I have a degree in Microbiology and wanted to see if you guys know of any books that have an emphasis on microbiology and chemistry… Thanks!
Here are four that I have in my library:
Both Volumes of this textbook.
“Brewing” by Michael Lewis
Thanks for the suggestions guys. Appreciate the images punatic.
In addition to those already mentioned:
Yeast; by Chris White and Jamil Zainasheff
A lot of what’s in it will be old news to you, but there’s probably enough information specifically brewing yeast to make it interesting.
New Brewing Lager Beer; Greg Noonan
Bridges the gap between homebrew and microbrewing. Lots of good technical stuff.
To a lesser extent, consider the various “Classic Styles” series books published by Brewers Association Press. The latest ones are quite good: “Brewing With Wheat” and “Brew Like a Monk” by Stan Hieronymus, “Wild Brews” by Jeff Sparrow, Farmhouse Beers by Phil Markowski. The earlier books in the series are uneven in quality and some of them are getting long in the tooth. Quality really depends on author. Koelsch and German Wheat Beer by Eric Warner are quite good. If you care about sour beers, and are willing to spend the money to get a (rare, highly sought after) used copy, Lambics by Jean Xavier Guinard is also excellent.
Beyond that, you’ll probably want to get one of the big, crunchy, ridiculously expensive academic brewing/fermentation science textbooks. Most of the big names in the academic brewing world have produced one: Ludwig Narziss, Jean De Clerck, Charles Bamforth, Michael J. Lewis, Wolfgang Kunze. A Google Books or Amazon search for those names plus the term “brewing” or “beer” will be instructive.
Frankly, if you have a degree in microbiology, I’d skip “Yeast” and just get “Brewing Yeast and Fermentation” by Bolton and Quain. It’s pretty much the bible.
I’m a fan of “Brewing Microbiology”. It’s not cheap, but it has a level of detail you might enjoy.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0306472880/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1?pf_rd_p=486539851
The new edition (4th) of Kunze was just published in May. Its available from Siebel for $200. Decent price from what I can tell.