Getting Feedback From Friends

[GloridazeBrewing]

I want to start brewing more, but I don't have friends over very often. What to do with all that extra beer. Of course I'll drink more, but I figured I'd announce to my non-BMC drinking Facebook friends that I'd be happy to give them free beer in exchange for feedback. Only problem is that most of them don't have the beer vocabulary to tell me what they taste, smell, etc. I don't want it to be annoying, but I want to get more than just "It's pretty good" for feedback. Does anyone have a suggestion? A beer novice scoresheet, questionnaire, etc? Something short, easy. Any other suggestions?

[Bugeater]

In general friends aren't all that reliable for getting good constructive feedback beyond liking or not liking your beer. The lack of vocabulary and objective beer tasting experience is a large part of that as is not wanting to hurt your feelings if they don't like what you brewed.

I live alone and don't have friends over much. I get rid of excess beer and get good feedback by being active in my homebrew club and by serving my beers at 6 - 8 beer festivals a year. Entering competitions will give you excellent feedback by trained judges, but that can get pricy considering entry fees and shipping costs.

By all means, keep feeding your friends your beer, but look to your local club and competitions for the high quality feedback you want.

[j1m1]

I have started send my beers to a family friend whom is a well known wine lover, if you have friends who are chefs or work in any other culinary related industry they will probably be able to give you more detailed feedback. Hope this helps.

[BDawg]

I got sick of looking for others to give me feedback, so I studied and took the BJCP exam myself.
Now I don't ever need to rely on anyone else to give me feedback. I evaluate it for myself.

BDawg-
BJCP GM1

PS - If anyone ever wants me to give them feedback (with or without a score sheet) on a beer for them, I'm always open. Just pm me.

[EagleDude]

I got sick of looking for others to give me feedback, so I studied and took the BJCP exam myself.
Now I don't ever need to rely on anyone else to give me feedback. I evaluate it for myself.

BDawg-
BJCP GM1

PS - If anyone ever wants me to give them feedback (with or without a score sheet) on a beer for them, I'm always open. Just pm me.

First of all ... take advantage of any club that you have in the area. Hopefully they have some BJCP judges. Our local club is relatively new and now has three.

Also, I can tell if my BMC friends really like a beer if they continue to drink from my taps instead of going to their brought cooler with BMC ... more of a pass/fail type of an analysis and only works for certain styles.

Entering in competitions has really helped me to get an idea on the quality of beer I am producing. I usually enter it into a local comp and the NHC at the same time to get differing feedback and save at least one beer to drink while I am reading the feedback. After a couple of years doing that, I have a relatively good idea how well a beer will score and am able to calibrate my palate to others. With costs in consideration, send a few and extrapolate to your other beers.

As bdawg suggested, the best option is to become your own critic ... or find a virtual "brewpal" that you can send beers to for evaluation and in return you receive beers to evaluate yourself. I have been looking for such a scenario with a few promising folks, but have yet to solidify any arrangement. .... any takers?

[zeeke]

Competitions are a great resource for feedback. That being said, you have to take a lot of the feedback (or lack of) with a grain of salt. I'm so tired of getting back sheets with no information whatsoever about point deductions.

"Dark tan head, fine bubbles, orange-copper color, good head retention" 1/3

Still, it's usually better than "that's pretty good"

[brewindruid]

I am fortunate enough to have an LHBS owner who quite adept and has a great backround for critiqing beer...no blowing of smoke or nicities. We also take our stuff to some of our local bartenders who are very much into the craft beer scene.
I don't know if there really is any good way to get away from the subjective, even in competition. When push comes to shove, if I am liking what I am brewing and others seem to enjoy it I am happy. It always seems to disappear pretty quickly. and that, Martha, is a good thing!

Scott

[Ozwald]

"Dark tan head, fine bubbles, orange-copper color, good head retention" 1/3

Don't worry, you'll get that dry stout dialed in eventually