I need inspiration - I want to brew something crazy

It has been WAAYYY to long since I brewed something wierd. I need some inspiration to brew something off the wall and I am hoping I can get some good ideas here. I want it to be at least %50 malted barley so it is kind of sorta beer, but no limits at all to what it is.

I was thinking numerous things but none really stand out:

Jalepeno Porter
Beet Honey Ale
Green Tea Irish Red


I just can't come up with anything funky to brew....

Last night I brewed what will be a chamomile-lavender saison (I say "will be" because I'm not adding the lavender until primary fermentation is done). That's pretty funky...

I know it's not beer but i'd like to ferment an apfelwein with saison or hefeweizen yeast. I think that could be really interesting.

permo said:

Jalepeno Porter

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How about a mole stout instead? Mole sauce is quite delicious and I think if done right could make quite the beer. I know New Holland does something similar (http://newhollandbrew.com/beer/high-gravity-series/el-mole-ocho-mexican-spiced-ale/) but I've never seen it and can't find what they put in it.

Anyway, I was thinking take a simple stout recipe, then add some ground, roasted peppers, some cloves, cinnamon, peppercorns, and maybe a touch of cumin at 5-15min in the boil, and either add cocoa powder then or perhaps age on cacao nibs in the secondary.

I'm sure you'll get some much crazier responses than this though.

Do a 100% brett beer.

My idea for coming weekend: tomato salad. 500g tomato puree, 500g onions, some garlic, 1tsp dry sweet chili pepper, salt, maybe a 1/2tsp of oregano. Plus 8lb barley malt, whatever i find in my basement (pilsner + some light crystal). 1oz surplus Perle only for bittering should be enough.

Hope it will be drinkable at all. Next step will be beer with some seafood (shrimps?!).

All great ideas so far! Thank you so much for the input. Right now I am leaning towards something dark with peppers and spice. I brew 10 gallon batches so I am concerned about possibly having alot of beer that is tough to drink!

Yikes! Yeah, I do all my experimental batches in 3-gal carboys, so if I screw up there's only about a case of funky beer.

Just recently brought up a chocolate coconut brown ale. It's not bad, I think v2.0 will be great... but I'm glad I only have a case of 'em to drink. The mouthfeel ain't right and it's not particularly well-balanced.

Thai Milk Stout - Coconut, Ginger, Jalepeno, Cilanto, Lemongrass

I just made a habanero cherry pale ale....nice and spicy...and weird

HokieBrewer said:

Thai Milk Stout - Coconut, Ginger, Jalepeno, Cilanto, Lemongrass

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now we are on to something.

I could brew up a nice milk stout with ginger, jalepeno, lemongrass, cilantro and maybe even curry added to fermenter and add lite coconut milk to the keg once chilled.

Sounds crazy enough to work. Maybe make an experimental batch....

Chai tea

I saw a recipe for "coca cola" and got the idea to make a porter with those ingredients as well, could be interesting?

@zgoda I had a lovely... when i say lovely I mean fricking Amazing Oyster Stout in Dublin last year. It was brewed by this pub called Porterhouse, they are Ireland's first craft brew pub and they brew up all types of delicious crazy beer. Anyway they had a really good oyster stout, you said you wanted to use seafood so I thought I'd share this nugget.

As for a strange beer what about something like a spiced cake ale or gingerbread ale. I know you can buy teas and coffee that have those flavorings.

Ballast Point Brewery in San Diego occassionally brews a beer called Indra Kunindra Porter. It is spiced with indian spices like Madras Curry, hot peppers, cumin, etc. It is amazing. They submitted it for competition at the NHA meeting this year. I never heard the outcome. There is a review and a link to the recipe in this blog post:

http://www.sandiegobeerblog.com/2011/06/16/ballast-point-indra-kunindra/

I highly recommend it if you like Indian food.