Naming / describing your recipe

[KartRacer54]

Hi everyone
Many times I am brewing beers that start with someone else's recipe. The final recipe is close to the original but modified for my system and taste.
When someone asked me what beer it is, I am reluctant to call it the name of the original recipe because it is different, sometimes completely. Should the original recipe maker be recognized in the name or ?
I don't want to claim a recipe as mine when it is based on someone else's.
Opinions please!

 

[Vamptrump]

It's been modified for your tastes. Clearly it's no longer the recipe. It just sounds like you use a base recipe for ideas, and then modify it.

That's how I at least justify it to myself when I do the same thing.

 

[Peruvian802]

If I make mac 'n cheese and add a little more salt, it's not really my recipe. If i change the type of pasta, add a different cheese, and alter the measurements, it's no longer the original.

I use that approach when 'claiming' beer recipes. If I add 1/4# more base malt or 1/2 oz more bittering hops, it's not substantially different. If I use a different type of hops or malts, then yeah, it's mine.

 

[beergolf]

Go ahead and claim it. It is like cooking. If you look at recipes for a certain dish. You will notice that many are very similar. I often look at recipes and then from experience I know that if I change them to fit my tastes, they are not the same recipe.

Same with brews. Look at IPA's for example. There is not a ton of variations in the grain bills. Hop schedules are often different so changing those up make it a different brew.

 

[KartRacer54]

Kind of tough call, it's not that I want to take credit for the "new" recipe version but I also don't want to tell someone that it is a certain recipe that substantially is different.
Thanks for all of your opinions, I think I will use different name so as not to potentially implying a negative to the original brewer. Just because I like my version does not mean anyone else will.

 

[hifidelity]

I tend to name my beers by style/ingredients rather than try to be clever, regardless of who came up with the recipe. The Pliny the Elder clone I brewed is listed as "Double IPA" on the chalkboard above my kegerator, and the Maris Otter/Centennial SMASH is listed as "Maris Otter/Centennial SMASH".

It's not that I don't want clever names...I just feel that the ones I'd come up with are cheesy.

 

[Hoppity]

Give it a name if you're creative. When I'm cloning, I'll pay homage: "I was working for a Founder's Breakfast Stout". When I'm free wheeling it is all mine, but I'll guide the imbiber with hints: "It's a Wheat Beer, kind of like a Blue Moon". I find it is all audience-dependent. Most people aren't as crazy as we are. Their eyes gloss over when you get to the mash usually, some actually stay interested through fermentation. We are weird folk, us Brewers.