Just started on how to brew by John Palmer and for a book which goes in to so much detail it's surprisingly easy to read. I'll post again when I'm done which I doubt will be long.
Best book.
- Thread starter chrispurvis
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So why don't you write it then ?:smile:
Seriously I think there is room for a book that approaches the subject from a different angle. There a quite a few books now that take you through the basics and then have recipes.
I've got 'How to brew your own' by Mark Murphy and Jordan St. John. Each chapter is a history lesson and a recipe. It's good because it is different.
I've also got 'The homebrew handbook' by Dave Law and Beshlie Grimes which is 'how to', a bit of science followed by lots of AG recipes. Unfortunately it has a few errors - for example it refers to hops having an Apparent Attenuation instead of Alpha Acid. I once proof read a book and know what a painful but essential stage it is. Still good though. It works because the author's enthusiasm comes through.
And of course the three quid special.
I used to run a publishing house and still have contacts in the industry so if anyone wants to put finger to keyboard... It does have to have an angle so people will pick it up.
Well, I might give it a go at some point, I may take redundancy at the rate things are going, and I would have time then! I like writing about brewing, can you tell?!
I am wondering if a website may be better - most people read from screens these days, and you are able to build it gradually, adapt it, update it etc. There's not a lot of money at stake, so it may just be the best option for maximising readership and for functionality. A hobby rather than a source of income.
Something along the lines of this, which is a great source of brewing info, and is regularly updated. But it's American, so i could do a similar thing with British home brewers in mind.
http://beerandwinejournal.com/
I am wondering if a website may be better - most people read from screens these days, and you are able to build it gradually, adapt it, update it etc. There's not a lot of money at stake, so it may just be the best option for maximising readership and for functionality. A hobby rather than a source of income.
Something along the lines of this, which is a great source of brewing info, and is regularly updated. But it's American, so i could do a similar thing with British home brewers in mind.
http://beerandwinejournal.com/
I've been racking my brains (see what I did there ?) about an angle. I was wondering about a series. I know the John Palmer one is part of a series ( the others are about yeast and hops I think) but from what reviews I've read they seem to be very different publications.
So you could have an introduction to HB which is kits/extract, then intermediate which would be partials or similar, then 'expert' where you are doing AG, harvesting yeast and cloning (and making larger).
The technical - how to/kit required - part of each book could then be appropriate so you're not talking about mash tuns and pitch rates in the intro book for example.
Now, nobody nick my idea.
(I was thinking Clibit the author but didn't want to put him on the spot)
So you could have an introduction to HB which is kits/extract, then intermediate which would be partials or similar, then 'expert' where you are doing AG, harvesting yeast and cloning (and making larger).
The technical - how to/kit required - part of each book could then be appropriate so you're not talking about mash tuns and pitch rates in the intro book for example.
Now, nobody nick my idea.
(I was thinking Clibit the author but didn't want to put him on the spot)
Niman
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the one thing i would say about books is the fact that they pad them out with "recipes" and with no disrespect to the authors after u read a few they do seem a bit samey or merge after all there are only so many ways to clone an Irish stout or an old speckled whatever..and with taste being so subjective ....
on the other side of things books like the love of hops or the book on yeast while being a good read tend to be hard to absorb , or be a little too detailed for the casual reader.
with the knowledge base on a forum , one would imagine it would be relatively easy to cobble a book together.
but in reality as as been pointed out already on this thread errors occur.
In fairness to keep a book relevant and accurate at the speed our hobby/pastime/obsession is progressing by the time something was put to print it would be either inaccurate or missing the new hops varieties / yeast strains or whatever.
rant over
on the other side of things books like the love of hops or the book on yeast while being a good read tend to be hard to absorb , or be a little too detailed for the casual reader.
with the knowledge base on a forum , one would imagine it would be relatively easy to cobble a book together.
but in reality as as been pointed out already on this thread errors occur.
In fairness to keep a book relevant and accurate at the speed our hobby/pastime/obsession is progressing by the time something was put to print it would be either inaccurate or missing the new hops varieties / yeast strains or whatever.
rant over
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