Will someone critique my beer?

[Pyrenus]

I'm still pretty new to brewing, and my first two batches are bottled and ready to drink. But I'm not real happy with either.

I'd like to send a few bottles to someone who is very familiar with both kinds of brews and get some honest feedback on both.

I've got a hefeweizen and an irish red ale.

If you'd like to send a few bottles my way, it would be appreciated. I've never swapped before so I might need a little guidance as to packaging and shipping.

Thanks,
Pyre

 

[bsay]

I'm sure there are many people here who would love to critique your beer, and I encourage you to send to them or swap with them. That said, I come with slightly different advice. Have you considered joining a local brew club? I am a member of one, and we critique beer every month, it is also a great way to chat with others about what you could do different with your beer.

Happy brewing!

 

[Pyrenus]

Yep, I've looked for homebrewing clubs and none in my area are still active.

 

[bsay]

Yep, I've looked for homebrewing clubs and none in my area are still active.

Sorry to hear that. It's always good to try though. Out of curiosity, what were the recipes for the brews you made?

 

[Pyrenus]

The irish red was a packaged kit from midwest. Steep + extract

The hefeweizen was an extract recipe that I found here and modified a little bit:

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
2 lbs 4.0 oz Extra Light Dry Extract (3.0 SRM) Dry Extract 29.03 %
5 lbs Wheat Liquid Extract [Boil for 15 min] Extract 64.52 %
0.80 oz Hallertauer [4.80 %] (60 min) Hops 10.0 IBU
1 Pkgs Hefeweizen Ale (White Labs #WLP300) Yeast-Wheat

 

[bierhaus15]

Find a local micro/brewery or another homebrewer or homebrew shop and ask them to give you an honest critique. If that doesn't work, find a good pub/bar with someone who knows what they are talking about and have them sample it. And if that doesn't work... just send them to me!

Seriously though, don't worry if it takes you a while to make a beer you are perfectly happy with... just keep on brewing and 'perfection' will eventually come.

Cheers!