[cheba420]

The best beer I've ever made is my vanilla porter. I make it for my wife. It makes her smile. Best beer ever!

[hopfenundmalz]

A Barleywine. Or maybe some of the Pilsners or Helles biers. The Ordinary Bitter we are just about drinking was right up there.

Hard to decide.

[rbclay]

the last one...

kind of like
Q: "what's your favorite beer?"
A: "the one in my hand"

[rbclay]

But for a good story, the best beer I ever made was the barleywine I made for my wedding. I had just started brewing. Looking at my notes it was batch #6!! It was way too young, hot and boozy, at the wedding, but I instructed all the groomsmen (each got a 4 pack) that they had to age them and only drink one per year. I kept a 6-pack and my wife and I drank one on or near our anniversary. We missed a year or two. They last one was drank on our 10th anniversary! It was delicious- darker, sherry-like. Awesome.

What was cool also was that I brewed it on one of my groomsmens' birthday (November) and bottled it on another one's birthday (February). The wedding was in September.

[majorvices]

one of the best beers I ever brewed was a maibock that I overnight mashed in my oven with loads of carapils. It was the best maibock I ever made (and I have made some good one's IMO) but I've always been chicken to make it again for some crazy reason.

[davidgzach]

The best beer I ever made is the next one....

I second that!

[jeffy]

The best beer I ever made is the next one....

I second that!

There is a lot of truth to that.  I put a lot of effort into researching the next style and how to make it the best beer ever.  It doesn't always work out, but the hope and anticipation is always there.
My wife says the recent Scottish 80/- is the best beer I ever made, but I think I've done better with a Dortmunder Export.  In over 20 years of entering competitions I have only had 2 best of show beers.  One was a Rauchbier and the other was a Berliner Weisse.  The rauch was judged so by the guy who wrote the book on smoked beers, so I'm pretty happy with that.

[beersk]

The best beer I've ever brewed was a batch of my None More Black IPA nearly two years ago. It was the first batch of 2011.  Just had something about it that I haven't quite been able to duplicate; I'm pretty close, but not quite.

I'm definitely not one of those who feels it was the next one or the last one I brewed. I'm waaaaay too picky with my beer. It has to be what I'm wanting for it to be good. My palate changes too much, I think.

I should also say that I'm way more critical of my beer than I'd like to be. Seems like a lot of you guys like your beer no matter what flaws it may have. For me, if it is anything short of super tasty, I get down on myself. I need to lay off that a little, I think. I get caught up in trying to create beer that is as good as the stuff I can buy in the stores. I think it should be. But when it's not, I start questioning myself, second guessing my ability, it's upsetting.

[dannyjed]

All kidding aside, it would have to be the Barley Wine that I made 2 years ago.  It won a 1st place and came in second in Best of Show.  I still have one bomber left that I plan on enjoying over the holidays.

[alcaponejunior]

My best batch so far was actually my last extract/partial mash batch.  It was a willamette/cascade IPA.  Honestly, I don't know what I was thinking with that hops schedule!  But it came out great, so... 

Hopefully this "best ever" record will soon be shattered by my all grain setup though.  I'm on batch 5 of AG, about to brew batch 6, and I've got great fermentation temperature control now.  Although to be honest, the closet at my old place where my current "record" best beer was fermented was a steady 68F. 

[barliman]

At the moment, my favorite batch was the first batch of Jamil's Evil Twin.  Although, I have a sneaking suspicion that Denny's BVIP is going to bump JET to second.

J

[AmandaK]

I can think of two that turned out EXACTLY how I wanted: a NB kit for a Tripel Karmelite I brewed back in 2010 and my lambics (well, except the 2011 one).

I'm pretty harsh on my own brewing - but I'm always striving for better on the next batch.

[Joe Sr.]

I'm pretty harsh on my own brewing - but I'm always striving for better on the next batch.

I think there's a lot of us like that.  I know I'm harsh on a lot of my beers.  I think that since I know what I wanted it to be, even if it's good but I missed the mark I'm disappointed with it.  I get lots of compliments and I have to not dog my own beer so much.  I think it's the whole relax, don't worry thing.

Best beer I've ever made?  I don't know.  Probably the tripel for my son's Christening.  Or maybe the strong golden for his 1st birthday.  They were both great.

[gsandel]

Beer brewed exactly to my mind's taste (exactly as it should be): 2011 Marzen
Better than I ever imagined it would be: 2010 Festivus Ale (Old Ale aged in oak, using liberal amounts of Special B, 1st and only time brewed)
Fan Favorites: 2011 and 2012 What?...er...melon Wheat?.

[udubdawg]

I don't think my own answer to this question is the same of that of the people that drink my beers.  I can create a great, great beer, that everyone loves, but I know that I missed the mark I was aiming for.  This was the case for a Kolsch from 2011.  So, my friends would say that Kolsch or my robust porter, and I would probably say a batch of German Pilsner from February.  As it faded I finally was willing to part with a couple bottles and gave it a shot at 9 months of age in a competition.  Still managed 41 and HM.

At a certain point, I know it is good, and a piece of medal is just going to annoy me for years as representing a couple bottles I could have enjoyed.   

A close second would be an experimental batch that opened my eyes to the Belgian Pale Ale style.

cheers--
--Michael