Customer Reviews

An Analysis of Brewing Techniques

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So after reading the other two reviews I have to speak up with a differing opinion. I have a shelf full of brewing texts including books from Noonan, Daniels, Lewis, Korzonas, Miller, Hieronymus, and many more. Looking at it now I count 33 different titles about brewing techniques, recipes, and styles. When it comes to finding a clear and practical answer to a deep technical question, though, An Analysis of Brewing Techniques is almost always where I end up. In a fairly slim text he manages to cover a wide range of topics that others merely skim.

For example, today I had a question about when to use various fining agents on my beer. In eight pages he explains what causes beer clarity problems, the theory behind the techniques for clearing beer, various specific fining agents, tables showing experimental results at different dosing rates, downsides of the various methods, and references to more deep technical papers if I want to follow up. Immediately following that he goes into detail on how to filter beer. That's indispensable for a brewer that's graduated beyond the basics but doesn't have the time to get an education at UC Davis or Weihenstephan.

This is a fairly difficult book to track down at a reasonable price. If you do find it and you already have the basics well in hand then you won't be disappointed. I know I guard mine closely. If I were forced to pair my collection down to just three books they would be How to Brew by Palmer, Brewing Classic Styles by Zainasheff, and An Analysis of Brewing Techniques by Fix.

I disliked this book because it contained several errors and misquotes, and seemed to be an advertisement for Zahm and Nagle (though I doubt the authors have any afilliation).

Fix and Fix attribute several statements which I found surprising to author and Master Brewer Eric Warner in his excellent book, German Wheat Beers. I read Warner's book before this one, was surprised, went back to Warner, and could not locate, after several re-readings, the statements which Fix and Fix had attributed to him in that book.

There are numerous references, however, to the companion volume, also by George Fix. Unfortunately, this is overdone, and appears quite condescending. As an example, Fix's own Principles of Brewing Science is cited as the authority that esters are compounds which may be formed from an alcohol molecule and a molecule of a carboxylic acid by dehydration synthesis. Inasmuch as this is covered in virtually every book on elementary Organic Chemistry, it is questionable whether it needs citation or not. In any case, it appears that Fix himself is claiming this as his own discovery.

The illustrations, which are usually quite nicely prepared, are often on a different page from the accompaning text. While this is at times unavoidable, it was the rule rather than the exception, and usually occured for no apparent reason. The same observation applies to numerous tables.

One feature of the book which I found inspiring appeared in several of the photographs: many ribbons, trophies, etc., are visible, which the authors presumably won in Homebrew competitions.

This is an interesting book, filled with lots of experimental data. I was expecting a comparative analysis of various brewing techniques used in industry. Unfortunately, this book seemed to be more of a comparative analysis of the Fix's various home brewing techniques, most of which only translate loosly into professional brewing techniques or even practical home brewing techniques.

There are some good insights and information in this book and these save the book from being completely useless.