Has anyone just bought some random...

[cyberjoey80]

I was thinking about just going to my lhbs and just buying a few different grains and hops and malt and just trying something completly off the wall. What compels me to take such chances in life? I live on the edge. Has anyone ever tried this? Did it turn out good?

 

[david_42]

I purchased a 42 pound box of "misc. short bags" of LME from Williams last year and worked my way through it.

My Bent Rod Rye was a small version of Hop Rod Rye, but I used all of the leftover hops from the freezer. It ended up with 8 different hops in it.

And then there's the Quarts of Chaos ...

 

[the_bird]

I've seen some generic "hops" for sale in some of the online places, pretty damn cheap. I'm assuming it's when they've spilled some and can't figure out what is what. I've been temped, just to flavor a basic pale ale...

 

[Evan!]

I was thinking about just going to my lhbs and just buying a few different grains and hops and malt and just trying something completly off the wall. What compels me to take such chances in life? I live on the edge. Has anyone ever tried this? Did it turn out good?

That's why we homebrew...because we can pretty much do whatever the hell we want. My friend who taught me how to brew was looking at the grain bill for a winter ale that I brewed yesterday, and he was like, "what's with so many grains!?", and I just said, you know, I like to experiment. A little melanoidin here, a little coffee malt there. See what happens.

I would recommend getting some brewing software, though, just so you can keep it balanced.

 

[Ol' Grog]

I wanted to do a american amber, but the lhbs didn't have it, didn't have wheat dme either...so I got 6 pounds of plain light dme instead. Don't know exactly what the hell I have.

 

[Grimsawyer]

ANARCHY BREWS RULE!!!!!!!!!! The one rule of thumb is don't go too bitter unless you go high in OG. If you go with an OG of 1.120 then you can't add too many hops. After 100 IBU's it all tastes the same. So, for giggles if you wanted to hop the hell out of a 9 or 10% beer you could without any worry that it would be too bitter even if your final IBU count was 657. On the other hand if you make a 4% beer with 75 IBU's it would seem to be a bit on the bitter side for that particular beer. Wouldn't have the sweetness to counteract the bitter and vice versa. Experimenting with odds and ends and different yeasts is the only way you are going to make a beer your own anyway. Just figure out about what kind of beer style you like the best and get the OG the FG the IBU's kinda sorta right, dosn't have to be exact, and the rest is absolute freedom of expression. :rockin: You can make it darker, lighter, use more or less finishing hops. Maybe 8 kinds of hops, and 12 different grains AND some honey. Toss in some molasses or some coconut juice. Maybe go a bit off the deep end and bitter with wormwood and toss in some anice. Maybe add some chillie peppers and some mashed mangos to the secondary. If you like ginger add some ginger. There are unique beers out there, some GREAT, some not so great. But the GREAT ones would never came to be if someone just made beer from a recepie book.

 

[dibby33]

Don't let fear stop you

 

[cap46]

I brewed a batch using every grain and partial hops I had left in fridge. A total of 7 grains, 4 differant hops. It was pretty good. Go for it. You never know until you try.