What to Do When a Friend’s Home-Brew Sucks

Published on Tuesday, September 13, 2011, by Helena Echlin / Edit Post

Dear Helena,
I have a friend who started brewing beer about a year ago. He always brings some when he comes over and asks me to tell him what I think. Sometimes he even says, "I want you to be totally honest." If I were totally honest, I would say: "Some of your beer is OK, but some of it tastes really, really bad." Should I take him at his word and tell him the truth?
—Tastes Like Green Slime

Dear Tastes Like Green Slime,
Home-brewers usually brew loads more beer than they can personally consume, so if you are friends with one, you will almost certainly be invited to drink his beer. Just as it's rude to critique a gift or homemade dinner, you shouldn't launch into a laundry list of things you don't like about his beer. On the other hand, home-brewers are typically a collaborative lot, sharing tips and techniques and deconstructing one another's beers. Feedback, when offered in a tactful way, can help your home-brew friend make better beer or, at the very least, understand what some people don't like about his beer.

When giving a brewing buddy your opinion, follow these guidelines:

Mollycoddle novices. I once attended a creative writing workshop where there was a rule that participants first had to say what they liked about someone's work before saying anything negative. Do the same with new brewers, says John Krochune, cocreator of the blog Brew Dudes, even if the only thing you like about the beer is the bottle.

Present your opinion as just that—your opinion. As with wine, taste in beer is subjective. What tastes delightfully fruity to one person might taste like a diacetyl flaw to another. It's polite to leave open the possibility that the problem might just be your personal palate. So if a beer "tastes like dirty diaper," says Michael Tonsmeire, creator of The Mad Fermentationist, you might say, "It's more funky than I would care for."

Ask questions about their "process." A good way to open up a discussion about what the brewer might do differently next time is to say, "Tell me about your process." For instance, Krochune says he recently brewed beer that "tasted a lot like cooked vegetables." After a few questions from a seasoned home-brewer friend, Krochune realized the problem was too high a fermentation temperature. Far from being offended, he was really grateful for the advice.

So if you couch your criticism just right, your friend won't be insulted that you think his beer has an undertone of boiled broccoli. Nor will he think you are an imbecile who knows nothing about beer, and cannot appreciate the finer nuances of his recipe. Either way, he'll want to keep drinking beer with you. And that's the most important thing.

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POST A COMMENT |18 Comments

COMMENT

  • Definitely, I have done some home brewing in the past and I counted on my friends feedback, otherwise I would keep making the same swill that nobody likes. Be honest, that is always the best approach.

  • For the love of Pete! If he's your friend what's the big deal? Tell him it sucks. If not, he will eventually find out and be torqued that you were dishonest. And, if you don't fess up, you'll be forced to drink his swill everytime he shows up.

    If he's a standup guy, he go back to the drawing board. If not, find a friend that knows what he's doing. No point in drinking bad booze.

    All you arm...+READ

    For the love of Pete! If he's your friend what's the big deal? Tell him it sucks. If not, he will eventually find out and be torqued that you were dishonest. And, if you don't fess up, you'll be forced to drink his swill everytime he shows up.

    If he's a standup guy, he go back to the drawing board. If not, find a friend that knows what he's doing. No point in drinking bad booze.

    All you arm chair psychologist's give it a rest. Quit trying to over evaluate everything and it makes no difference how refined the poster's taste buds are. If you don't like it, you don't like it. Period!-COLLAPSE

  • First, is the critic actually competent to voice an evaluation? If all he has ever drunk is Bud Light his opinion on an Imperial Stout isn't worth a lot. So he could thumbs-down a pretty good brew.

    Second, how sensitive is the brewer? If the product of his loving labor is in fact not too great how will he take being informed of that? If he wants to improve the product he should be happy to get...+READ

    First, is the critic actually competent to voice an evaluation? If all he has ever drunk is Bud Light his opinion on an Imperial Stout isn't worth a lot. So he could thumbs-down a pretty good brew.

    Second, how sensitive is the brewer? If the product of his loving labor is in fact not too great how will he take being informed of that? If he wants to improve the product he should be happy to get informed criticism, but if all he wants is approval that's a different story.

    As the old story goes, the home brewer got a notice saying: Dear sir, we are sorry to inform you you horse has diabetes.-COLLAPSE

  • Just compare it to his batches that you did like and let him know why you thought the other brew was better or why this one wasn't as good, in your opinion. That way you are also giving a compliment(about the other batch, in addition to helping him see where he may have gone wrong.

  • I paid to get truthful comments on my beers by entering them in contests, where you get truthful answers and constructive criticism. Best move I ever made, it solved my problem quickly and easily...
    I would hope non brewers could tell me whether a product was good or not, but sometimes it is just the style they don't like. Many non-brewers may not know how a certain style is supposed to...+READ

    I paid to get truthful comments on my beers by entering them in contests, where you get truthful answers and constructive criticism. Best move I ever made, it solved my problem quickly and easily...
    I would hope non brewers could tell me whether a product was good or not, but sometimes it is just the style they don't like. Many non-brewers may not know how a certain style is supposed to taste...and if it doesn't taste like something they like, the common response is that it isn't good...-COLLAPSE

  • I'm a home-brewer, and I'll be the first to admit, sometimes homebrew sucks. It sucks less if you made it, but you don't have to get your panties in a bunch if someone critiques it. And if you are offered a homebrew, and don't really care for it, just be honest. If you're good enough friends to be drinking together, you should be good enough friends to be real. Bottom line is, unless you're an...+READ

