I find that too often, misguided “creativity” is responsible for some pretty disgusting beers. Trying to be different for the sake of being different is not necessarily a recipe for success.
[quote=“S.Scoggin”]
Light roasted coffee beans that were then put into a whiskey barrel for 1-2 weeks. Bought from a new local company. Then I conditioned my beer on the beans. I’m sure similar things have been done[/quote]
Did the barrel impart any flavor on dry beans? Or did you add water?
[quote=“mattnaik”][quote=“S.Scoggin”]
Light roasted coffee beans that were then put into a whiskey barrel for 1-2 weeks. Bought from a new local company. Then I conditioned my beer on the beans. I’m sure similar things have been done[/quote]
Did the barrel impart any flavor on dry beans? Or did you add water?[/quote]
Yeah it did, it makes a pretty amazing coffee. It imparts more aroma than flavor, but the flavor is definitely there. No water added, I added my beer directly on the coffee. The barrel aging process was done by reveille coffee roasters out of Eugene. They don’t add water as far as I know
So you haven’t used sausage in the secondary?!
So you haven’t used sausage in the secondary?![/quote]
I didn’t say that! 
[quote=“Ken Lenard”]100% roasted barley beer.
A beer made with scrambled eggs, fiberglass and hot sauce.
An orange, mushroom and garlic saison that is fermented inside of the baseball glove of Ernie Banks and then inoculated with brett and conditioned inside of a snake.
Come on, there are lots of original ideas out there. You’re just not trying hard enough. 
On a serious note, I often think about how many different types of grains we have access to, all of the hops, yeast strains and then the mixture and percentages that you might use. Then you have the water composition, the mashing techniques and fermentation schedules. It occurs to me that everytime I make a beer, it’s probably a unique fingerprint because of all the variables. I admit that when you have that glass of beer in your hand it may just resemble a pale ale or pilsner like any other but there are A LOT of variables out there.[/quote]
hahaa true. I was more thinking of bending a style to the point where is become something unique, like a black IPA, but sticking with the basic ingredients malt, sugar, hops, water.
i know the OP is talking about pushing boundaries, but i like to think of originality along a slightly different line - that no two beers i will make will EVER be the same, at least on the scale that i brew, because ingredients can vary and process has a huge impact on end product.
even with a consistent recipe, a minute shorter or longer in the brew pot, the area in my basement that i ferment being a degree or two off from what it was the last time, harvesting the neighbor’s hops from year to year all add up to mean that each brew will be different in some way and therefore original and representative of the moment i brew it.
this also means that what i make is unique/original - i’m not the first to make a porter but my porter is distinctly my own because i made it. and that is f**King awesome.
anyways g2g :blah:
I like to pick ingredients that I enjoy in food that I think might be good in beer, regardless of whether its been done before. For example, I really like some of the flavors of mexican food- chilis, cumin, Mexican oregano. My latest foray is a cumin Porter, which if you search the web will find cumin beers with less than favorable comments. I ignored them and gave it a go, with the goal of making the base beer the focus and the cumin subtle but supporting the rest of the beer. It turned out very nice in this case. Sometimes if I don’t get what I’m looking for, I’ll blend with another batch.
