Has anyone ever???????

[new2brew1221]

Just curious, has anyone ever just gone into their LHBS and purchased six pounds LME or DME, one or two hop varieties, some grains for steeping and some yeast to see what comes out? One thing I like about brewing my own, is the possibilities are limitless, and to go get random items seems 1) like it would work, and 2) might just create something really good. It would also be like using the leftovers from previous brews to make something. It seems that a lot of home brewers have a touch of mad scientist in them too.

 

[Hello]

Many have because I've seen it discussed here. I've done it but I call it making my own recipe. Got any ideas what you might toss together!
Now, has anyone used that many question marks in a thread title? Yes.

I would at least make sure my steeping grains didn't exceed the maximum recommended mix in batch.

 

[Transamguy77]

My last years pumpkin beer was made totally from leftovers I had, hops, specialty grains, yeast and the base malt it was the last of 2 sacks of 2row and MO. Was one of the best beers I made, glad I made 10 gallons of it I stashed 5 gallons for this year

 

[GrogNerd]

I did exactly that in an experiment on whether my tap water would be good for brewing

1 gallon batch of 1¼ lb LME & 21 IBU of Fuggles and tossed in some cheap S-33 yeast

I will never use my tap water again for brewing and that batch was called Feet & Ass Mild

 

[Billy-Klubb]

I did exactly that in an experiment on whether my tap water would be good for brewing

1 gallon batch of 1¼ lb LME & 21 IBU of Fuggles and tossed in some cheap S-33 yeast

I will never use my tap water again for brewing and that batch was called Feet & Ass Mild

at least it was a Mild and not a Sour Feet & Ass Stout.



see how I put that silverish lining in there?

 

[ong]

It's pretty easy to have a sort of mental template for various styles that you brew often -- for instance, I can pretty safely grab 9-12 lbs of some base malt, a lb of crystal (somewhere from 10-60), a sachet of US-05 and, say, four oz of an aroma hop, and know that I'll make an acceptable pale ale. Throw in a lb. of chocolate malt and some roasted barley, and I'll have a drinkable American stout. I would still throw everything into Beersmith when I got home before I brewed, though, to check IBUs, color, mash volumes, etc.


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[dkevinb]

I usually have an idea what I want to make before I buy the ingredients, at least in general terms. OTOH, I have done a few "beer stews" to use up leftovers. They've always turned out pretty darned good, if I do say so.

 

[cubalz]

Yes. I do this a lot. It is fun throwing together a "Frankenbatch". Did this once to make a "malt liquor" back in the day. (I had a ton of corn sugar leftovers in my supplies)

 

[9mmruger]

I do it all the time. Once you have a feel for the process and type of beer you want to brew, it is easy to improvise and get a great drinking beverage. :cross:

 

[JimEb]

Got a frankenbatch in a fermenter right now. I ran it in BeerSmith first to mold it around the APA style, but the hops were the variable. I have a mixture of (I think, anyway) Cascade and Brewers Gold hops growning in my yard. They are all intertwined and my theoretical method for distinguishing between the two didn't work in practice. So I don't know what I ended up with.

I guessimated that fresh hops weighed 5X more than dry/pellet. I used 7.5oz at 90min, 5oz at 30min, and 5oz at 5min. Plan to dry hop with another 5oz. After brewing I did an experiment to determine moisture content of the hops. I cooked some in the microwave to dry them. 5oz fresh ended up being 0.70 oz dry...so it wont be as hoppy as it looks.