Secrets from the Master Brewers: America's Top Professional Brewers Share Recipes and Tips for Great Homebrewing [Paperback]

Paul Hertlein (Author), Maura Kate Kilgore (Author), Patrick Higgins (Author), Pete Slosberg (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 6, 1998

For the two million people trying to brew beer or ale that meets the quality of the popular microbrews, here's a book that goes beyond the basics and gives practical, expert advice on how to craft a truly distinctive brew. 17,500 first print.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Touchstone; Original edition (October 6, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0684841908
• ISBN-13: 978-0684841908
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #690,811 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Good idea executed badly by people who don't seem to care., October 18, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Secrets from the Master Brewers: America's Top Professional Brewers Share Recipes and Tips for Great Homebrewing (Paperback)

The authors of this book had a great idea: interview some legendary brewers and record their insights in a book. Unfortunately, these authors appear not to care a whit about their readers or whoever uses the recipes in this book. Do not use the recipes in this book without consulting an authority on brewing. Mistakes, editorial and authorial, abound. You can look through this and their other book, Homebrewers Recipe Manual or somesuch, and pinpoint obvious mistakes in Original Gravity, Amounts, and practices.

Examples: 1.75 pounds of roasted barley and 2 ounces of chinooks in a 5 gallon batch of "sweet stout"? More like "briquette stout". .25 of an *ounce* of particular grain in a 10 gallon batch? Imperceptible.

I called one of the brewers interviewed in this book because the advice given was unclear and poorly written. He was also disgusted with the authors, but gave me excellent advice, despite the interference of the authors.

I have learned some good things from this book, but the carelessness with which it was thrown together calls all of its information into question. Don't buy it.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good Brewing Info - watch out for the recipes!, June 5, 2000

By 

Curtis Jensen (Salt Lake City, Utah) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Secrets from the Master Brewers: America's Top Professional Brewers Share Recipes and Tips for Great Homebrewing (Paperback)

This book contains very valuable information about brewing better beer, whether at home or in a small brewery. The opinions of the brewers are justified in logical terms and make a lot of sense. The recipes are a different matter. In looking at a recipe for Americal Red Ale, my calculations showed that the beer would be two to three times more bitter than the most bitter beers available. I believe that it would be undrinkable. Please, if you buy this book, do the calculations before blindly following the recipes.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good book, November 27, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Secrets from the Master Brewers: America's Top Professional Brewers Share Recipes and Tips for Great Homebrewing (Paperback)

As a professional brewer I found this book interesting in that I was able to view thoughts on the subject by other professional brewers that I did not personally know. I frequently contact others in my area of the country and share thoughts and knowledge.

The recipes seem to be good examples of the styles they mean to emulate. You must remember beers can be very different from region to region, (but sweet stout should fall into certain guidelines) and vary brewer to brewer. That's what makes brewing and tasting beer so great.

I can appreciate the effort put forth by these authors, I also enjoyed thier first book. If a brewer felt missreresented in the book, well, I can't speak for the authors or that brewer, but in my mind the book was done well and is just what it claims to be.

The appproach to the recipes is relaxed and that is wonderfull. It will call for and ounce of Chinook hops, and not call for alpha acid or IBU's. While this is important to exactly replicate a beer time after time, I find the spirit of brewing is more closly followed by the more relaxed approach.

Anyway, good book.