Tried and True versus variety?

[The Bone2]

Do you find yourself having settled on a couple or a few beers that you know you brew well and always like the outcome?

Or, do you continually experiment with new beers?

 

[videoman]

I have a handfull of recipes I've been working on that go with the seasons... American Pale Ale, ESB, IPA, Irish Ale, Oatmeal Stout... I work to perfect these through out the year.

This year I'm trying an Oktoberfest and a Pumpkinhead recipe, along with a Wheat... heck, I've got a mead in secondary just for yucks.

So for me, a combination of both... I take great joy in researching recipes, tinkering with a recipe in Beersmith, then giving it a go!

 

[malkore]

so far I've been working on different recipes within the styles that I like. that lets me experiment, while still being able to remember the last 'brown ale' I made, so I can compare and try to improve.

 

[david_42]

Although I have three beers I brew with some frequency, most batches are new recipes or variations. I like doing clones of beers I can't get locally, but tend to stick to 4-5 styles.

 

[bradsul]

I've got several recipes that are now house standards. They took a while to 'get right' but now they're pretty much static. I keep those on tap or in bottle all the time.

Everything else is experimenting, either to try new styles or in my further search for the elusive holy grail (in my case, the perfect stout). I love experimenting with recipes, it's when I'm having the most fun as a brewer I think.

I also crave variety so the experimenting helps there.