tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8066877917844499643.post6676799897390421095..comments2024-02-23T15:34:32.816-05:00Comments on The Mad Fermentationist - Homebrewing Blog: Brewing Better Beer: Book ReviewThe Mad Fermentationist (Mike)http://www.blogger.com/profile/07379932734747507258noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8066877917844499643.post-7024663158157847702014-02-26T21:37:10.860-05:002014-02-26T21:37:10.860-05:00I wouldn't bet that these are the actual award...I wouldn't bet that these are the actual award winning recipies. The lakeside stout I made was not that great and it came out to spec. <br /><br />I agree 100% with all your points. Especially the high number of malts. I bet a lot of the recipies taste muddy or brown.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01581890808969459094noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8066877917844499643.post-50425665265429486042011-12-07T18:06:42.935-05:002011-12-07T18:06:42.935-05:00I think I disagree. While after the first read, I ...I think I disagree. While after the first read, I put this on the shelf and let it go. Then I read your review. I have since gone through most sections and find it to much more helpful than I thought. I think the authors approach to brewing is a great compendium to Designing Great Beers. While the latter teaches you how to hit numbers consistently through styles, BBB teaches you how to hit your numbers while maintaining a level of creativity that can sometimes be tamped down by learning high-technique and difficult styles.<br /><br />I think if you are looking for particular styles and techniques surrounding that style, the style books and academic papers are where you should be looking.<br /><br />All in all, I find this book great to revisit when trying to improve upon designs that came out of Design Great Beer.<br /><br />Speaking of tech papers:<br />http://www.scientificsocieties.org/jib/Sebastianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05871825128586513036noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8066877917844499643.post-67515530783224990372011-11-29T10:57:32.096-05:002011-11-29T10:57:32.096-05:00Thanks for the review. I recently picked up a use...Thanks for the review. I recently picked up a used copy of Dave Miller's out-of-print "The Complete Handbook of Home Brewing" to replace a copy that I loaned out and lost years ago. He is an excellent writer and I prefer his just-the-facts style over Papazian (which was "the other" homebrewing book when I started). The book is a little dated but full of useful advice. The section on saccharification is especially good at making the science accessible.<br /><br />I'd like to have a look at Palmer's book some time to see how it compares.Royskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06370434387575620172noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8066877917844499643.post-29617684920065113592011-11-29T10:05:59.688-05:002011-11-29T10:05:59.688-05:00I felt the same about the book. There were some g...I felt the same about the book. There were some good sections, but alot of times Gordon just mentions something interesting and doesn't discuss in any detail. And the Barleywine recipe is insane. I think there is 8 malts in that thing. Madness.<br /><br />I would recomend this book to folks that had just switched to all-grain. People still in their freshmen year of brewing would enjoy it.RudeBoyBrewinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06742094571957647083noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8066877917844499643.post-22219974991009314382011-11-29T09:50:19.658-05:002011-11-29T09:50:19.658-05:00I agree with your review... while some sections we...I agree with your review... while some sections were great (again, the different ways to use dark grains, and I also thought his explanation of decoction brewing was very straight-forward compared to a lot of other descriptions I've read), I was surprised that what a lot of what was in the book seemed to be for less-advanced brewers.<br /><br />Overall, I think I enjoyed more of the first half then the second.Shawnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08469375277267237839noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8066877917844499643.post-42764657923789135462011-11-29T09:19:54.116-05:002011-11-29T09:19:54.116-05:00I felt somewhat the same way about the book. I ch...I felt somewhat the same way about the book. I chalked that up to the fact that largely, I am already "brewing better beer." Sometime around my 40th batch (much later than most advanced homebrewers) I made an effort to improve all aspects of my brewing. 150 batches later, and I've already learned a lot of the lessons that Gordon outlines here. There were several tricks I picked up on, my favorite being the way he uses a 2L soda bottle and carbonator cap to fine tune beers before carefully bottling for a competition. But I suspect that if I picked up this book around my 40th batch, I would have found it to be a revelation. Where I am now, it was more of a confirmation that I am on the right path and that the way to improve is through repetition, refinement, and self-assessment. <br /><br />The chapter on analysis I thought was extremely well-written, as well.Beer Crafterhttp://www.twitter.com/beer_crafternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8066877917844499643.post-12122355568606578062011-11-29T06:30:39.536-05:002011-11-29T06:30:39.536-05:00Sounds more like this may have been written for pe...Sounds more like this may have been written for people who READ your blog, rather than the guy who WRITES it..... ;-)Middle Class Middle Aged White Guyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13781991895469133830noreply@blogger.com