......... I personally thought the whole point of craft beer was lots of new and unusual flavours..? (At this stage I'm already bored of brewing my chocolate stouts,etc arnt you?)
Way I see it...if you buy the ingredients then who am I to frown if you wanna keep on brewing your Heineken..and vice versa.
No, I'm not bored of traditional beer styles- as there are many, and brewing them isn't all that easy sometimes.
The way I see it- brewing is like cooking. There should be a balance of flavors just like with cooking, and some things 'go' together.
For example, I love pizza, oysters, Mexican food, and Asian food. I love peanut butter.
But I can tell you, without trying it, that a peanut butter pizza in Tom Yum soup won't taste very good, while the individual foods are great.
I can tell you about the same with brewing. Marshmallow white chocolate red ale will be gross.
I notice this with new brewers- they think brewing their own is carte blanche to throw all kinds of **** in their beer. That's not avant garde brewing, with new ideas- it's just throwing random **** in beer.
Just like with food, some new and interesting flavor combinations can be great. But great thought, and an idea of flavors (which hops go with what fruits? which malts go with sweet or savory flavors? which yeast strain goes well with peppercorns?) must come into play. Throwing random (bad) stuff into a beer doesn't make a great beer or a great brewer- it makes a mess.
Some ingredients (corn syrup, vanillin, fats, oils) don't mix well with beer. Some ingredients (oysters, cocoa nibs, lactose, mushrooms, de-fatted nuts, oats, etc) do. some ingredients, like fats and oils, will not mix with beer and will congeal on the top surface. That's not very appetizing.
PS- your slight of Heineken is fine, except I bet you $100 you can't brew a Heineken clone, nor come close. A light lager is exceedingly difficult, and few brewers can do a perfect light lager, as they have no room for any flaws at all to hide. If you can brew a perfect Heineken or other lager, then that makes you an advanced brewer and you can throw whatever **** you like in your beer!