Have You Ever...

[gratus fermentatio]

Have you ever formulated a recipe that turned out really good & couldn't remember what went into it? OK, maybe "formulated" isn't the right word here, maybe "threw together on the spur of the moment" is more accurate; point is, I've got a tasty brew & only a vague guess as to the grains that went into it. I never wrote it down, they were all mixed together before the crush; hell I never even measured the amounts of each, only the total. All I know is that 1/2 the grain bill was roughly equal measures of 2 row & 6 row, everything else is a mystery. Now I'll have to try to back-engineer this recipe to recreate it, or at least come close...
Even so, I love this hobby!

 

[Reno_eNVy]

Haha sounds like quite a venture!

Get a few buddies who are aware of different beer flavors, along with small samples of a bunch of different specialty grains. Do blind taste tests and let them smell and/or taste the grain and reverse engineer from the results you get there.

Good luck!

 

[david_42]

My first batch of Bent Rod Rye was great, but it used left-over hops. Seven total kinds and some had been in the freezer for almost a year. Not quite the same with planned hops.

 

[jmendez29]

Going through something similar at the moment. I found some brew in the basement that isn't labeled. I put it in the basement fridge for a while, and pulled some out a couple days ago. The only beer that I have that isn't labeled is in a rubbermaid bin in my closet, and its a pumpkin spice ale. Well.... I cracked one open thinking it was the PSA, and it isn't. I have no idea what this beer is. The only thing I can think that it is based on its flavor, is an IPA that got an infection. Pretty sure I dumped it, but I may be wrong. The only problem with that is the shape of the bottles. I started collecting SNPA bottles and I'm pretty sure I hadn't started collecting them that far back.

Oh well. I guess I'll just have to keep drinking it until I figure out what it is.

 

[rjwhite41]

I guess I have always written down every recipe that I brew. Even if it is spur of the moment. It did take me two years to find my Kolsch recipe after I moved though. Couldn't quite get it right from memory but then I found the recipe.

 

[FromZwolle]

same situation with my brown porter. it turned out fantastic, but i'm only sure of half the recipe. i know i'll figure it out eventually, but i have too many other beers "on deck" to brew to try and replicate it.