Dave Line - Big Book Of Brewing - 1985 edition

[Yob]

Ive had this book forever and while certainly outdated by current homebrew practice in many ways I find the following quite interesting

 

[Bribie G]

The 1985 edition was a reprint of the original that would be probably about 1973 vintage. I lived in Cardiff in 75 and used the book to learn about all grain brewing.
I had a BruHeat boiler (almost identical to the Electrim boiler .. I think the BruHeat is no longer made).

And a bag, they were an optional extra. The current Electrims, which haven't changed much in 40 years, are about 30L but back then I seem to remember they might have been smaller, and couldn't do a full BIAB in the modern sense, and needed a sparge. No real problem, and a rotating sparge arm was an optional as well.

Once the sparge was done and the second runnings added back into the boiler, no problems with doing a full boil.

Yob, the publishing history should be in the front of your 1985 issue?


edit: The Big Book of Brewing (1974) ISBN 0-900841-34-6

 

[Yob]

the yeast freezing section of the book is terrifying by what we practice today...

many aspects of the book still hold true though and is a great book to have in the collection,

looks like Ive not got the 85ed just the one posted above.. nonetheless...

 

[Bribie G]

The inconsiderate ******* died in his 30s, if he was still alive he'd be only in his 70s and would be on all the forums, can you imagine that.

I've also got his book "Brewing Beers like those you Buy", the revised edition in metric. Also the new edition has archived the extinct old keg beers like Watneys etc in a separate section, and I literally reduced a Welsh mate to tears a couple of years ago with a Double Diamond clone from the book.



Back in those days the only hops available to most home brewers were EKG, Fuggles, Hallertau and Saaz with a limited range of yeasts. So the recipes can be nicely tuned nowadays with the huge range available.

If you want the book on a loan I can post, Yob.

 

[S.E]

The 1985 edition was a reprint of the original that would be probably about 1973 vintage. I lived in Cardiff in 75 and used the book to learn about all grain brewing.
I had a BruHeat boiler (almost identical to the Electrim boiler .. I think the BruHeat is no longer made).

And a bag, they were an optional extra. The current Electrims, which haven't changed much in 40 years, are about 30L but back then I seem to remember they might have been smaller, and couldn't do a full BIAB in the modern sense, and needed a sparge. No real problem, and a rotating sparge arm was an optional as well.

Once the sparge was done and the second runnings added back into the boiler, no problems with doing a full boil.

Yob, the publishing history should be in the front of your 1985 issue?


edit: The Big Book of Brewing (1974) ISBN 0-900841-34-6

If you recall I caused a bit of an upset a few years ago when I posted about BIAB and the Electrim as it was and still is widely believed that BIAB was invented or discovered here on AHB. That is far from the truth though as it was a HB method used way before AHB or the internet.

One of my first HB books was by Ken Shales. I don’t have it anymore so cant check but I’m sure it was him that joked it was amazing how many home brewers emerged after HB was legalised in the UK in 1963 and were all instant experts in brewing beer with a bag in a boiler. Beer kits wouldn’t have been available then so brewers could only brew AG or partial with extract and hops. Bruheat and Electrim just copied the most common HB method and equipment used at the time and that has now become known as BIAB.

I still have my old Electrim Bin as it was called back then for some reason. It’s packed away somewhere though as I haven’t used it for years. From memory it was designed for a brew length or batch size as it’s called these days of 4.5 gallons or about 21-22L.

They were designed and used to do full BIAB or as near as dammit. It was difficult not to do a full or at least near full mash as the bag needed to be suspended above and well clear of the electric element to avoid burning a hole in it if you used the thermostat to maintain mash temp.

Following the instructions that came with my bin you could either open the tap and drain the wort into a separate fermenter or suspend the bag above the bin and let it drain. If you read Dave Lines description of the bag in Yobs post above it says the bag can be suspended above for sparging if necessary.


Although sold separately the grain bag was not really an optional extra but very necessary for all grain brewing in the Electrim as there was no false bottom and it would have been difficult to make or fit one due to the kettle element.