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Tim Wi
Advanced Member
Username: Riverkeeper
Post Number: 792
Registered: 03-2005
Posted From: 170.141.68.2
| | Posted on Monday, March 26, 2007 - 09:12 pm: | 
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Which is your favorite?
I just bought the one for Helles; and was wondering if Miller's on Continental Pilsners was too dated.
I understand some of them are pretty disapointing. OVM for example.
Tim |
Paul Erbe
Advanced Member
Username: Perbe
Post Number: 807
Registered: 05-2001
Posted From: 67.153.37.2
| | Posted on Monday, March 26, 2007 - 09:55 pm: |
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I just read the Vienna one and yes it was poor.
I like Warners Wheat, and the 2 from Dornbusch on Alt and Kolsch.
I have heard other praise the Miller book but have not read it myself so I cannot recommend. |
Tom Meier
Advanced Member
Username: Brewdawg96
Post Number: 533
Registered: 03-2003
Posted From: 70.157.39.217
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 27, 2007 - 12:20 am: |
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I wouldn't recommend the first Belgian, or the Stout if I remember right. The porter is not too good either. But if you can pick these up at Abe books for a few bucks they might be nice to have.
Scotch Ale, Pale Ale, Brown Ale, Mild Ale, Kolsch, Alt, Smoked beer, Barleywine, Helles, and German Wheat are all good. In general the older they are the less good they are.
The 3 new belgian books are of course light years ahead of everything else out there. They correctly assume that you have some modicum of knowledge on how to brew, and focus only on style related process, not basics. And they are packed with great research material and knowledge. |
Tony Legge
Intermediate Member
Username: Boo_boo
Post Number: 261
Registered: 05-2005
Posted From: 142.163.72.191
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 27, 2007 - 12:26 am: |
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I thought Continental Pilsener was ok. |
Graham Cox
Senior Member
Username: T2driver
Post Number: 1011
Registered: 11-2004
Posted From: 68.32.253.156
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 27, 2007 - 03:25 am: |
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I pretty much have them all, minus the odd one or two.
If you are looking for a cookbook to tell you, "Do this, do that," to lead you by the hand to make a particular style, I can see how some individuals would decry some of individual books. However, owning and having read them all (again, maybe minus one or two), I cannot understand how anyone would not be interested in reading the history of the style, the traditional techniques and ingredients employed, and any helpful hints included in the books.
Many of the beer styles covered go back centuries, if not decades. Has the beer style evolved so much in the past 10 years that a book written about it in 1997 is completely out of date?
I think they're great, but I like reading anything well-written about beer.
As an aside, I am intent on brewing all of the BJCP major substyles. I'm not going to go out of my way to brew the minor substyles that only vary in gravity (Scottish 60/70/80, etc.) but I am going to try to brew each and every major category.
I've been brewing for three years. I've been brewing for competition for two. Almost without exception, each beer that I brew and enter for competition is my very first attempt at that particular style.
I tend to do pretty well in competitions. How is it that I do well in styles I have zero experience in brewing? I read books, books like the "Classic Beer Style Series." |
Tom Meier
Advanced Member
Username: Brewdawg96
Post Number: 536
Registered: 03-2003
Posted From: 70.157.39.217
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 27, 2007 - 04:15 am: |
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Graham, I don't think "some individuals" aka Paul Erbe and Tom Meier, are outright dissing the books. As I said, they might be nice to have if you found them used. Just staying that some are better than others. In other words, recommending where Tim spend his $$ to choose the best ones.
Since you brought it up, even the little bit of history in the really old books is weak at best, and most of the book is dedicated to that author's take on basic brewing techniques. So many of the older style series books spend alot of time giving a different treatsie on brewing, brewing equipment, etc. that has no emphasis on style.
All the style series books are on my bookshelf, but for some of them I certainly don't give credit to whatever success I have at competitions because I read them. Cliff Claven-like beer history knowledge is fun to have but doesn't make my beer taste better. Just a different perspective I guess. |
Andy Hancock
Member
Username: Ahancbrew1
Post Number: 207
Registered: 03-2003
Posted From: 143.183.121.2
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 27, 2007 - 10:52 am: |
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I have 12 of the books. I like the Oktoberfest one a lot, until it came to the recipes. George Fix stated he could not get any good quality Vienna or Munich malts, so none of his recipes have them. The continental Pilsner had some funny recipes too. If I remember correctly the hop additions were any hop for bittering to the suggested AAU and the only other hop additions were to use Saaz as dryhops.
I did enjoy reading every book and I keep them in my homebrew book collection. |
Denny Conn
Senior Member
Username: Denny
Post Number: 6254
Registered: 01-2001
Posted From: 63.114.138.2
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 27, 2007 - 06:45 pm: |
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"Has the beer style evolved so much in the past 10 years that a book written about it in 1997 is completely out of date?"...that's true, but ingredients and techniques have changed markedly. That unfortunately makes much of the info in some of the books less useful.
LIfe begins at 60...1.060, that is.
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Paul Erbe
Advanced Member
Username: Perbe
Post Number: 809
Registered: 05-2001
Posted From: 67.153.37.2
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 27, 2007 - 06:52 pm: |
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Direct to my dislike of the Vienna book. Fix wrote it in the 90 or 91. The access to good grain was obviously much worse that it is now. He basically dissed all Vienna and Munich domestic and imported. |
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Brews and Views Archive 2007 
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