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**Brewpastor** · 11-15-2007, 08:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by landhoney

Could you give me a brief summation of the Lambic recipe/yeast. Nothing super specific, I just want to get an idea if they've got anything revolutionary in there about sour beers. Thanks.

There is some great stuff on sour beers. Their Flanders Red is my next brew. It utilizes a great deal of specialty grain to obtain the character you want using easier, non-traditional methods. It is a winner! The recipe also took a gold last year in Denver at the Nationals.

Chad · 11-15-2007, 08:51 PM

I've had it for about a week. I read it the first night and have reread several sections over the past week.

How much you appreciate this book will depend on exactly what you're looking for. If you thought it might be Palmer & Zainasheff teaming up to write "How to Brew II" you'll be disappointed. Palmer's contribution is limited to the first couple of chapters and most of the appendices. He covers ingredient basics, extract brewing and partial mashing. Zainasheff contributes an appendix that is a lightly expanded version of his yeast starter essay on MrMalty.com.

In between are 23 chapters based on the BJCP styles. Each chapter includes recipes for each of the substyles within each category with a couple of paragraphs of commentary from Jamil. The commentaries on the key points for each style are invaluable if you plan on entering competitions or want to understand the finer judging distinctions between similar styles. Each recipe has won some sort of award for Jamil, so they are all proven competition winners. Each recipe is formulated as an extract+steeped grain batch. There are AG substitutions at the end of each recipe.

I have to admit that I'm somewhat conflicted about this book. I'm eager to try Jamil's recipes but would have really liked more of Palmer's homebrewing science. His contribution seems tacked on at best.

My other concern is about the recipes themselves. As noted in the commentaries and on Jamil's podcasts, he pushes the envelope on each style. It's a proven competition strategy. A bigger, hoppier, dryer, higher ABV, or more extreme version of a beer is going to get noticed in competitions. It might not be pleasant to drink more than one, but it's going to win medals because it stands out.

I can't say that I won't really enjoy the beers I make from this book. I haven't tried any yet. But I'm concerned about the trend of escalation where Jamil's influential recipes (or other competition style beers) become the new norm. Then brewers who are interested in competing have to create even more extreme versions. At some point a pleasant British mild is going to turn into a mutant hopped-out-the-ass IPA and no one will bat an eye. And just like purebred AKC dogs (with more recessive genes than the royal family) bear little resemblance to the happy mutts most of us have, these beers will have little or no relationship to what somebody might actually want to drink.

With that said, if you're looking for proven recipes for each and every BJCP style, this is your book.

Chad

**BierMuncher** · 11-15-2007, 08:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by the_bird

...(and there was something else I've been meaning to buy anyway)...

Gotcha.....

**RLinNH** · 11-15-2007, 09:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BierMuncher

Gotcha.....

Attachment 3348

He is from MA, so I guess he would fit right in. ;-)

**RLinNH** · 11-15-2007, 10:08 PM

I have tomuch****toodoism. I walked downstairs with a lit Bolivar Corona Gigante from 1998, and I noticed that I really should tend to the bottles in the Bleach Bath. Sooooooooooooo, I put the book and the Cigar down, and now here we are, quite some time later with my bottles in the dishwasher, a GREAT Cigar that is ruined, and a book that needs reading. So, once I get around to reading the book, you can bet that I'll post a review in the book section. Now, I need to go pick out what I am going to brew this weekend.

Iordz · 11-15-2007, 10:22 PM

I have the book and really like it, but as far as lambics and "Sour" ales are concerned I prefer Wild Brews by Jeff Sparrow.

landhoney · 11-16-2007, 12:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brewpastor

There is some great stuff on sour beers. Their Flanders Red is my next brew. It utilizes a great deal of specialty grain to obtain the character you want using easier, non-traditional methods. It is a winner! The recipe also took a gold last year in Denver at the Nationals.

I brewed that one several months ago, are the recipes just Jamil's winning recipes unchanged?
http://www.beerdujour.com/JamilsRecipes.htm
They aren't all listed there, and I'm sure there's more info in the book, but it would be interesting if the ones in the book were all just jamil's recipes unchanged.

**the_bird** · 11-16-2007, 01:05 AM

He stopped posting new recipes onto the site when the book project got underway (he was putting them up with the new podcasts).

Let's step back a second, though....

Jamil Zainasheff has won awards in essentially EVERY beer category. You know what's crazy? He's been brewing, IIRC, for like seven years, tops.

More crazy? Started with Mr. Beer...

ohiobrewtus · 11-16-2007, 01:32 AM

Hmmm... I may have to pick this one up.

landhoney · 11-16-2007, 01:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by the_bird

He stopped posting new recipes onto the site when the book project got underway (he was putting them up with the new podcasts).

I realize that, and will be buying( or receiving as a gift ) the book in part as a sign of support/gratitude to him for his help to my homebrewing. I was just curious if they were the same recipes posted and the same recipes he goes over in his podcast and will go over in the future.
According to his show schedule: "June 02, 2008 - Lambic/Gueuze/Fruit Lambic"
I don't want to wait till June

I'm getting the book.