Brew library

[manticle]

There are fixed definitions of all of those things ypu mention - just that there is always interpretation within and sometimes just outside of those definitions. Fermented beverages made with pear as opposed to apple are really perry for example but what if you add some pear juice to your apple juice?

You might be intetested in wild brews by Jeff Sparrow and radical brewing by randy mosher if not already familiar.
Only scanned topic so sorry if it' already been mentioned.
I like the science based texts and the historical texts so everything from fix, briggs or de clerck through to the above.

Also a few cider texts including 2 by Proulx.

 

[TimT]

Yeah Manticle but pubs and brewers call 'perri' pear cider for better recognition, so what are you going to do? I suppose there are relatively fixed homebrew definitions, but a whole lot of other definitions that have been used as well.

The Jeff Sparrow book sounds interesting - what's his shtick? Beers brewed with wild yeasts (lambics, and stuff like that), eccentric homebrewers, or something completely different?

 

[TimT]

UPDATE: Knew I'd miss out on something.

How to make cider, mead, perry and fruit wines, Craig Hughes - I used the elderflower wine recipe from here (with a slight variation - added cinnamon). He also has a section on beer and several fun and eccentric recipes, like stuff for Nettle Mead (a green wine!) Though I haven't read the book cover to cover I like his anecdotal style; at one point he tells a story about how he was holidaying in Arabia and got a recipe for desert lemonade - water, orange blossom water, citrus juices and mint. Good stuff.

 

[manticle]

Yeah Manticle but pubs and brewers call 'perri' pear cider for better recognition, so what are you going to do? I suppose there are relatively fixed homebrew definitions, but a whole lot of other definitions that have been used as well.

The Jeff Sparrow book sounds interesting - what's his shtick? Beers brewed with wild yeasts (lambics, and stuff like that), eccentric homebrewers, or something completely different?

I swear I replied to this.

Yes Lambics, faro, gueze, etc.

For me definitions and terms are for communication of information and continually evolve. I know what Perry is and I know what pear cider refers to so I'm not especially fussed if someone's expectations of technical jargon aren't met. Nonetheless the definitions are there if we want to use them.

Other things you might like include farmhouse ales by Phil Markowski, mad fermentationist blogspot and babblebelt forum. If you are into lambics etc, Google 'Liddl lambic lesson'.

 

[TimT]

ANOTHER UPDATE: Just finishing reading The Amber Nectar, by Keith Dunstan. Fascinating history of breweries in Australia, though also rather depressing since it tells how we went from hundreds of breweries in Aus (in the late 19th century) to essentially one, Carlton United Brewing, because of a combination of CUB's own management practices (apply pressure to shut down the opposition), and a succession of damaging policies on the part of government (temperance, referendums on closing hours, ever-raising beer taxes, closing down of pubs, etc etc etc. This copy ends in the mid-1980s (when it was published); there's been some changes since then.

 

[philmud]

Also own "The Art of Fermentation". His take on beer brewing is interesting, he's much more inclined towards using spontaneous fermentation than all of our fancy yeasts. I like our fancy yeasts dammnit! Definitely a good book for ideas though. And sauerkraut!