Bill Velek wrote:
> First, I'm an experienced all grain brewer, and I have a couple of basic
> brewing books, so I don't need anything to explain how to brew, etc.
>
> Second, I did spend quite a bit of time trying to research old threads
> via Google groups, but most of the threads seem rather 'dated' --
> anywhere from a couple to several years old -- and I'm wondering if
> there is more info and experience out there now.
>
> I use BeerToolsPro software to help me design my recipes, but that only
> provides me with the amounts and temps of strike water and infusions,
> sparge water, etc., along with telling me whether my ingredients will
> result in how many IBUs, color range, and original/final gravity, etc.,
> but does not readily tell me, for instance, _which_ hops are the most
> appropriate for a given style of beer, etc. I have considered getting
> one or more books, and have some interest in the 'cloning' books, but
> have read in several old threads that they are actually not very
> accurate and very often use grain bills, hops, and mash schedules that
> are at odds with what is known (or commonly believed) to be the actual
> ingredients/schedule for the target brews. I am therefore wondering
> about 'Designing Great Beers'. Is anyone here familiar with that book,
> and would it be a good way to supplement brewing software? I know the
> easy answer is no doubt "Yes", but in what way? What I'm looking for is
> something that will tell me that for "this" beer or beer-style, I should
> use "this" type of hops, and "that" yeast, etc. Any info that will help
> be better appreciate "why" certain ingredients are used for a particular
> style would be great, too. If there are any other book recommendations,
> that will be appreciated, as well.
Designing Great Beers is a good book; the notable problem is that he has
no real information on Belgian styles, and some other substyles styles
are completely absent as well (Euro Dark Lager, for example).
He goes into some detail into the "whys" of ingredients, how ingredients
were used historically (to the extent that that data is available), and
presents a lot of information on incidence and amounts of ingredients
per style based on historical NHC second round winners. This is useful,
although I think the data naturally shows a build-in "contest" bias.
Overall highly recommended with the caveat that it's useless for Belgian
styles.
Other good books include some books from the AHA Style series -- some
are better than others. If you're into lagers, Noonan's "New Brewing
Lager Beer" is quite useful. I also like Fix's "Analysis of Brewing
Techniques", although some information may be more pertinent to small
professional brewers than homebrewers.
I haven't cared for the "Clone Brews" book, personally. The AG recipes
in particular seem poorly thought out, and in some cases just plain wrong.
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