CAMRA homebrew book

I just came across the listing for this new book on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/CAMRAs-Brew-Your-British-Real/dp/1852493194

I’m not typically a big fan of recipe-centric books, but this is pretty interesting. Has anyone seen/read it?

I have the 2010 edition and it’s okay.  His take on brewing is interesting to read but it’s unlikely you’ll learn anything new. The biggest thing with the recipes is that most use “standard crystal”, which he gives as a range of 130-170 EBC, so 50-65. I imagine the breweries are a bit more exact and I have found English crystal can vary a lot by maltster

I have brewed the London Pride recipe a couple of times and it gets in the ballpark of the cask beer.

I’ve had more fun with the Real Ale Almanac, which is out of print, but can be found online at used book sellers. The authors surveyed British brewers and list ingredients. Apparently they made things up in some cases, though.

It certainly isn’t new, it’s a 3rd edition. I have had a copy a very long time.

I’ve seen more than one other place refer to this publication as “new” although it may just be new to Amazon.

The recipes are fairly good. One sees similarities in the malt, crystal is usually 5% or so. Mash temps usually are 149 to 151 F. Early hops at 90 or 60 min. Some late hops at 10 min. Only a few recommend dry hops. Hops are pretty typical British varieties. Yeast is not as specific as I would like, as are the fermentation specs. Not much of anything on water. All of this is from memory.

It gets you in the ballpark.

I’ve brewed a few recipes from that book.
As others have said the recipes are a bit vague in regards to yeast and crystal malts. But if you search around on the internet you can sometimes find more specific info. Since I’ve never had any of the commercial examples of the recipes I brewed I can’t say how accurate they are. I would say that every recipe that I’ve done from the book made a tasty beer.

I have the 1998 edition of that book.  I had been looking for a copy of the 1993 edition for a couple of years when the 1998 edition was released.  At the time, I found the recipes to be basic, but illuminating.  That book is where I first encountered black malt being used to color a beer amber.  I was also shocked to find recipes that contained sugar.