|
Brew like a Monk is an excellent book that tells a great story about the history and state of Abbey-type beers in Belgium. It's an excellent source of information for beer enthusiasts or intermediate to advanced brewers. While it's certainly not the first book an aspiring brewer should buy, I would highly recommend it for any admirers of Trappist beer.
Wouldn't you love to brew an Orval clone. Highly recommended. As it is with virtually all Belgian beers, never mind the host of wild yeasts and bacteria that go along with them.
There is actually enough information in this book - assuming you know what you are doing in the all-grain world - to pull it off. It may be read for brewing purposes, as a casual read, for historical purposes, for cultural perspective, even for its religious content. Did you know there is actually more than one Orval beer brewed at the monastery (despite constant articles to the contrary).
Add the wonderful, detailed brewing information to the history and stories and you get quite an unusual brewing book. But you're going to have to introduce Brettanomyces into your brewery to do it. and there's the awful temptation.
Orval, of course, is just one of the Trappist breweries presented in the book. And I agree with another reviewer that this is the best book in this particular series.
Imagine that you-an experienced homebrewer-got to gather around a fire with some folks who had years of experience brewing versions of your favorite beer style. Occasionally, by dumb luck, I've brewed one. It would be hard to have a bad time, harder still not to come away a better brewer for it.This friendly, if somewhat disorderly book is just that conversation. I love the complexity and depth of belgian strong beers. Other times, my efforts have been dull, or over-concentrated or just odd.In these conversations, we get some clarity about yeast, malt, fermenters, temperature control and bottling.I think the odds in my favor just went up. This is a book to mine for insights.Lynn Hoffman, author of The New Short Course in Wine
This is another excellent book from Brewers' Publications. This enables the brewer to not just mimic the recipes he finds in the book (though believe me, they are definitely worth mimicing)., but to thoughtfully exercise his own creativity within the rich history and style of the Belgian tradition.Beginning brewers will find a lot of technical information regarding krausening, PH adjustment, etc. But this shouldn't scare anyone off. You'll become acquaintaed with the brewers of Orval, Westveletren, Duvel, and others, their history, their personalities, and most importantly, their beers.For those who are brewers, the book offers even more. This book represents the state of the art in knowledge regarding Belgian brewers and brewing. Ingredients and specifications (gravity, IBU) are given for commercially available beers whenever possible (and the author has done a *lot* of homework to get his hands on this information). Non-brewers will find herein an engagingly written history of Belgian brewing both within and outside the monastary walls. that goes over their heads.
Additionally, full recipes are provided for various Belgian style and Belgian-inspired beers. Even better, the authors of these recipes explain *why* they formulated their recipes as they did, and the author supplements this advice with his own, with advice from professional brewers, and from BJCP judges. The technical information is easy to skip over and there's enough in this book for readers of all levels. No matter how long you've been brewing, you will come away from this book entertained, sometimes surprised, and better informed.
Inspiring view into the brewing techniques of the Belgium beer. Outstanding historical look along with what is going on today. A must read if you are into the Belgians.
|
