Customer Reviews

Altbier: History, Brewing Techniques, Recipes (Classic Beer Style Series, 12)

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Being a homebrewer for 4 years, I have found that Brewers Publications' Classic Beer Styles Series is an excellent resource for discovering and making numerous quality brews. In Altbier, Horst Dornbusch tackles a style that few people may have ever had. His approach is practical and to the point. The history section is thorough without being long-winded, as is sometimes the case with other books in the series. Mr. Dornbusch has done an excellent job applying his own brewing knowledge in explaining the ins and outs of altbier brewing. I have followed some of the recipes in the book, and I am extremely pleased with the results so far. The only downside to this book is that the section on style profile could have been more thorough and descriptive. However, this book is well worth the investment.

I'm going to be brewing an alt and I got a recipe on line, and also have a couple of how-to-brew-beer books, BUT I had too many unanswered questions. This is relatively small, very concise, clearly written book on alts, by a man who hails from that part of Germany and learned how to brew them himself. Because it's a book specifically about altbier it covers territory that other brew books don't. An example: "If you prime your beer, avoid sugar, which can contribute a slightly sour aftertaste to the brew. Always use light dried malt extract (DME) istead." That statement, of course, refers to altbiers. He covers commercial, homebrew all-grain, and homebrew extract methods of brewing. This isn't a book for the first time brewer, however I've only got two batches under my belt and this book has clarified enough for me to proceed with confidence. Another bit of handy information included in the book: for those of us who have a regular old fridge, he points out that the temperature range of most of them falls between 40- 60 degrees fahrenheit. 60 degrees can be used for primary fermentation and 40 degrees is at the upper limit of the alt lagering temperature. Therefore, an unmodified refridgerator can be used for altbier making. Thanks Horst. Recipes in the back for one barrel, 5 gallons all-grain and 5 gallons extract.