What are your go to tech books? I hear this is the best, Technology Brewing and Malting by Kunze. What are you thoughts?
I know some brewers swear by the De Clerck books. I seems to me this one would have more relevent information to start up brewers because of the equipment that they use.
Which ones are you using if any?
Why do you need books when you have the internet?
Radical Brewing. I love Randy’s point of view and the charts on the uses of adjuncts have been great during my experimental beers. Hands down one of my favorite beers I’ve brewed so far was a Belgian Pale Ale brewed with chamomile tea. I had the chance to do a tasting led by him at Iron Hill here in PA during Philly Beer Week for only $10. What a deal!
How to Brew has come in handy during my switch to all-grain but I wouldn’t say I couldn’t live without it.
Just wanted to apologize for posting off topic. Those damn percocets kicked in and I was thrilled to be posting!
Merry Holidays everyone!
New Brewing Lager Beer by Greg Noonan has taught me more than any other.
The name is misleading. Not just for lager lugs.
If you are looking for a book that teaches you the more technical aspects of pro-brewing, such as heat exchanger sizing, glycol system configuration, CiP procedures, etc, etc, etc. Good luck. I have never found a book that covered such topics. What I have done is relied on Cooling and Heating guys, electricians, chemical guys and engineers to point me in the right direction.
There are a few books that are written more for the pro brewers. New Brewing Lager covers a lot of things such as how to read a malt data sheet, etc. “Yeast” by CW and JZ is geared more for the pro brewer than the hobbyist IMO. Many of the “style guide series” focus on aspects of pro brewing including showing recipes in bbl sizes as well as homebrew sizes.
I actually forgot about one book I have that does cover many of the technical aspects of brewing such as those mentioned above. It is geared more for the pro brewer. It’s called The Brewer’s Handbook by Ted Goldammer. Not sure I highly recommend it but you may find a lot of useful material in it.
Principles of Brewing Science by George Fix is another excellent reference.
FWIW I was fortunate enough to have been friends with both Greg and George, and had the opportunity to judge beers with them at sanctioned competitions.
I’m a homebrewer…I haven’t really found any books aimed at commercial brewers to be more than marginally relevant to what I do.
I liked Hand Book Of Brewing, Second Addition. It seemed aimed more at someone aspiring to be pro and the most up to date book I’ve read. Beer: Tap into the Art and Science of Brewing, Second Edition was good but not too in depth. Just a few good tid bits here and there.
Another on that I like is The American Handy Book Of Brewing, although it’s not very up to date.
“hand book of Brewing”. Wondered why I hadn’t heard of that one. Then saw the price! $180 bucks! :o
Come on now, it’s only 22¢ per page. :
I like this book, but I wouldn’t say I use it. I wouldn’t really recommend it for 99.9% of homebrewers either.
http://www.amazon.com/Brewing-Microbiology-F-G-Priest/dp/0306472880/ref=dp_ob_title_bk
To quote spanky:
[quote]I am an avid homebrewer. I have been brewing all-grain for around six years. I am fascinated by the science behind the art. This book was not for me. Then why did I give it 5 stars? It is really, really comprehensive on spoilage bacteria and fungus, genetics etc that I am positive anyone in the industry that works with storing grain, consulting for breweries, lab work concerning beer production packaging etc will really get a lot out of this book. I did actually enjoy many parts of it but much of it cites hundreds of other papers that I do not have access too so there isn’t anyway I could follow up if I wanted to. The genetics material was also well above my current level of understanding.
[/quote]
That’s my thinking too…I’ve read a few of the pro brewing texts and find them interesting, but considering the scale on which I brew it’s basically more information than I really need.
I do like Noonan’s book, though, and found some practical info there.
Standards of Brewing – Charlie Bamforth – great for the more of the “how to’s” than the “why’s” of QC; then again, the “why’s” should be relatively self-explanatory
MBAA Practical Handbook for the Speciality Brewer – Karl Ockert – good for a broad perspective on a number of topics, could be a little more in depth
Anything by Bamforth or Lewis is good to have on hand. The CW / JZ Yeast book I found really helpful for yeast lab protocol. Brewing Classic Styles and Designing Great Beers are both good reference points for recipe development (more on the homebrew than pro side of things, though).
I agree with Major on the technical aspects of pro-brewing operations. I’ve learned more from the Probrewer forum and talking with other brewery owners than I have from any book. The CBC was also incredibly beneficial – anyone looking to open a craft brewery should attend IMHO.
+1 - my #1 go to pro book
I find that price to be a bargain. I have found out that you pay for knowledge in basically two ways. 1) College or 2) The world of hard knocks. I have found the second to be more costly, since it normally has reduced my working capital.
Todd
Sure. If you are a pro I can see ordering it, or having your company ordering it. But my point was simply I can see why someone with a background in basic homebrewing had never heard of it. I don’t think it is a bargain for a homebrewer at all. For someone going pro I definitely think a couple good text books are worth the price.
I have the Kunze book coming a great present from my son. I will let you know my thoughts as it should be here in a couple weeks.