How does your beer compare with commercial beer ?

[bobukbrewer]

I only bottle. My beer is better than 95% of commercial bottled beers that I have tasted, and better than 99% of cask ales in pubs.

 

[Oneflewover]

That's a pretty subjective view! I suspect that we all brew beers we like / to our tastes. I like my homebrew, and frequently prefer it to beer I might get in the local pub, but I wouldn't ever go so far as to say it was 'better'.

 

[Drunkula]

On a par. But with homebrew I've never had that 5 day old cask sourness. A 5 or 6 is what I score my beer when it's like a lot of typical nothingy pub pints that some people are happy to sup all day long. It's the curse of homebrewing, you suddenly sound like a wanky knob end for not just wanting the same old tripe that everyone is glugging round after round. You've become that one.

 

[dad_of_jon]

I only bottle. My beer is better than 95% of commercial bottled beers that I have tasted, and better than 99% of cask ales in pubs.

That's what I call a result When I started brewing about 4 years or so ago it pretty much stopped me buying anything but belgian bought beers, but now with mr. president, bengali, life & death etc..readily available it seems supermarkets have upped their game and those beers are better than the ones I brew so id say i'm around the 80% mark as far as my beers are. Of course I brew what I like rather than what is on the shelf but it seems DIPA's are beyond my techniques so far.

 

[Banbeer]

I look at it this way, when I'm out drinking I enjoy the beers I drink and when I'm home I enjoy drinking my homebrew.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

I only bottle. My beer is better than 95% of commercial bottled beers that I have tasted, and better than 99% of cask ales in pubs.

Have you considered entering any of the forum competitions to see what others think?

 

[bobukbrewer]

I go to lots of pubs - going out tonight - but usually the beers are "not good". In the UK a struggling pub "cannot afford to" throw away 4 and 5 day old cask ale, preferring to sell it to customers. So some customers leave and the beer is sold 6 and 7 days old, so more customers leave..............the pub dies.

I read an article once where a successful pub landlord said he threw away unsold beer after 3 days so that he could guarantee a perfect pint every time.

If CAMRA allowed 0.5 psi top pressure on a cask, wastage would be drastically reduced. CHEERS !

 

[Harbey]

I would say that I usually prefer my beer to shop bought these days. I like to buy a few bottles and cans every so often, just for variety. I'm certainly a little biased and it's not just about the taste, it's the 'i made that' bit too.

My local pub brew and serve some excellent beers so I do enjoy a visit quite regularly.

 

[foxbat]

If CAMRA allowed 0.5 psi top pressure on a cask, wastage would be drastically reduced. CHEERS !

Totally agree with all your points but on this one CAMRA don't own the pubs so why don't the landlords just say stuff CAMRA and do what you suggest anyway? Does anyone really give a toss about their "Cask Marque"?

 

[bobukbrewer]

sadly - cask marque is seen as a proof that the beers are top notch. Harbey your local pub must be one of the exceptions to the rule - why run a brew pub if the beers are not perfect ???

 

[Ghillie]

@bobukbrewer - bold statement, I love your confidence Wouldn't mind a taste of your home brew either in that case!

Wrt the question; some of my beer is better than some of the stuff I've bought in shops. A lot of the stuff in the shops is miles better than my beer though, probably most of it.

I don't like beers (commercial or home brew) that are made from fruity yeasts, I think they taste like *****. But that doesn't make my beers better than those ones by default. Far from it in fact; it just means that I don't like the taste...

 

[simon12]

My 1st ever all grain came out much stronger and darker than planned and was nothing like I was aiming for, despite this my 1st thought when tasting was why don't they make beer this good commercially. Since August I have been running a micropub and sourcing the best beers I can and can't honestly say its not as good as homebrew but as mentioned you can make home brew exactly to your own taste. For example yesterday I opened a cask of Holler West coast IPA which I think is the best IPAs I have had so far but I could make something very similar and if I did I would make sure I got less of an orange flavour in it which I would prefer but it wouldn't make it over all a better beer and customers may prefer either one.

 

[simon12]

Another point is its rare to find a commercial beer thats made without cost being a factor in some way and if your buying from a supermarket or paying under £3-4 a bottle its certainly not made without cost being a limiting factor while home brew you don't tend to care about paying £5 extra on hops for a batch if its what you like.

 

[strange-steve]

Well here we are again, the age-old argument. The way I see it, if your homebrew is better than the commercial beers you've tasted then you're buying the wrong beers. My brews don't come anywhere close to a lot of the great beers I've tasted.

 

[simon12]

Well here we are again, the age-old argument. The way I see it, if your homebrew is better than the commercial beers you've tasted then you're buying the wrong beers. My brews don't come anywhere close to a lot of the great beers I've tasted.

This answer surprises me, please can you name a few of these beers that surpass home brew.

 

[Peter Scandlyn]

Heck! That's a tough call.

Not really.
Still laughing at how every bar I walked into in Britain and Scotland had a Fosters tap.....

 

[Ghillie]

Heck! That's a tough call.

Still laughing at how every bar I walked into in Britain and Scotland had a F̶o̶s̶t̶e̶r̶s̶ Tennents tap.....[/QUOTE]

 

[Ghillie]

Made an **** of editing your quote, serves me right!

 

[strange-steve]

@simon12 Sure, a few off the top of my head:

Rochefort 10
Struisse Pannepot
Westvleteren Blond
Struisse Black Albert
Lervig Three Bean Stout
Founders KBS
Pohjala Must Kuld
And literally everything by Cantillon

But I'm surprised that you're surprised, didn't you just say the same about the the commercial beers you sourced:

sourcing the best beers I can and can't honestly say its not as good as homebrew

Or did I misunderstand the double negative there?

 

[simon12]

@simon12 Sure, a few off the top of my head:

Rochefort 10
Struisse Pannepot
Westvleteren Blond
Struisse Black Albert
Lervig Three Bean Stout
Founders KBS
Pohjala Must Kuld
And literally everything by Cantillon

But I'm surprised that you're surprised, didn't you just say the same about the the commercial beers you sourced:

Or did I misunderstand the double negative there?

I think the beers I have sourced are as good as home brew not better. I have not tried any of those you list but most look like styles I don't like alot. Cheers for the answer though.