re: Homebrewing Thread: Volume II

Fellow homebrewer's, are you to the point now in your hobby, where you legitimately like your beer over anything commercial? Has your brewing elevated to a point that you no longer seek out a certain style, if you've nailed that style yourself?

I think i'm starting to get there for NEIPA's for sure. The last 2 i've made have been so much better than anything made here, IMO. But then again, i'm making the beer to my tastes. I find, especially with this style, that there is so much shitty NEIPA's on the shelves. Yes, Ghost in the machine is still good, but i am really loving what i'm brewing. Whenever i brew a style, i typically don't buy anymore of that style in stores until the keg is tapped.

As far as sours are concerned, i'm getting getting there. The cool thing about sours is the vary so wildly. I find each breweries sour has a certain taste to it that only that brewery has (for the most part). Wicked Weed, Jester King, Jolly Pumpkin, Grimm, Crooked Stave. They all have a unique character. I'm starting to find that character in some of my sours. Though in my sour pipeline, i'm using 4 or 5 combinations of Sach/Brett/Lab's, so each of those beers, as i keep building on those inoculates for multiple generations, are attaining their own character. But i find, as i'm learning to restrain some of the acidity, that my sours are getting pretty damn good, and i do place them over some of the more "bargain" sours, such as Urban Family.

Now in terms of kettle sours, i like mine over anything i get in stores. An example, would be Grimm Super Spruce. It is a spruce gose. I've brewed this beer 3 times now, and this latest batch is the winner. I even did a comparison with a can of super spruce next to my beer and i just like the acidity and spruce levels better.

I can't really speak to other styles because overwhelming majority of what i brew now is either a kettle sour or mixed fermentation sour, along with an NEIPA sprinkled in as a keg starts to empty.

What styles have you "perfected" in your mind, compared to what's out there? Have you reached a point yet, on some styles, that you are dialed in on your ingredients, brew process, etc... and don't feel the need to make changes outside of a few variables (like hop varieties)?