This weekend I bought a new brewing book while I was at Northern Brewer picking up some bottle caps. I had read about the book on the Shoreman Organic Brewing blog, its Brewing Classic Styles by Jamil Zainasheff and John Palmer. Jamil is probably the most famous homebrewer other than Charlie Papiazan. I had seen this book but was skeptical until reading the review on Shoreman's blog. I flipped through the book some this weekend and I'm really excited about it. First of all, I love his approach to brewing and his attitude of experiment and try because in the end, it's just beer. If I read too technical of books I begin to overthink things and then it becomes less fun for me because I get stressed out. So I appreciate books that take a more relaxed approach. This book has his award winning recipes, but also a lot of good insight into the style and some fermentation tips for each style. I tend to look at the recipes as guides, but not copy the actual recipe, and I think its going to be a great resource. Its very informative, yet brief and to the point. A couple beers I've been interested in making, Weizenbock, Oatmeal Stout, Tropical Stout, are in here, so I'm excited to read it some more.
My brewing bible is Radical Brewing by Randy Mosher. I've mentioned this book several times throughout the blog, and I'll continue to promote this book! My dad is an extract homebrewer and taught me the basic ropes of homebrewing. After that, I got most of my knowledge from the internet and what I'm sure were tons of annoying conversations with the staff at Northern Brewer and Midwest Supplies. Then last year I got Radical Brewing and it changed everything! I know that sounds cheesy, but Randy Mosher's laid back approach encouraged me to a)brew more Belgians because I was scared off before, b) partial mash brew, c) experiment with whatever because in the end its just beer. Its the resource I go to if I'm thinking "I wonder what this would taste like" or if I'm thinking about brewing a new style. I can't reccomend this book enough.
A book I got this summer and used to design my Brother Brotino and will be using to design my upcoming El Jefe Belgian is Brew Like A Monk by Stan Hieronymus. I've only read through this book a couple of times and I think its a good resource for brewing Belgians. Its very informative and well written. Its definately not for beginnners, as it dives pretty quickly into some techincal language. It has a great amount of information on the brewing traditions and specifics of six trappist breweries. This is a quote from the book:
You shouldn’t consider this a recipe book, but this is where you’ll find recipes created by both professional and amateur brewers, and they explain their thoughts about recipe formulation and making the recipes work.Its a good book, and one that I'll continue to use as a reference when making Belgians. I would definitley put it in the "Intermediate" range when it comes to using this book for brewing, much more advanced than the previous two books mentioned.
In other Bearded Brewing news, I bottled my Yinzer Lager experiment this weekend. Happy that the hops mellowed out, but not quite sure what to think of this yet. I'll hold off on commenting until its had some time to age. I'm skeptical of how it'll end up. Between that and the Frozen Beard Winter Ale, I could have two disappointing 3 gallon batches....let's just say that's why its called experimental!
I was happy with La Libertad, my west coast pale ale, after 1 week in the bottle. I'll have a review of this once its been in the bottle a bit longer. The bottle I had was good, so I have high hopes. Due to a plumbing issue in the brewery, I wasn't able to brew the Gringo this weekend, so that'll be coming. I also plan on doing a review on the blog this week about some organic beers I've been meaning to review. I tried another one, Fish Brewing Company's Organic IPA this weekend and was impressed. I'll post that in the next couple days.
Salud!
The Bearded Brewer
