I had this idea of expanding the brew skill for MU's. If anyone has ever play those “Baldur's Gate” games and saw those specialty potions that imbued more than one benefit, like the “Potion of Heroism”, this idea is what I will try to convey.
To start off, there would need to be some sort of a list that receipies can be add to, with out a receipe in your list, you can't make the potion successfully. Also the list would provide some way of remebering what the ingredients(spells) and the order in with to add them to the brew. Granted you can still make the potion if you don't know the receipe, but for each new spell the chances of the brew exploding will be greater for a GM'd brewer with out, than an apprentice brewer with a receipe. The order of applied spells is crucial for those potions that differ by one ingredient.(spell) So both can be made but you don't get the better one by just adding the last spell. And as well as designating a proper name to the potion, ie Potion of Heroism. Also the receipe will cut down on cheats trying to make the potions with out them. Not just in negating the potential for explotions but also not getting potion name and all its given attributes. Attributes given by the spells and any bonus extras from the receipe. So having the receipe is required, not just aquiring the set (spells/order) from a friend or an alt or other ooc means.
Here's an other way to go about this. The spells that go in to the brew don't rightly have to give that out come in the potion. I don't remeber the stats for the “Potion of Heroism” but for an example I will use it. eg Ingrediens and order : bless; trollish vigor; bulls strength; protection. The end result does not need to give the exact outcomes of the spell that were put in, as in the negaive outcomes of trollish vigor(-X charisma) or the protection form good/evil. But the set of spells in their proper order is a catalist to making the new potion, with what ever stats are given to it by the code. So a plus to Hit/dam/save/ect rolls but no added strength or stamina. Or one of those thief aiding potions.(sorry, don't recall the names) That helped to thief to sneak/hide better or aided in picking/stealing/remtraps and one that aided in all aspecs. Each one may have the same set of spells but the order in which they are applied will give you one result or the other.
I'll think about this some more and will write more on it later...