Customer Reviews

Handbook of Brewing, Second Edition (Food Science and Technology)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a serious book. Weighing in at over 800 pages, the Handbook of Brewing (2nd Ed.) is a dense tome of scientifically analyzed aspects of brewing. The reason I'm reviewing this book is because one of the two reviews for it is not only negative, but claims that it is not "in depth." He and I must have a different idea of in-depth. This book is pure science - you will not find hearsay and conjecture. You will not find anecdotal evidence. Every chapter in this book has an extensive reference section. It was written by scientists for scientists. The editors are Ph.Ds; each chapter has its own author(s), with their own unique credentials. I will paste a small excerpt from the chapter of miscellaneous additives to give you an idea what to expect:

"Discriminating between [kappa], [iota], and [lambda] carrageenans and furcellaran is important when formulating any kind of fining material for wort or beer to provide the most desirable functional properties. When [kappa] carrageenan forms protein-carrageenan complexes, the carrageenan moiety appears to form brittle gels, resulting in the formation of rather compact but not tightly bound sediments. Iota carrageenan, in the presence of Ca, Mg, and K ions, forms elastic gels. [...] In practical brewing studies, [kappa] carrageenan strongly removes from wort the hot and cold break proteins and other proteins that would eventually cause chill haze."

If you have at least a vague understanding of what is being talked about, and more importantly an interest in such things, this book may be for you. It is quite good at explaining in sufficient detail what some of the more obscure jargon means. The 22 chapters of the book cover a wide range of topics. This book is clearly for the science-minded, though; it is not for the brewer who doesn't use hydrometers, who doesn't take meticulous records, or who doesn't do any calculations before brewing. There is nothing wrong with those sorts of people, but some of us (I have a significant science background) want to REALLY know what's going on in our vessels. The casual homebrewer will probably not benefit much from this book. The casual homebrewer will also probably not read most of this book (and I don't blame him in the slightest). Its length and depth are that of a textbook and so this "Handbook" should not be used as a pocket reference while you've got wort on the stove, like, say Palmer's (admittedly indispensable) How to Brew. This book is for someone with a significant brewing background. It is for someone who has read Palmer, Papazian, Zainasheff, etc. and still wants to know more, much more. It is for someone who finds reports on internet brewing forums underwhelming, at times unbelievable, and almost universally un-rigorous. It is also noticeably geared towards larger-scale brewing. If I ever make it so far as to open a microbrewery, this book would undoubtedly be on my desk at all times, with bookmarks popping out, pages dog-eared, and handwritten notes in the margins. This is a great book, but it is most certainly not for every brewer, or even most. I think the target audience, however, would be very happy with this book (some expenses are worth it).

I am using this book as a resource for my bioengineering senior design project. It is a great overview of the entire process. It explains brewing terminology clear enough for the novice brewer, but also gives enough detail to satisfy the experts.

More of a Wikipedia type reference with basic info that can be found elsewhere (Palmer, Mosher, Daniels, etc). Since I have several other of the 'standard' books I was looking for something a little more in depth - this didn't really do it for me. I ended up returning the book and buying more ingredients to brew more beer! It does have references for reserach articles and such for further in depth reading. What I was really looking for is not morsels of information or pointers for further reading but a book which pulled that info together (such as Essays in Brewing Science by Michael J. Lewis which I found much more useful).

Contrary to what one of the other reviewers implies, I have an advanced engineering degree and have a solid technical background. I was not overwhelmed due to the technical nauture of this text but merely had different expectations. Perhaps my expectations were not reasonable and this book being a "Handbook" did provide the definitions of vast majority of terms and topics that anyone interested in the subject would encounter. My point is it should not be confused as a textbook or a detailed summary of the subject matter. It is more a leaping point for further research and reading especially for someone that has not read many of the other books available.