Do you even just wing it?

The most I've "winged it" has been on one brew day where I decided to think of a recipe on brew day and not use any brewing software to create it. Even that time though I was thinking along the lines of what I knew had worked in the past - typical grain bill percentages, brewing salt additions, hopping schedules, how many overall pounds of grain and gallons of water I've used in the past to hit a certain OG and post boil volume ballpark, etc. It felt good when I nailed those last two on the head and produced a tasty beer.

 

Prior to buying grains in bulk, I would have to say no. Since then yes. But as others have said there is some sort of rationale behind it.

Basically I will use grains in quantities I normally would not. I look at what I have lying around and force creativity onto it.

I have hit on some real winners this way.

 

yes, but that is with basically a dozen years of experience and brewing beers that I'm very familiar with. I've decided to brew that evening at Friday night beers with co-workers/friends and would throw a recipe together in my head and be very happy with it. I've done this at least a dozen times...used to be because my wife would "allow" me to brew a particular evening. She would usually notify this status to me at like 8 in the evening when the kids were already in bed.
I've also done kitchen sink beers with left-over ingredients that were lying around at the end of my "brewing season" Usually a brown ale, porter or stout of sorts. Never really had an issue with them although they may not be necessarily award winning.

 

Not really any more. Although I have learned something from them, I have made enough mediocre beers for one lifetime by just trying something. These days I put a lot of thought into all of my beers, starting with "what do I want the beer to taste like and how do I get there?" I still get mediocre sometimes, but not as often. The thoughtfulness is driven by my desire to dial in recipes for some of my favorite styles.

I will acknowledge that serendipity can produce superb, if unexpected, results sometimes. I'm currently reading the book by Stone Brewing. Not exactly the same thing, but Arrogant Bastard was originally a mistake (mis-measurement of ingredients). It's now their flagship beer. So you just never know.

 

http://www.brewingtv.com/episodes/?currentPage=4 Episode 47 of brewing tv shows that with technology such as the I brewmaster app even when not totally sure of what grain you have software can help you make a drinkable beer on a whim.... All for brew and brew for all!!!!!

 

Edit: my original response sounded like I was blasting the poster, which was not my intent, so I'm rephrasing...

I don't think anyone in this video even tasted the finished beer.

 

Yea it's on you tube.... BTV short pour Rapture and wet Wookie tasting

 

My dad made a great stew one time. When I asked him what was in it he said he didn't know because he was just "cleaning out the fridge". That was long ago but I still think about that stew.

 

I make an annual freezer cleaning vegetable soup using this 'technique'. However, there's still some thought put into which ingredients, and in what proportions make sense. It's ad hoc, but it's not quite as random as it sounds.

 

I've improvised on the fly with mead at times. I wouldn't say I was 'winging it' while I was putting it together, but I have formulated my plan in my head in the 24 hours before getting started.

 

Oh, and I've also kept a mead going for months, just adding more honey, water, spices, and even raisins as I pulled out my daily grog. I called that batch my 'prison hooch', LOL!