Customer Reviews

Stout (Classic Beer Style)

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

 

 

I found this book on stout to not be as good as the chapter on stout in designing great beers. This is probably the worst in the series. If you are getting all the books in the series you may as well get this one otherwise save yourself some time and just get designing great beers. My biggest complaints.

a. Completly dismissive of the Oatmeal Stout style saying it's just a sweet stout plus marketing.
b. Treats imperial stout as just a stronger version of standard stout.
c. Doesn't ever define stout.
d. no recipies for milk stout or oatmeal stout(see a).
e. Refuses to accept porter as a different style.
f. Lot's of downright incorrect information.

I have read most of the classic beer style series from Brewers' Publications, and contrary to many of the opinions expressed in reviews so far, I think that _Stout_ by M.J. Lewis is one of the best. _Stout_ is an outstanding book for the serious home-brewer; don't be misled by the unfavorable reviews.

I am, however, glad that I waited to purchase this book. As one reviewer says, it does not provide information for a first time brewer (though such information is readily available in print and online). And as another reviewer suggests, the chapter on stout in Daniels' _Designing Great Beers_ provides a much better *starting point* for stout brewing. Using Daniels' chapter as guide, a brewer can make a passable stout on his first try, and even possibly a great one.

Lewis' _Stout_ is a book for the home- or craft-brewer who can already make a decent stout, but who wants to take it to the next level. The history of Guinness and the account of their brewing methods is interesting, but in terms of practical value, the real heart of this book is chapter 4, "A Taste of Stout".

Chapter 4 begins with a corrective polemic on beer styles, where Lewis argues (reasonably persuasively) that the subdivision of stout styles has rather little to do with flavor profiles and rather more to do with marketing, which in previous, less teetotaling eras, often involved making health claims (hence the wholesome-sounding "oatmeal" and "milk" styles of stout). I personally find beer styles to be extremely helpful in my attempts to explain beers to novice tasters. But as a brewer, I really just want to make a great beer. If it ends up a bit sweet: fine, call it a sweet stout if you'd like; if it ends up a bit astringent and well attenuated: fine, call it a dry stout. If it ends up on the lighter side: call it a porter. What really matters is that the beer tastes great and looks great in the glass.

Lewis takes an empirical approach to profile the sensory qualities of stout. He begins with a deflated definition: a stout is a black or very dark beer that is referred to as a `stout' by its brewer. The rest of chapter 4 is spent supplementing this definition with a statistical analysis of commercial stouts available at the time of writing (1995). No concise definition is ever offered, but correlations and oppositions in the flavor breakdown are discussed at some length. In the course of this discussion, the reader is given a concise introduction to the world of scientific sensory analysis. The author clearly has the ambition to get his readers to try such methods for themselves, and to that end he provides an excellent explanation of the principal elements of stout's flavor, mouth-feel, and aroma. Using this lexicon and referring to the standard reference beers for each element, a reader is able to become an expert taster of stout. A few test batches later, and the reader can explain what ingredients make what sorts of flavor contributions to his beers and is freed from the descriptions penned by a specific maltster or by the author of a book written before the barley in his mash tun was even sown. Malts change over the years and from region to region, making older descriptions inherently unreliable, at least for the fine-tuning of an already passable product. Performing her own sensory analysis frees a brewer from relying on these sources. A casual home-brewer does not need this kind of information, but a serious brewer does, whether a home-brewer or a professional.

Lewis also presents the best explanation that I've seen of the difference between flavor and mouth-feel, and of the ways that they can become confused in the process of tasting beers.

Other reviewers seem to have been turned off by two things: the use of principal components analysis to construct the sensory profile of stout, and the use of extract weight in specifying recipes. The concept of extract weight is used by the big boys to calculate their malt bills, and a serious home-brewer should not be scared off by practices that have led to commercial success and repeatable brewing. An extract weight recipe remains relatively constant even when the raw agricultural products change form year to year or over the course of a year as moisture from the air accumulates in stored malt. The technique is adequately explained at the beginning of chapter 6, and would be of use to any home brewer that buys her grains in bulk. Principal components analysis leads to a very sophisticated characterization of stout, but anyone who has sampled a few stouts already has the basis of this analysis down: you can taste whether a beer is sweet or bitter, whether it has a burnt taste (ashy) or a roast taste (coffee, chocolate). The statistical analysis that Lewis provides just takes such judgments to the next level, so that associations and anti-associations between these elements can be seen.

In the background, I think also that the author's dismissal of beer styles may rub some home brewers the wrong way. We rely on styles in competitions, and as a shorthand for describing our projects to one another, so a dismissal of beer style might read as a dismissal of home brewing and home brewers. This impression might also be reinforced by the presentation of technical data in relatively raw forms, which one might assume is only relevant to the professional brewer-chemist. I think that a closer reading of _Stout_ will reveal these impressions to be incorrect, and even if correct, they would not diminish the usefulness of the information and techniques presented in _Stout_, even to the home-brewer.

