Lots of great posts on this thread...
I think it goes back a little earlier though. For me, I'd only buy slabs of megaswill that I had tried before AND enjoyed, either at the pub or in a can/stubbie that was at somebodies house. I'm sure we all found that some brews we liked, and others stank...
So then for whatever reason we decide to try homebrew. I'd tasted some K&B homebrew from friends and wasn't necessarilly impressed, but knowing I could cook better than some of them, thought I could do a better job.
Naturally, I tried a clone of something I knew...being a VB drinker, the last thing I wanted to was end up with 2 1/2 slabs of something that tasted like Tooheys or XXXX! After making the clone, and discovering my clone was better than the real thing, I developed some confidence and started experimenting...but stuck with the clones for a while until my confidence and knowledge grew. Each clone was slightly different and allowed me to learn what effect each different ingrediant made. I now develop my own recipes, but I haven't made an undrinkable batch yet (touch wood).
I still label all my beers as clones, even though they taste nothing like what they are supposed to be clones of...but it tells me what "style" the beer is in...to call it a Pale Ale doesn't tell me much when I have four different PA recipes...calling one a Mountain Goat, another a Little Creatures etc tells me what to expect...
My friends stopped experimenting once they found recipes that they enjoyed. They are good recipes and they enjoy them and are happy.
Picking up on Katies point about "why do we have to defend ourselves", I agree. But I think the point where we stop depends on what sort of obsessive personality you have...I tend to take anything I do and do it to 120% (mega obsessed), others are happy with 10%. That's what makes us all different. The world would be pretty boring if we all liked the same things and agreed on everything! :beer:
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