How often do people like whatever it is that they concoct when they get creative? My experience is that I tend to like beer and beer-related drinks. So it is pretty hard to disappoint me.
Good question.
My take on this is that there is a difference between true experimentation and throwing things together "willy nilly." I have noticed on here is that a lot of noobs
think what they are doing is experimentation, when in reality they are just throwing a bunch of stuff against the wall and hoping it sticks.
Throwing a bunch of stuff in your fermenter and seeing what you get at the end, and ending up making an "is my beer ruined" thread is not the same thing as experimenting.
To me, in order to experiment truly, you have to have an understanding of the fundamentals. You have to know how the process works somewhat. You have to have an understanding of how different ingredients or processes affect the final product. You may even need to know, or at least understand something about beer styles, and what goes into making one beer a Porter and another a pale ale. And where your concoction will fall on the continuoum.
To me it's like cooking or even Jazz. But going back to the cooking analogy. Coming up with a balanced and tasty recipe takes some understanding of things...just like cooking...dumping a cup of salt will more than likely ruin a recipe...so if you cook, you KNOW not to do that...it's the same with brewing...you get an idea with experience and looking at recipes, brewing and playing with software how things work..what flavors work with each other, etc...
I brew other people recipes, I try to create "to style" recipes but I also like to play around, like a Sam Calagone or something. Usually these are done as 2.5 gallon rather than 5 gallon beers.
I have two recipes that I have been experimenting with for years. One is the Ginger Orange Dortmunder that I have talked about, on here. Every spring I try to brew this for summer, and I try different things, I still haven't nailed getting the taste of orange to stay in the forefront while at the same time getting the ginger bite and even a hint of clove. SO each year I tweak. In fact this year's batch was so bad that I didn't share it with anyone and am still choling the bottles down.
The other tweaking recipe I have been playing with is a "Chocolate Mole Porter" This year it won honorable mention in one contest, and great comments by the judges in another. I use my own blend of Chili powder, mexican hot chocolate disks and cayenne pepper. Although it did OK, it's still not where I want it. So having played with it a bit more I know what I need to try next....Basically upping the chocolate this time.
My brown ale in my pull down is a "done" recipe to style, BUT having nailed the base beer, if you look at the thread I also have played with it a bit...adding some smoked grains, and even racking over bourbon soaked oak chips, BUT the base recipe, as is, is Great, and a lot of folks have brewed it and agreed. So this one is really like a Jazz solo within an existing composition. I can get a little funky or creative with some of the elements of it, but I can also return to the fundamental underlying theme of it.
That to me is the essence of creating...I have gotten to a point where I
understand what I am doing, I get how ingredients work or don't work with each other, so I am not just throwing a bunch of stuff together to see what I get.
I have an idea of what I want it to taste like, and my challenge then is to get the right combination of ingredients to match what is in my head. That's also pretty much how I come up with new food recipes as well.