There are a LOT of recipes that use salt as a brine and dump out the brine after its done its job. Usually things leech out liquid when it sits in a very salty brine. The brine is used to remove a lot of the water the vegetables contain. Yes, you can add the spices and vinegar for the final brine. I make a half sour, that is salt and water, and the cukes also remain in it all the time. It is a seasoned brine, and just a tiny amount of vinegar is used to slow down further salt curing. Because recipes very, as do their outcomes, its very difficult to know what your looking for, and what direction you want to go to. Not only does dill work well, but also garlic as a seasoning for pickles. About all you can do is to put together a batch you created, and make notes on how it was done, as well as its end texture and taste. If its not to your liking, either use a different recipe, or adjsut the one you are using to achieve a taste and texture you prefer. Keep in mind that not everyone has the same preferences when it comes to making pickles, or even for ANY home canning, so you need to try and experiment. Recipes, even those done the exact same way many times, can vary in their outcome.
Good luck

As Ken said, it's not at all unusual to pour off the old brine and can in fresh, either the original recipe or a finishing brine with some vinegar, salt and water. A lot of people find the original brine too "funky" for their taste.

I posted a recipe for a finishing brine on this thread over on Cooking. It's from Wisconsin State Extension. Just scroll down to the end.

Carol

Here is a link that might be useful: Finishing Brine

Thank you both!!!! I feel so much better. Carol I will use the finishing brine you suggested.

Exactly as you guys said, I had assumed the brine was too funky (and salty!) to use for the finished product. Glad I'm not the only one! My brine took 6 weeks- I did notice that a few of the cukes had very small spots that hadn't turned translucent yet, but I did go ahead with desalting today. I'm soaking them in hot water and changing the water every 4 hours like the bbb said. My dill heads have all gone to seed, so I will have to use some seed along with a little dried, and some garlic, and maybe a few peppercorns and a bit of hot pepper. I usually use pickle crisp or grape leaves for my quick pickles, I wonder if either of these would be of any use in a fermented pickle... I did a search on the site... but I haven't come up with any info on that.

Some people like to use grape leaves out of tradition or for appearance's sake.

However, the grape leaves achieve the same result as cutting off the blossom end, so if you've done that you won't see any additional benefit. However, you still may want to add a leaf for appearance's sake.

Pickle Crisp is designed for fresh-pack and quick pickles. It's not meant for fermented pickles, which cure by an entirely different process.

Carol