I am enjoying this thread immensely.
Do you consider a hammer a crutch becasue you could use a rock instead?[/quote]
Like I said crutch was the wrong word. Actually when I was a kid my buddies and me made what we considered a great tree house using rocks to bang nails. A tree house connoisseur may not have appreciated but we sure enjoyed it. Were we winging it?
+1
When I say “winging it” I may be unfairly representing the phrase. I am really not winging it. I think I am just taking a basic recipe and fooling with the exact ingredients. Kind of like making a cake and instead of using refined white sugar, using the less refined turbinado sugar. Instead of using vanilla extract, using almond extract.
[quote=“simple”]“Wing it” ?
It’s called experimentation. Those who do it learn an grow.[/quote]
No, experimentation is when you have a hypothesis and a plan.
LOL! When I was a kid I experimented with drugs. I had no hypotheses or plan. So was I experimenting? Or was i just monkeying around?
Based on my own experience, monkeying around…
Based on my own experience, monkeying around…[/quote]
Same here. I always hated use of the word “experimenting” in the context of drug use. It just makes it sound more sophisticated than “I wanted to get high, and tried everything I could get my hands on to make it happen.” --Not that I got a problem with people getting high if they’re not hurting anyone.
So according to that definition, “winging it” is not the same as “experimentation.”
IMO, brewers should follow whichever approach brings them the most enjoyment.
I have been brewing since 2001. Like Denney said you should always have a plan. After a solid understanding of and repetitive brewing over years you can get to the point to where you could offer a recipe off the cuff for a certain style of beer and be pretty close on you estimated OG and IBU’s and not to mention water needed, ( important for an all grainer as I am), and produce what you were intending. Just don’t get ahead of your self! Get a few years of brewing behind you first. Oh, and by the way I have never brewed a beer off the cuff although I am sure if I had to I could, buy why would I if I didn’t have to. Gotta go flame out my Pale Ale now!
I am always refining and making variations of my own recipes and I rarely follow anyone else’s recipe, so I guess I almost always “wing it” by that definition.
I am always refining and making variations of my own recipes and I rarely follow anyone else’s recipe, so I guess I almost always “wing it” by that definition.[/quote]
+1 By the refined definition, I always wing it, and quite enjoy it. I think it makes you a better brewer.
rarely wing it, like Denny I have a goal in mind when I am brewing and have everything set before I start brewing to acheive that goal.
Every once in a while I may wing it (pretty rare) and the outcome is beer but usually nothing awesome.
I don’t always wing it. Last batch a recipe was pretty closely followed. I didn’t like the yeast selected so it was changed to another strain that was close. Changed the hop amounts to closer fit my utilization. It is doing nicely. The one before that I had some ingredients left over, decided there was enough to make five gallons (small batch at my house) and used up some malt, hops and a packet US-04. Took a gravity reading yesterday and it tastes good. Not a best of show by any means but way better than the convenience mart down the road has.
I also do not enter competitions any longer. I have no problem with them but brew for me and don’t care if it is close to the style. In the past I have brewed beers that I never even wrote down anything. Yes there is the chance it will be the best one I ever did and have no record to reproduce it. Still enjoyed them and will do it again.
So I guess I wing it on occasion, follow a plan loosely sometimes and am anal about it other times. That is one of the fun parts about homebrewing, no rules.
225 batches in and I do not wing it. I don’t always use software to calculate OG and IBUs because I have a few tried-and-true recipes, but most of the time I engineer the shit out of my beers. When I don’t, it’s because I understand how ingredients can be subbed for each other and I can improvise on the fly to tweak what I’m brewing.
I do a bit of research (look through recipe sheets) first, and then post my recipe looking for critique. I’m more than willing to experiment and try things, but it’s never random, nor is it haphazard. I also use a brew calculator.
My friend is haphazard though. He will buy a kit and then buy grains that sound interesting to him. But he won’t research it or ask questions and had ruined many batches of beer. It aggravates me despite it being his beer, time and money, and I don’t drink much of it as he lives 4 hours away now.
I think those that “wing it” - however you want to define it, as far less likely to be spending time on homebrewing forums. Seems to me that most of us who post on forums are more methodical brewers, with styles and techniques in their minds. To be completely honest, I use forums, my homebrew club, and competitions to validate my skills as a brewer. This is definitely not the only way to brew, nor should it be.
Having been brewing since 1990. I wanted to see if I could “wing it” once, about 10 years ago.
My definition of “winging it”, was to brew an ale without any measuring equipment.
I filled the kettle up with some water and heated it up. When it looked “gassy”, I guessed I was around 165°F, so I put it in my cooler mash tun, and added some crushed malt (guessing what was about 10 lbs.), with a touch of crystal.
Without looking at a clock, I guessed when the mash was done and sparged (full disclosure: I can tell when my kettle has collected enough pre-boil volume for 5 gallons.
I boiled, and added handfuls of hops at three times. Homegrown Cascades, out of a gallon ziploc.
End result? I was trying for a 1.050 pale ale, I ended up a little low at 1.044. Beer attenuated to 1.008. It came out very good.
After I proved to myself I could “wing it”, I went back to measuring and timing again.
a forum is not going to validate any skill. A homebrewclub maybe if they a critical and constructive and not just one of the many that say, this is good this is good.
Competitions can even be a far cry from help, there are a lot of bad judges out there
I’m lost. Is making my own recipe, and not following someone else’s, considered “winging it?”
My analogy is like baking a cake vs making a salad. My brother makes beer like he is making salad… what do I have in stock? A little of this, a little of that, no fancy calculations just some rules of thumb based on previous batches. I do it like I am baking a cake… measure everything to the tenth of the gram and lots of hand wringing about whether to use .75 or .8 oz of bittering hops, for instance. The end results are interesting… my beers are MUCH more consistent. His worst beers are way worse than I ever make, but his best beers are as good, or better than mine.
