I am very curious to learn more about fermentation and yeast. I have just a little bit of background in science, but too much would go over my head. I am looking for a good book out there that would help. I am interested in general knowledge of yeast, along with brewing yeast, and of course I am very interested in wild yeast and bacteria found in lambics, like brett and lactobacillus, pediococcus. Any suggestions? Thanks.
The new book by JZ and Chris White should be good, but I haven’t gotten my copy yet. If you’re an AHA member you should have gotten an email with a coupon code a few weeks ago. I don’t know if they go into much detail on the bugs, but it I’m looking forward to reading it.
I like Brewing Microbiology but it is a bit more in depth than a lot of people would care for. I don’t recommend the Pierre Rajotte book, although there’s nothing wrong with it and some people like it, it’s just wasn’t very helpful IMO.
For bugs and stuff, articles seem to be the best source of information, whether from hobby/trade magazines or peer-reviewed scientific journals. You might check wine resources too, lots of good info there.
But anyway, I recommend starting with the new book and go from there.
If you are interested in “wild fermentations” check out Jeff Sparrow’s book “Wild Brews: Beers beyond the influence of brewer’s yeast”.
Agree the Pierre Rajotte was not very helpful.
I am looking forward to reading the new book by JZ and CW.
Pretty much anything written by Maribeth Raines is excellent. Here’s some info on yeast propagating…
Ah, forgot about that one - good call. I haven’t spent much time with it, it’s in my “to read” pile.