Big Book Of Brewing - Dave Line

[evanvine]

If it wasn't for Dave Line's Big Book of Brewing, I don't think I would have got into All Grain.
There was no Forum and very little in the way of equipment in those days.
RIP Dave!

 

[dennisking]

If it wasn't for Dave Line's Big Book of Brewing, I don't think I would have got into All Grain.
There was no Forum and very little in the way of equipment in those days.
RIP Dave!

Personally I was not as impressed with this book. I found it confusing in places, especial the water treatment, I showed to my farther in law, a chemist with a lot of experience with the brewing industry and he said it did not make sense. Disappointing as I worshipped the first book.

 

[Aleman]

<Review to Follow>

 

[Dave1970]

I didn't really like this book. It was probably good in its day and it seems pretty comprehensive BUT it seemed very out of date to me. Quite a few of the things it talks about are obviously not standard practice any more.

 

[Vossy1]

I've got this book, I bought it from a perspective of historical interest, more than wanting to glean information from it, and IMO, I think that's how this book should now be viewed. At the time there was very little brewing literature about, Dave Line took the mantle up with this book, and to pour scorn in retrospect....well.

It's been a long time since I've read it, and I'm not going to re-read it for this review, not just yet anyway, but on a quick flick through there's quite a bit of content that's still relevant today, and also a bit that isn't. The majority of the recipes make me cringe with their additions of sugars, though they have their 'place' in some recipes.

I would not advise anyone to buy this book for any other reason than historical comparison, from memory some of the information is confusing and some is just wrong. You'd be much better of buying Graham Wheelers Home Brewing as a modern guide, though even that had errors in the 1st edition...hopefully Graham's corrected the ones I pointed out!

 

[Sean_Mc]

Very outdated and some of the methods come across as bonkers, now, but I love my copy for its creative and informative approach to brewing.

Written with passion in the dark ages of the dark side

To Dave :drink:

 

[brewzone]

I cannot help smiling when I look at the photo of Him on the back cover of the copy I have.

He looks to be a bloke You could have had a really good drinking/brewing session with.

Finding the bits that He used in his diagrams and photos was just as much fun as I have building the systems I make now.

He inspired Me to brew and made it accessible on a very low budget, I was a student at the time back in 84 and thanks to Him We made some really enjoyable quaffing ales.

Respect!

 

[fubofo]

Aww nuts, I just picked this book up from my LHBS while I was quickly nipping in to grab some PET bottles.

From the reviews here it doesn't seem like a good choice (I haven't even opened the first page). Would you guys suggest anything better as a starter to read?

 

[rich27500]

Pre-Internet his other book "brewing beers like those you buy" was a bible to me. Now it's a source of ideas for recipes. Things have changed but at the time there was nothing better.

 

[baz burger]

just bought this of amazon the updated version for just over a fiver inc pp brand new. first flick through it has some great old style beers in it and plenty that are still on the market.