Books for brewing please

[pms67]

No sure mate?
I’ve not used the amount of hops he suggests in any brew yet
Here’s another 👍

 

[MagnusTS]

I'm getting this book (Morton) for Christmas.
(I know this because I bought it, and gave it to my middle son to give me for Christmas).
Can't wait to try some of the recipes, and these snippets are whetting my appetite.

Looks like I'll have to start saving up for hops though. :)

 

[pms67]

Hope I’m not ruining it for you!!!!
😉

 

[Sadfield]

Can anyone recommend a good book on constructing American style IPAs? I thought radical brewing may help here but it’s two pages on it weren't that informative.

Bloody good question. Given that the hop schedule is so prominent when building an IPA recipe, I've not seen any with indepth reference to hop addition strategy, or how hop analysis data influences hop selection. Just the same general info on bittering and aroma additions. I've not yet read Hops by Stan Heironymus, but his style is more historical and journalistic.

Stating the obvious, IPA by Mitch Steele may be the best bet. Although it focuses on the history of IPA from its origins to the present it contains a fair few commercial recipes.



"Inspiration is the impact of a fact on a well-prepared mind" Louis Pasteur

 

[Braufather]

I think the history has be done to death in every book, it would be good now to see books that just cut to the chase and focus on creating. I’d love a book with lots of tips about creating.

A good tip from that american pale recipe above, that I will take on board is that if one element is varied keep the rest simple. Might get that book!

Another question! With ipa recipes, as most are American, many tend to specify two row with a bit of Munich. I am guessing that would give something similar to Maris Otter, which may be less available over there. Any reason not to replace the two row Munich combo with Maris Otter?

 

[Sadfield]

Another question! With ipa recipes, as most are American, many tend to specify two row with a bit of Munich. I am guessing that would give something similar to Maris Otter, which may be less available over there. Any reason not to replace the two row Munich combo with Maris Otter?

Can't see any reason why not. Maris Otter is supposed to be a bit nutty, but with a boat load of hops over the top, it would be hard to pick out. The Americans replicating MO is funny. Whilst they are doing that, I read an article ages ago from one UK maltster talking about developing lighter pale malts to meet the demands of UK craft brewers, who want something cleaner for their IPAs. Muntons, Simpsons and Crisp all do Low colour pale malts these days.

 

[pms67]

I like this from James Morton

 

[Braufather]

Gonna get that book.

 

[pms67]

Ok, last one, it’s for the Bitter lovers 👍

 

[pms67]

Sorry, a bit of that is missing, fix it later

 

[Braufather]

James Morten's book will arrive tomorrow! ( along with that book on hops) , the Mrs signed up to a free month of amazon prime for smas- first time ive used it and it took about 5 seconds to order both ( on her account to boot!) happy days

 

[pms67]

James Morten's book will arrive tomorrow! ( along with that book on hops) , the Mrs signed up to a free month of amazon prime for smas- first time ive used it and it took about 5 seconds to order both ( on her account to boot!) happy days

Enjoy mate, just start saving up for hops now though !! He uses around 600-700 in one brew 😳

 

[AdeDunn]

I bought Brew on Kindle earlier myself. IMHO, Greg Hughes Home Brew Beer is a superior book. Brew seemed a bit on the short side, with too few recipes. Had I of bought it first and read it before everything else, I probably would have rated it higher, but after reading better books it seemed wanting. Kinda felt like reading a Readers Digest version of Greg Hughes, you know, those abridged versions they produce. :lol:

 

[chub1]

The only other book I would recommend that hasn't been mentioned, is Brewing Classic Styles by J. Zainasheff. It's primarily a recipe book with at least one recipe for every style and everything I've brewed from it has been great.

Had a voucher for Amazon so used it against this book.
Whilst my brewing is on hold at present(health),with too many beers to hand,it looked a good read with some future recipies.:thumb:

 

[chub1]

Had a voucher for Amazon so used it against this book.
Whilst my brewing is on hold at present(health),with too many beers to hand,it looked a good read with some future recipies.:thumb:

Just recieved my Brewing Classic Styles,had a quick flick through,looks to be a good read:thumb:

 

[Braufather]

Enjoy mate, just start saving up for hops now though !! He uses around 600-700 in one brew 😳

It’s a good book. He seems quite opinionated but thats ok, sort of simplifies it rather than suggesting multiple options at each turn. Gonna try one of the recipes next week and follow it to the letter to see how his methods turn out.

The hop book also arrived. It’s very dry and academic, but doesn’t make many solid conclusions. I was hoping for something more practical.

 

[GerritT]

I'm getting this book (Morton) for Christmas.
(I know this because I bought it, and gave it to my middle son to give me for Christmas).
Can't wait to try some of the recipes, and these snippets are whetting my appetite.

Looks like I'll have to start saving up for hops though. :)

Hoppiness is happiness! Is it you book you'd recommend for the average stovetop 15L brewer?

 

[MagnusTS]

Hoppiness is happiness! Is it you book you'd recommend for the average stovetop 15L brewer?

Yes, I'd definitely recommend this book. It is BIAB focussed, you'd just need to scale the recipes to suit. I read it from cover to cover when I got it, it is really well written, great writing style. I must admit I am maybe getting a little weary of reading the same intro to brewing material in every book, but I definitely picked a few extra things up.

As others have said the Greg Hughes book has more recipes (I really like that book too). Morton's recipes are maybe a bit more extreme (if that is the right word). He certainly doesn't mess about when it comes to massive amounts of hops.

Buy both.

 

[EddtheBrew]

Hi All ,
I'd like to chip in with two recommendations for brewing books to buy ;
Bronzed Brews , and the follow up , Six 0'Clock Brews by the very knowledgeable Peter Symons ; another traveller in the beer history field .
They're both available through the Lulu website ,
Cheers
Edd

 

[Dale Kirkwood]

I checked the recipes in it with the peek inside function before I bought, and wanted most of the recipes in there. So wasn't at all disappointed. I could totally see somebody been a bit put out though who bought it blind only to find nothing in there they overly wanted to brew. I also wasn't that keen on how they do indeed peg the all grain versions on at the end, not least as instead of telling you the hops for the all grain, they just tell you to "reduce the HBUs by N for the all grain version".

My favourite book though is still Greg Hughes Home Brew Beer. Without that book I wouldn't be able to understand half of the posts on here. :lol: When I started the hobby I was met with what felt like a solid wall of sparging, flame out, lautering, krausen and vorlauf... That one book allowed me to understand these terms, understand the processes, and came with some yummy recipes into the bargain. :thumb:

I bought the Graham Wheeler book accidentally (I thought I'd ordered the Greg Hughes one), and until I read the Greg Hughes book I found it hard going. I'm also not a huge fan of most popular British beer styles sadly, and my wife pulls her face when I mention brewing a stout or porter....

John Palmer How to Brew, well it's a BIG book! Again though the focus is on extract brewing when it comes to the recipes, with a heavy vibe of "buy my stuff". I can imagine it been a good choice for the brewer who wants to dive into the hobby in a very serious way. It's also incredibly American.

So that's why my fave 2 are Home Brew Beer and Clone Brews. :thumb: Oh, and the DIY Dog PDF..... :lol: That one is free too.

That's exactly the review was looking for about the greg hughes book sounds exactly what I need ie to understand all the terms and processes.