New Brewing Lager Beer: The Most Comprehensive Book for Home and Microbrewers [Paperback]

Gregory J. Noonan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 17, 2003

This book offers a thorough yet practical education on the theory and techniques required to produce high-quality beers using all-grain methods either at home or in a small commercial brewery.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Greg Noonan is the owner and brewmaster at the Vermont Pub and Brewery and founder of the Seven Barrel Brewery.

Product Details

• Paperback: 363 pages
• Publisher: Brewers Publications; Rev Exp edition (September 17, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0937381829
• ISBN-13: 978-0937381823
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #118,717 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #73 in Books > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Chemistry > Physical & Theoretical
  • #86 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Drinks & Beverages > Beer

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great reference - but not for beginners!, January 5, 2004

By 

Brian A. Schar (Menlo Park, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: New Brewing Lager Beer: The Most Comprehensive Book for Home and Microbrewers (Paperback)

This classic book has recently emerged from the land of the out-of-print books in a new edition, and I bought one as soon as I found out it was available. As an experienced homebrewer, I found it fascinating and informative. Noonan gets down to the hardcore chemical and technical foundations of brewing. And if you are interested in decoction mashing, Noonan provides what is probably the best description of the process that is available in print. This book is perfect for the professional brewer or advanced all-grain homebrewer.

However, the sheer volume of detail would bore a newcomer to brewing, or worse yet, scare him or her off. The beginner simply doesn't need this much highly-technical information. However, after that beginner gets a few batches under his belt, this book would be a good addition to his or her brewing library.

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Required reading for all-grain efforts, lager or ale., August 23, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: New Brewing Lager Beer: The Most Comprehensive Book for Home-and Microbrewers (Paperback)

Noonan's text is simply superb. It is well organized, extremely detailed, and concise. This is a book about how and why you use each part of the brewing process. Noonan champions and explains the decoction mash, and even explains how to figure out if the malt you're using needs a decoction or an infusion mash. Appendices address both the infusion mash and the step mash, concisely, yet in detail.

The first third of the book, dedicated to ingredients, is alone worth the price. The detail on malt, brewing water, and yeast instantly imparts a greater understanding of and appreciation for the brewing process.

Read this book and begin to make informed decisions about your ingredients and the processes you use to brew beer from them.

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Reference, July 26, 2000

By 

G. Langowski "njbeerboy" (Middletown, NJ) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: New Brewing Lager Beer: The Most Comprehensive Book for Home-and Microbrewers (Paperback)

This book is required reading for any serious brewer. After reading it, you will know how to choose your ingredients, the correct process for your ingredients and the proper equipment to make high quality beers. There is a lot of good advice for setting up your brewery (at home or otherwise) and the general guidelines for getting the most out of your brews. Even though I have been an all-grain brewer for some time, I find that I still go back to Noonan's book for practical information rather frequently. The only downside to this book is that the theoretical sections can be rather confusing. I am an engineer by education and I had a difficult time of understanding the enzyme reactions that occur in a mash or way hop resins combine with ions in the wort. A good deal of this in-depth theory made this book read like a college text, instead of like a book for the hobbyist.

Still, once you can distinguish the practical aspects from the theoretical information, this book is a must-have.