A final comment: the glimpse into the history and manufacturing process of Guinness is priceless---ever wonder how the widget in canned Guinness works?

I found this book in a brewing shop. It was rather informative with regards to the analytical aspects of beer tasting, however, it has little more information regarding stout brewing than your standard beer brewing book. This book contains very simple recipies for three kinds of stouts and does not delve deeply into the materials that build a stout's character. The attitude towards the stout brewer is, "If you think you can do it better than these fine commercial stout brewers, here's a starter for you." The first chapter discusses how the author's family worked in coal mines and drank stout. That's quite a start for a stout TASTING handbook. The second chapter is a history of stouts that is informative and it includes some historical stout brewers that can still be found in England, a bit of a drive from here. The third chapter discusses commercial brewing of stouts and how the materials are prepared using machinery that I would love to be able to afford (but can't). Chapter 4 is all about stout tasting. Chapter 5 is a survey of stout brewers with more information on brewing practices that would be very difficult for the home brewer to manage (canning machinery included). Chapter 6 (out of 6) is about how to make your own. In chapter 6, the author starts by stating how many homebrewed stouts don't fit his palate. Chapter 2 and 6 are interesting reads but I would suggest skipping the rest of the book unless you want an analytical view of the differences between Murphy's and Guinness.

Do you think you brew a great stout ? well read this book then re-evaluate it. This gives a great account of the history of the product as well as the big names of stout brewing and how they got there. You also get in depth review of the procedures and ingredients the big brewers use.
There are great chapters on the profile and ingredients needed as well as changing your water profile to suit the style. Don't forget the recipes for brewing that great stout. This book ideally hi-lights the fact that stout isn't what people really think it is , it's a far more simpler beer than you imagine but complex in flavour at the same time.

Other than the historical information passed to the reader, Dr Lewis concentrated on the biochemistry of Stout Ale. His use of Principle Components Analysis was way over the top and quite useless to the hobbiest. Why would the editors allow him to publish the tast profiles using such an advanced yet esoteric statistical tool is a mystery. The home brewer will find little practical information in this treatise, and should avoid it altogether.

I'm not Irish, but I love Stouts. Dr. Lewis' introduction touched my heart in a way that only a true lover of stouts can appreciate. For people like me, this book is worth buying--even if you don't have a biochemical engineering degree (which I do). Of course the author is a god in the world of brewing, but I have seen him in action. His humor comes out in the book almost as well as in person. I only wish that I knew him better so I might have gained these pearls of wisdom directly from the source. Also, don't forget to have a four-pack of Murphy's in the ice box for when your copy arrives.

PS--If you need help with your homebrewing, just drop me a line: rpackard2000@aol.com

Dr. Lewis' book is an excellent introduction to stout. He presents a short history of the style, and a detailed analysis of the taste components that make up stouts. In this short text there is a collection of brewing information summaries supplied by around 30 breweries worldwide. Grain bill, water treatment, mash and fermentation details are provided. The book has a short chapter on homebrew versions, and contains an excellent presentation on how to compute the amounts of various grains based on a desired contribution to total wort sugar. I've used the book to make a clone of my favorite stout.

Don't waist your money. The first chapter on the history was great. He tells how Guinness got started and things about other breweries. But after that it's all down hill. This is the worst in the series. I thought it would be geared for the home brewer like the others in the series. Boy was I wrong. This is the worst beer book I have ever read. The author goes on and on and on with formulas and equations. I guess he has to show off his knowledge. He is a doctor. He does not have to impress me with all this stuff I just want to know how to make Stout in simple terms. He brings up a lot of stuff that in my opinion is not related. You would have to be a biochemist and a doctor to understand 99% of this book. A commercial brewer with some education may understand some. And there are no recipes for Stout. How is a person supposed to know what it tastes like if you don't know what's in it? How are you supposed to make it if you don't know what's in it. In my opinion the other books in the series pull this one threw. People think the others were good so this one must be to. NOT!! In my opinion the author is a quake who just so happens to know some history about Stout(That was ot very much get got most of the info from some were else and he even says so) and he filled the rest in with garbage that the average guy has no clue about what he is talking about. This book is not about brewing Stout and how to like the rest. It's the biochemistry of Stout.

Easy, quick and pleasant to read, very interesting. Probably a good book for the experienced beer maker but not enough information for the first timer.

This work is an excellent overview of the style covering everything from the history of stout to the unique microbiological character. It is also the only time I've seen factorial ecology applied to something as interesting as beer.