IPA: Brewing Techniques, Recipes and the Evolution of India Pale Ale by Mitch Steele

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BillBeer247

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Anyone plan on buying this book, " IPA: Brewing Techniques, Recipes and the Evolution of India Pale Ale by Mitch Steele (Oct 16, 2012) "? Thebrewingnetwork recently did a show with Mitch. Amazon has it on preorder for $16


the main question for me is, how much of the material do i already know in the book(I dont care about any of the evolution aspect). And for the info i dont know, in this day and age, there will probably be several discussion threads made on the topics/points
 
I pre-ordered mine from the Brewers' Association awhile back when they were running a sale for AHA members, and it just came in this morning. I had read CAMRA's IPA book (this) awhile back, and while super interesting, it's only really about English IPA. This looks like it covers all of the history plus newer renditions such as black/white/belgian/session IPAs. I'm looking forward to tearing into this for sure.
 
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I am about halfway through it and enjoying it alot. I don't know if it will help me make better beer, but I am glad I bought it.

Tap #1: Bohemian Pilsner
Tap #2: Munich Dunkel
Lagering: Rauchbier
Carboy: Saion Brux
Barrel Aging: Flanders Red
Bottle Aging: Flanders Brown
 
As to how much you already know, can't answer the question.

There is a lot of the history and development of the style and how how it has progressed over time and I found it very interesting and debunked a few myths. There are a lot if recipes in the book for both old and new breweries although some are much more specific than others.

If you like IPAs, IIpAs and the newer black IPAs then I think you'll enjoy the book
 
Most of the book is an in-depth history of IPA, from development to the modern era. There are charts of the IPA's produced during certain periods with their various gravities/ibus/srms etc. The recipes alone were worth it for me; there's stuff from firestone walker, pizza port, deschuttes, hill farmstead, russian river, fullers, stone, dogfish and a bunch more.

The only thing I was disappointed about was the lack of brewing techniques. It goes over the basics of IPA brewing, but nothing you haven't read before.
 
Most of the book is an in-depth history of IPA, from development to the modern era. There are charts of the IPA's produced during certain periods with their various gravities/ibus/srms etc. The recipes alone were worth it for me; there's stuff from firestone walker, pizza port, deschuttes, hill farmstead, russian river, fullers, stone, dogfish and a bunch more.

The only thing I was disappointed about was the lack of brewing techniques. It goes over the basics of IPA brewing, but nothing you haven't read before.

Yeah, I was hoping on a bit more focus on dry hopping (pellets vs whole leaf, in a bag vs not, length, temp)
 
chemman14 said:
Yeah, I was hoping on a bit more focus on dry hopping (pellets vs whole leaf, in a bag vs not, length, temp)

Yeah, you're not going to get that in this book. What you are looking for us more about technique and IMO you'll find lots of that here on HBT with debate in all directions:)
 
The only thing I was disappointed about was the lack of brewing techniques. It goes over the basics of IPA brewing, but nothing you haven't read before.

Yeah, I finally read this book and was definitely disappointed. It was 160 pages of IPA history, 40 pages of IPA ingredients and techniques (nothing groundbreaking) and then 70 pages of IPA recipes that are difficult to decipher.

For an example of the annoying recipes, check out Port's Wipeout IPA. Nowhere does it mention the amount of hops (be it lbs/bbl, % or anything). It just says "Use amarillo for first wort hopping, "centennial and simcoe at start of boil," etc. Not really a recipe if you ask me.

For other recipes, it uses percentages but doesn't indicate if the percentages are weight or IBU contribution - I assumed the latter to start, but that doesn't make sense since whirlpool additions will add way less IBUs. For example for Stone's 10th Anniversary, it says "Use 100% pellet hops and add 26% Summit at the start of boil. During the whirpool, add 37% each of Chinook and Crystal." I'd rather it give lbs/bbl, oz/gal or something. Now, I have to use brewing software to keep those % and ramp up the amounts to get to the desired IBUs.
 
Yeah, I was hoping on a bit more focus on dry hopping (pellets vs whole leaf, in a bag vs not, length, temp)

I think it really depends on your system....I have read to dry hop anywhere from 3-5 days (Brynildson) up to 14 days (Cilurzo). Obviously those guys know what is going on....Personally I usually shoot for 7 days but sometimes I have found I need a few more days....
 
BrewThruYou said:
Yeah, I finally read this book and was definitely disappointed. It was 160 pages of IPA history, 40 pages of IPA ingredients and techniques (nothing groundbreaking) and then 70 pages of IPA recipes that are difficult to decipher.

For an example of the annoying recipes, check out Port's Wipeout IPA. Nowhere does it mention the amount of hops (be it lbs/bbl, % or anything). It just says "Use amarillo for first wort hopping, "centennial and simcoe at start of boil," etc. Not really a recipe if you ask me.

For other recipes, it uses percentages but doesn't indicate if the percentages are weight or IBU contribution - I assumed the latter to start, but that doesn't make sense since whirlpool additions will add way less IBUs. For example for Stone's 10th Anniversary, it says "Use 100% pellet hops and add 26% Summit at the start of boil. During the whirpool, add 37% each of Chinook and Crystal." I'd rather it give lbs/bbl, oz/gal or something. Now, I have to use brewing software to keep those % and ramp up the amounts to get to the desired IBUs.

It uses percentages for the grain bill so you can adjust your own recipe based up your batch size. They do give you gravity but yes there is math involved.

As for hops and yeast, did you really think a professional brewer is going I give you their exact recipe? At least they provide you IBUs and hops used as a starting point.
 
Im a porter, stout, and dark malty man. I doubt Id really like anything in that book since I believe almost all brews deserve a malty backbone, and I already have 2 brew books that I'm currently reading (Brew like a monk and tasting beer)
 
I was overall dissapointed with the book. I don't really care about history and was looking for technical info. There was very little I didn't already know. (the section on doing cell counts was good though)
 
Worth the rent. If you want the history, as I do, it's a great read. If you don't, skip the history and it's still worth the price of admission.
 

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