Homebrewing From Scratch?

     I'm on a continuing journey to create homebrewed beer that can truly be defined as "from scratch".  Of course, I cannot grow my own supply of malted 2-row barley. Nor can I reasonably consider the time required to domesticate wild hop plants and create cloned hybrids that have desired aroma and flavor characteristics. So, what should I consider a "from scratch" recipe?
     I have done some experimentation in the past by introducing a single unknown variable into a recipe. A sort of "scientific control" if you will. For instance, I was brewing a pale ale and decided to follow a standard recipe except for the yeast. I ended up using a strain of yeast that I had isolated from the skins of Concord grapes that visually seemed similar to normal beer yeast supplied by retailers. (I could have introduced multiple variables, such as wild hops and maybe home kilned barley but if the resulting beer was awful I wouldn't know the cause.)  Anyway, the beer turned out unpleasant and as a result I have abandoned the idea of using wild yeast for any recipe!
    My next batch will be incorporating wild hops that I recently discovered on a bike path near my home. I am cautiously optimistic about the outcome but one never knows.  I have to wonder what the first batches of beer must have tasted like before the domestication of yeast and hops. Perhaps the effect of the alcohol was enough to offset the horrid taste.  I'm sure that over time, through experimentation with ingredients and technique, desired aspects were gradually achieved and got us to where we are today.
   So, perhaps I should spend the extra money for genetically altered barley and proprietary yeast/hops instead of spending the time and effort that i have. My next batch of beer that i am brewing with wild hops may not turn out very extraordinary, but then again you never know....