Edit - trentm was that guy way before me.
OK, I will be “that guy” and say a recipe is the ingredients and procedures to process those ingredients. The process would include equipment.
Yes, but at least on this and most forums, and in Zymurgy, and etc etc, usually “recipe” is grain bill, usually not maltster specific, mash temp, hops amounts and times, yeast strain, fermentation temp. Thats it.
Whirlpool means a hundred different things, fermenter could be anything from a Homer bucket to a corny to a conical… Usually its who knows what for water.
Tiny details can make as much difference as punctuation and spacing
I saw abundance on the table
I saw a bun dance on the table
It is interesting how all that crap does matter… and yet most of us really don’t give a crap. Oh well. We still make beer, and it tastes good, and we drink it. 
Totally. Reminds me of the guy here a couple years ago who was determined to get every aspect of the SN Celebration Ale recipe. Quite a bit of that info is out there already. I told him he was lucky to have what’s freely out there (as other breweries are often less open) and that was enough to get pretty close. He didn’t like hearing that at all. Whatever.
+1 homebrew is for fun and we can choose what to obsess over…
Since this turned into more of a “the meaning of the word recipe” thread… Recipe communication is key - perhaps by some standard. A lot of information to include - water, ingredients, process and procedures, equipment, etc… Don’t commercial breweries do the same when one brews the others beers?
How effectively was that Schlitz recipe communicated to you Denny? 
You are stating the truth in a certain way there Jim.
Ask a commercial Brewer what they do when putting in a bigger brew house using the same water, malts, hops, yeast,and Brewers, making the beer the same. I know one that was dumping 200 bbl batches as they dialed it in. They still had the previous system on line to compare to. It ain’t so easy.
Talk about an original thread derailed… the question implies reproduction of your dream brew. Aside from all the minutia above I would love the recipe for and capability to reproduce the beer from Woinemer Hausbrauerie in Weinheim Germany. It was awesome and they served great food, too!
Ok, I’ll bite.
Given the recipe and the ability to entirely duplicate the process and ingredients, my pick is Cantillon Gueze.
Many of the beers in around Bamberg.
On our last trip, we went to a few breweries, the equipment and process was not rocket science. Open fermenters and a big pitch of healthy yeast were my take always, along with making house beers over and over.
Gulden Draak, La Trappe Quad, or Brother Thelonious
Yes! Way to get back on track.
Playing along - Rochefort 10, Orval, Dupont Saison, to name a few.
Oblivious wheatwine from Griffin Claw Brewing company. It’s not something I could drink at on of, but every time I’ve had it I’ve been impressed.
Hmm. My inclination is to just buy any beer I admire and support the brewer. Take it as inspiration. Besides, ultimately I wanna brew my own beer not someone else’s. ;D
I have the recipe for Kryptonite Irish Green Ale…Hand written by Jonathan Kent…He asked me not to share for obvious reasons…
Good call. I don’t try to clone beers anyway. I use a beer as inspiration and put my own spin on it.
Probably Samuel smiths organic pale ale.
Sam Adams Boston Lager and Bass Ale just because I’ve had so much of them over the years; Otter Creek Pale Ale and Stovepipe Porter, because they don’t make them any more; and Arrogant Bastard just because it’s such a secret
In this case you would have to ask for the brewery together with the recipe, otherwise the beer wouldn’t be the same.
And even if you did have the recipe and the brewery, you would still have to have the skill and the palate to blend the various aged lambics accordingly to end up with the geuze.