just because not everyone creates a beer from scratch, i see no reason to label them "just some bits brewer", it makes us or our ideas no less important. I dont have the time nor equipment to do an all grain mash, period.
That being said, I dont see how I am wasting anything in putting chocolate in the brew. It may work, it may not, but I wont know until I try it, thats how i aquire knowledge. I could read until blind and humm and harr about it, or i could just do it and see what the result is. If something is buggered due to process or product, i have learned, and that is good. I change my process, or i change my ingredients. If i lose a kit, so what, there will always be other beers.
As to rigidity of a recipe, it may be great to spend time with a calculator determining amounts and weights, but being rigid does not innovate anything. How many of us have created something wonderful through chance mistakes or outright cockups. I know acouple of my brews turned out great due specifically to the fact that I made mistakes or took chances with new ingredients.
At any rate, I know the amounts of the adjuncts i've added, once finished i will know the result. If i feel something could be altered, theres next time, and no doubt ill add something else entirely next time as well to ensure that brew is specific, special, and above all, different. If i wanted the same thing over and over again, I'd buy megaswill from West End.
sorry for the flame, but thats just how i feel, and i dont think there is any need to belittle or mock anyone in this community based on HOW we brew. We all brew, we are all brewers, and that is why we are here, regardless of our methods.