    I'm a home-brewer, and I'll be the first to admit, sometimes homebrew sucks. It sucks less if you made it, but you don't have to get your panties in a bunch if someone critiques it. And if you are offered a homebrew, and don't really care for it, just be honest. If you're good enough friends to be drinking together, you should be good enough friends to be real. Bottom line is, unless you're an avid homebrewer, there are going to be flaws with your ale, some major, some minor, but nonetheless all criticism is appreciated to the brewer, at least in my opinion.-COLLAPSE

  • I tried to make a clone of Dogfish Head 120-minute IPA. It ended up sitting at about 12.4% abv and was SUPER sugary (with almost a chemical taste, it was so sweet). So, definitely not a success. But then I bottle conditioned it anyway, and I drank it to reclaim my dignity as much as possible... my roommates had their opinions, but they were really encouraging about it. They even talked about what...+READ

    I tried to make a clone of Dogfish Head 120-minute IPA. It ended up sitting at about 12.4% abv and was SUPER sugary (with almost a chemical taste, it was so sweet). So, definitely not a success. But then I bottle conditioned it anyway, and I drank it to reclaim my dignity as much as possible... my roommates had their opinions, but they were really encouraging about it. They even talked about what they "liked" about it. It was great to have their support, I can't stress enough how important that is. And guess what? After a few weeks of bottle-conditioning, the beer actually tasted a little better to the point where it was actually drinkable... and then we all reveled in the fruits of our patience, and I was glad I didn't just toss the whole batch out!-COLLAPSE

  • I always put way too much sugar in my home made beer, which means it either explodes, or is way too gassy.

  • "It sucks" isn't a critique. If someone asks your opinion, it's probably because they want feedback, not thumbs up or down. Not that you can't include your reaction, but "I don't care for it and this is why..." or "it's a little hoppier than I like" or "it seems a little flat" or whatever specific issues you have with the beer are helpful and give the brewer something concrete to go on as they...+READ

    "It sucks" isn't a critique. If someone asks your opinion, it's probably because they want feedback, not thumbs up or down. Not that you can't include your reaction, but "I don't care for it and this is why..." or "it's a little hoppier than I like" or "it seems a little flat" or whatever specific issues you have with the beer are helpful and give the brewer something concrete to go on as they head back to the drawing board.

    I think this is where the "discipline" of food or beverage criticism is valuable. A thoughtful, detailed critique isn't a slam and anyone seriously trying to improve will be unlikely to take it as such. But a sort of blanket, uninformative "I hate it" is just criticism and is not nearly as helpful.-COLLAPSE

  • Another "I can't be honest with someone I'm close with" column. I didn't know there was so many wusses until I started reading this.

  • After reading last weeks column, I would just be thankful it's not placenta flavored beer.

    I think since the friend is asking for honest feedback, constructive criticism could be helpful. It sounds like some of the batches are better than others, so letting him know which ones you prefer may eventually result in better beer.

  • I second the vegetal flavor coming from DMS

  • Slightly unrelated, but the advice Krochune got about high fermentation temp doesn't make sense. Cooked vegetable flavours are most often caused by DMS formation, which is caused either by insufficient boiling time or prolonged cooling time, or can be caused by a bacterial infection in the beer. High fermentation temps will lead to many off flavours, but DMS is not one I am aware of.

  • Detailed feedback of all kinds is helpful. I don't take it personal.

  • I was brave and gave my first homebrew attempt to a BJCP judge (in a casual setting, not a competition). He said it was a great first brew, offered constructive criticism on how to make it even better, and asked for a refill! That made my day. But I know if it had been horrible, he would have been brutally honest, and I would have appreciated the feedback without being insulted.

  • I know it varies by homebrewer, but when someone's tasting my beer, I really do want them to be brutally honest. Taste is a funny thing, and if you're trying to be nice about an off flavor, it could obfuscate things. Describing the beer as merely "funky" is not enough to track down just where and how the brewer went wrong. Why would I be offended at someone trying to help me improve at my hobby?...+READ

    I know it varies by homebrewer, but when someone's tasting my beer, I really do want them to be brutally honest. Taste is a funny thing, and if you're trying to be nice about an off flavor, it could obfuscate things. Describing the beer as merely "funky" is not enough to track down just where and how the brewer went wrong. Why would I be offended at someone trying to help me improve at my hobby? It's only beer - it's not like you've called my kid ugly. I'll just whip up another batch and try again.-COLLAPSE

  • I'm a home brewer, and I'm BAAAD at it. Every so often I brew up something good and I can tell when it's good because people pour seconds. Be honest with your friend to help with the learning process, and keep in mind that we all like dif brews.

  • I am old friends with a homer brewer who eventually became a master brewer and part owner of a brewpub. His initial brewing attempts were pretty bad to ugly, but we, who were poor and happy to have any beer whatsoever, drank it willingly, sort of, discussed the merits and downfalls of each batch, did not criticize in an unproductive manner, mollycoddled him, and learned tons about beer brewing...+READ

    I am old friends with a homer brewer who eventually became a master brewer and part owner of a brewpub. His initial brewing attempts were pretty bad to ugly, but we, who were poor and happy to have any beer whatsoever, drank it willingly, sort of, discussed the merits and downfalls of each batch, did not criticize in an unproductive manner, mollycoddled him, and learned tons about beer brewing and beer in general in the process. It was a win-win for all of us, but mostly for him, who now has made a lucrative career out of something he loves, and a very happy life. Cheers!-COLLAPSE