How to Use This Book
In the craft of making beer, a lot of important concepts come in pairs.
Here's an extreme example.
The most critical enzymes in malt mashing can broadly be divided into 1) proteolytic enzymes that degrade protein chains and 2) diastatic enzymes that break starch molecules into fermentable 1) maltose and 2) maltotriose sugars.
Or,
There are two diastatic enzymes of primary concern to the brewer: 1) Alpha-amylase and 2) Beta-amylase.
Beta-amylase functions best within two distinct temperature ranges ...
Okay, I'll stop there. I think you get my point. Anyway, I want to borrow this beer-friendly principle of twos and apply it to all the information I've compiled for you in this book.
This is a book about how to brew beer. I want you to read this and be a better brewer afterwards, either as a result of learning new stuff about brewing or disagreeing with me so strongly that your own (perhaps better) approach to the craft is clarified.
Everything that follows is what I think you should do in order to make the best beer you can at home. Yes, there are recipes and methods and shopping lists, and my best understanding of some tricky scientific principles. There are opinions on when you should batch-sparge and when you should fly-sparge, and considerations of hop substitutions you can make. But, there's also a survey of beer history around the world, insights I've gained about pairing beer and food, a rundown of the types of beer glasses I think you should own, lists of beer movies I think you should see and websites I think you should check out. In short, I've provided both quantitative and qualitative information. Two essential elements to any successful home brewer. This, however, might not align with your current goals or interests. If that's the case, skip it. That's right, just skip over it. Do you want to learn how to make beer right now? If so, skip the first three chapters and go straight to the fourth.
The reason I say this is that part of this book is about How to make beer
and another part is about How to love beer.
The information in this second category is included in hopes of opening your mind, your heart and your mouth
so that they all become places where great beer is always welcome. And while it might not be immediately apparent, reaching this state of being makes you a better brewer.
Obviously you are free to love beer in any way you like. And I don't expect anyone to read this book start to finish. If you find yourself reading something that doesn't seem to apply to where you are in your brewing, please skip ahead until you find something that does. I've tried to organize the book in a fashion that allows the reader to leapfrog and not get lost.
Now, let's brew some beer!
In the craft of making beer, a lot of important concepts come in pairs.
Here's an extreme example.
The most critical enzymes in malt mashing can broadly be divided into 1) proteolytic enzymes that degrade protein chains and 2) diastatic enzymes that break starch molecules into fermentable 1) maltose and 2) maltotriose sugars.
Or,
There are two diastatic enzymes of primary concern to the brewer: 1) Alpha-amylase and 2) Beta-amylase.
Beta-amylase functions best within two distinct temperature ranges ...
Okay, I'll stop there. I think you get my point. Anyway, I want to borrow this beer-friendly principle of twos and apply it to all the information I've compiled for you in this book.
This is a book about how to brew beer. I want you to read this and be a better brewer afterwards, either as a result of learning new stuff about brewing or disagreeing with me so strongly that your own (perhaps better) approach to the craft is clarified.
Everything that follows is what I think you should do in order to make the best beer you can at home. Yes, there are recipes and methods and shopping lists, and my best understanding of some tricky scientific principles. There are opinions on when you should batch-sparge and when you should fly-sparge, and considerations of hop substitutions you can make. But, there's also a survey of beer history around the world, insights I've gained about pairing beer and food, a rundown of the types of beer glasses I think you should own, lists of beer movies I think you should see and websites I think you should check out. In short, I've provided both quantitative and qualitative information. Two essential elements to any successful home brewer. This, however, might not align with your current goals or interests. If that's the case, skip it. That's right, just skip over it. Do you want to learn how to make beer right now? If so, skip the first three chapters and go straight to the fourth.
The reason I say this is that part of this book is about How to make beer
and another part is about How to love beer.
The information in this second category is included in hopes of opening your mind, your heart and your mouth
so that they all become places where great beer is always welcome. And while it might not be immediately apparent, reaching this state of being makes you a better brewer.
Obviously you are free to love beer in any way you like. And I don't expect anyone to read this book start to finish. If you find yourself reading something that doesn't seem to apply to where you are in your brewing, please skip ahead until you find something that does. I've tried to organize the book in a fashion that allows the reader to leapfrog and not get lost.
Now, let's brew some beer!
