was my best beer, and would rate it a 9, but Edwort's Robust Porter was right up there too after aging it for a about 2 months. That porter went from 4-5 territory, to 6-7, to 8-9 in the matter of 5 days around the 7-week mark. My Red Rye Pale Ale I would prefer to drink over almost any commercial beer I have had. Maybe Pliny or a couple other top IPA's (I love me some hops, what can I say!), and maybe a couple sour beers that I found particularly good...but I honestly think it is up there with some top tier microbrews.

My most regularly brewed beer is probably a solid 7. Clone of Bells Two Hearted that I have brewed 4 times now, and have shared it often, and people always ask me to bring more if I have it on hand.

I am going to have a major "test" soon though, as I have saved 12 bottles each from my last 5 batches, plus 12 apfelweins, and am going to share them with my extended family at the beach, many of whom are beer enthusiasts. This includes one cousin who told me he really liked the Founder's Red Rye Pale Ale, which I based my above mentioned beer off of, with some changes in hops. So I hope to get some good (relatively) unbiased feedback. I brought a single batch of my Bells Clone last year and it was a hit.

 

[Colorowdy]

4 thru 7. Hoping for an 8amazing pretty soon.

 

[Malty_Dog]

Probably 5-7, but I have a lot of garden slugs that are showing up at my front door . Of course I think my beers are all 10s .

 

[TheZymurgist]

Based on this scale, I'd say the majority of mine are 7's and 8's. There's always the few rouge batches that'll come in around 5. By 'Won a competition,' do you mean Best of Show, or 1st in its category? If it's the latter, I can say I have a few 9's.

 

[Vedder014]

My first beer was a 3, at best. Just started drinking my 3rd beer, a Pale Ale dry hopped with Cascade and Aussie Galaxy, and it is a 7 and hopefully will be an 8.

 

[Thunder_Chicken]

7.5 - I shared my beer at a tasting last week, not a judged competition but there were several BJCP certified judges there that gave me some great feedback.

On the low end, one of my earlier batches went to slug traps, so a 1. Another early batch was supposed to be an ESB but came out badly ranks as either a 3 or a 5 - I'm drinking through it slowly, aging isn't helping much. It's beer, it's OK, but it is thoroughly meh.

I am getting more and more careful with my brews and so my quality has come up quite nicely. I am happy to report that my garden slugs all have the DTs

 

[skw]

6.5.

Some of my friends and family like it, some don't. I think each batch I make is better than the one before, but I still have much to learn (and practice). I drink it almost exclusively, and be it only because I'm brewing my favorite style which is next to impossible to buy in a store where I live.

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

7-8.

Occasional 9 in there. Competition-wise, I've had quite a few beers place and finish at the top of their category even in crowded categories like 10, 13, and 14. I had an IPA that was a national finalist in 2007 LongShot, and a milk stout that won west region stout in the 2008 LongShot and 1st place southwest region Stout in 2008 NHC. Those are my biggest competition "wins".

On the low end, 7 is usually my floor when it comes to the beer. I have my process dialed in well enough that it's hard to make bad beer. One recent exception was a Gose that I tried a method to sour my wort that didn't go well. That one is maybe a 5.5, but it's the only one below 7 I can think of in recent memory.

 

[Chadwick]

My beers are mostly 7's, however I'm not too proud to admit I've had an occasional 3. Since upgrading to AG and partial mash all of my beers have been 7's. A barleywine I made earlier this year has had at least 3 "beer snob" tasters offer me $$$ to make some for them. Of course I would never sell my precious barleywines for any amount of money. Share one or two, yes. Sell, never. Those things take me a looong time to make and in the end, they are priceless to me.

 

[beersk]

I haven't done any competitions in the nearly 5 years of my brewing hobby and have no plans to, but I'd say my beers are now typically in the 6-8 range with 5's and 9's here and there. I share my beer with any friends, but it's especially rewarding when I crave my own beer over commercial beer or I drink one of mine and think "Holy sh!te, that's delicious!".

 

[phenry]

I'd say I stay in 7-8, though I've really only entered in 2 competitions. All scores were >32, with 35 (or 35.5? is that possible? I really forget) being the highest. Looking back, a lot of those weren't even my favorite beers. Sometimes I brew a beer that just doesn't really hit the mark. Other people tend to like those more than me, so the 5 rank really doesn't apply to me I guess.

Though I'd say my brewing philosophy isn't really conducive to producing competition winning beer. I brew beer meant to be drank day in and day out. I could really care less if it has a "wow!" factor. Those get old after a while. If it's something I'm not tired of after 5 gallons, only then do I call it a success.

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

Though I'd say my brewing philosophy isn't really conducive to producing competition winning beer. I brew beer meant to be drank day in and day out. I could really care less if it has a "wow!" factor. Those get old after a while. If it's something I'm not tired of after 5 gallons, only then do I call it a success.

Not every category is judged like it has to blow your doors off... And you don't need to make crazy off the wall beers to win BOS either. One of the guys from my homebrew club just took BOS in two different competitions, one for a schwarzbier and the other for a brown porter.

I wouldn't shy away from competitions just based on not brewing big and outlandish beers. I think sometimes categories like 16E and 23 may require something off the wall to do well (depending on the quality of the judge), and Cat 14 almost seems like it needs to be absurdly hoppy to get noticed. But a lot of the other categories are simple -- brew an excellent beer, brew it to style, and you'll do well.

 

[Groo]

I'd give myself on a 7 on anything that is not considered hoppy. My stouts, porters, and brown ales have been great.

I'm a 5 on light colored hoppy forward beers. I haven't been able to get a crispness of commercial beer yet and my flavors seem to get muddled.

 

[HawksBrewer]

Ever since I started adjusting water profiles to pop malt or hop forward beers, mine have improved considerably. Coming up w/ a good recipe is one thing, but when you can consistently hit your mash temp and hold it, get good hot/cold breaks, pitch the appropriate amount of healthy yeast and maintain a constant fermentation temperature, you can make some truly outstanding beers.

That being said I started out my first AG at a -4 I think.

 

[Piratwolf]

I'd give myself on a 7 on anything that is not considered hoppy. My stouts, porters, and brown ales have been great.

I'm a 5 on light colored hoppy forward beers. I haven't been able to get a crispness of commercial beer yet and my flavors seem to get muddled.

Try a TSP of gypsum in your mash water next time if you haven't before. Sounds like soft water to me.