Intermediate To Advanced Brewing Books

[taflex]

I've got a copy of How to Brew and am keen to learn more (even though a lot of the more technical stuff in HtB has gone a bit over my head at this stage, but I'll still have it there for reference if needed). I was originally looking at getting Designing Great Beers, but had Radical Brewing and New Brewing Lager Beer reccomended to me and they do seem more appropriate.

The thing is, I was more keen on Radical Brewing, which I'd have to order over the net, but I had a look around town today and found a copy of NBLB on the shelf, so I obviously won't have to wait for it to come over from the states if i pick that up instead (I'll only have to wait in the bloody Xmas shopping queue). I would have grabbed it, but I'm just a bit worried that it focuses too heavily on lager, and I'm more interested in brewing ales.

 

[taflex]

I just looked back over the Beer Advocate thread where these books were reccomended to me and it was neonmeate that reccomended them. I saw your name on the active users list and thought it might've been you, but wasn't sure. Thanks m(e)ate.

 

[neonmeate]

wait, someone stole my username?!

yes it was me.
don't get me wrong designing great beers is a great book, i just thought it was a bit annoying the way he analyses all the data on what percentage of final-round mrzens contained crystal malt etc for pages and pages, although there's a lot of interesting data on hops, and good stuff on water treatment.
radical brewing is a much more entertaining read, and he really gives you a feel for the flavours, and inspires you to muck around with weird stuff, whereas daniels just shows you how to do well in competitions basically. depends on what sort of brewer you are.
new lager brewing is quite an eliptically written tome - a challenging read in sections cause the guy isn't afraid to get scientific. excellent even if you don't brew lagers cause there's a lot of general advice on yeast, mashing, water and a good troubleshooting section. but maybe a bit outdated w.r.t. ingredients and gear that are available these days. also noonan is the kind of guy that will make you feel guilty taking shortcuts whereas mosher has more of an ends justifies the means approach.
i saw radical brewing the other day at dymocks, that was a surprise! so you should be able to order it in pretty easily without going to amazon.

 

[taflex]

Neon, you're a champ. Thanks again. I really couldn't give a frag about pages+ of 'final-round mrzens' etc atm and prolly would've ended up a bit bummed out by that book. I'll call Dymocks tommorow and see if they have or can get Radical Brewing locally. I definitely like the sound of Mosher's "ends justifies the means approach" too. If they have to get it from the US though I may aswell either just grab NBLB or order Radical Brewing online.

 

[Rubes]

If you really want to learn about brewing then Noonan's book is a great read. Be warned though it is not for beginners. You need to be ready to make the jump to all grain to get the most benefit. Sure it focuses on lagers but I found the way he explains everything in such detail really gave me a good overall grounding and you would be surprised how much is directly relevant for ales. It gets way technical at times but it also covers a lot a ground in a way that other books don't. If you can get a copy then snap it up.

 

[taflex]

Alright, **** it.... looks like I should get both of 'em.

 

[Backlane Brewery]

Re books, I saw something I shouldn't have the other day- my girlfriend appears to have bought me a copy of another book by the same guy, Ray Daniels, who did Designing Great Beer, for Christmas.
Only got a glimpse at it, called something like 101 Great Ideas for Beer, from reading the back seems to be a bit like Radical Brewing, but maybe less extreme.
Anyone heard of it? Hope it's not too techie.
Between that and the suspiciously demijohn-shaped parcel under the tree, I think I'm gonna be a happy boy next week.

 

[Jovial_Monk]

I have New Brewing Lager Beer in stock plus several other books

Jovial Monk

 

[wee stu]

Noonan can get heavy at times and does fit into the category of advanced in many ways.

I found Radical Brewing to be well presented and a good read. But it does have a number of errors as advised in the web site.

Got both of mine from Dymocks in Adelaide, so they must be lifting their game.

 

[taflex]

Well I got NBLB and have skimmed over a bit of it so far. It's pretty hardcore and isn't exactly the most exciting reading ('elliptical' was a good way to describe it), but it does seem like an excellent book for hard facts and I'm sure I'll get a lot out of it. I will have to get Radical Brewing aswell. If I just try and plough straight through NBLB it might end up boring me stupid with brewing.

 

[nonicman]

Just finshed reading a great book I was given for Xmas, A History Of Beer and Brewing, by Ian S Hornsey, ISBN 0-85404-630-5, published by the Royal Society of Chemistry 2003.

Ian is a microbiologist, and one of the founders of Nethergate Brewing Co Ltd in Suffolk, UK. He gives great detail on the ingredients, methods and reasons for many historical and modern brews. The books travels from pre-history to the present day, mainly focusing on the British brewing industry. The book contains a detailed history of certain beer styles, Porter is discussed at length. It is amazing how Govnt Excise and regulation has affected the way beer has been brewed. If you like your brewing history with a large dose of technical, this book is recommended. My copy was ordered from the US (do not know the exact details, it was a present).
It's 724 pages, my head is still swimming.

RCS book details

 

[johnno]

Well i like to keep my brewing simple. Papazian mentions in one of his books if you start getting too scientific about it , it may take the fun out of it.
They probably didnt even know what a microbiologist was when the Porter style was in full swing all that time ago.
Having said that, hey if you enjoy reading stuff like that go for it I say.
At the moment not for me.

cheers
johnno :chug: :chug:

 

[pint of lager]

This is one of the great things about brewing, you can keep it as simple as you like, or go in as heavy as you like.

Brewing has probably influenced governments as well as governments influencing brewing.

 

[Jez]

speaking of Papazian (albiet briefly , does anyone know where I can find his books in Sydney?

Jez

 

[kungy]

A search of Kinokuniyas online bookshop, seems to suggest they have in stock in the Sydney Store for AU$29.95 (The Complete Joy of Home Brewing, third ed)

Cheers

Will

PS i need to start saving for Radical Brewing, looks like a interesting read

 

[kwinchee]

the best book of all is
"FROM HARVEST TO MOONSHINE"
and if ya starting
"MOONSHINE MADE SIMPLE"