A Homebrewtalk Recipe Book—Any Interest?

[Veinman]

Despite owning “Designing Great Beers” and “Brewing Classic Styles” I have come to realize that almost all of the recipes I now make are partially or fully obtained from hbt. I also really like the feel of having an actual book because you can do a lot of things with it that you can’t with a computer or internet, easily write in it, spill on it without worry etc.

That’s why I came up with the idea of producing an hbt recipe book. I figured I would throw it out there and see if there was any interest. Now there are a lot of things I haven’t figured out yet but here’s what I was thinking thus far:

1. I would make no profit, I’m not doing this to make money but to give something back to the site and community, also since none of the recipes would be mine I wouldn’t feel right about taking a profit. The cost would be for printing and shipping.
2. I’d “self-publish” the book and have orders drop shipped from the publisher to individual orderers, this would allow me to once formatted give the book to the publisher and let them deal with the orders etc. (At some point I’ll probably ask for advice about this)
3. I would obtain the permission of each recipe creator before adding it to the book they will have the option of being credited by: screen name, real name, both or anonymous if the prefer.
4. I’d want all the recipes to be listed in the hbt section as that’s kinda the whole point. I was thinking I’d divide the book along bjcp guidelines and pick 1 or 2 “hbt favourites” for each category. Ideally I’d be looking for recipes brewed by multiple brewers with consistent positive feedback.
5. The books structure: I’d like to have a little introduction about hbt etc. Maybe a beginner tips section maybe not, 1 or 2 recipes per style in AG and extract if possible. In certain styles I think I’ll do a “true to style” and 1 or 2 “off the wall” or “outside style yet delicious” recipes, finally a “top 5 (or 10) hbt favourites section, immediately I think of: Cream of 3 Crops, Ed’s Apfelwein, Haus Pale Ale etc.
6. I’d like to focus on 1 or 2 sub styles per week and do my research on favourite hbt recipes for that style, I considered running a weekly poll but that could get tiresome and take up lots of room on hbt, also considered starting a blog to do this whole thing and run the poll there but I don’t know how much traffic it would get. Ultimately there’s going to have to be some calls made and some great recipes will have to be left out. Even at that rate this looks to be a year long project just to get the recipes assembled.

So that’s my rant it’s an idea I’m been tossing around for awhile now, personally I think it would be cool to have a book that was “ours” as a community and I know I’d buy it. What I’m looking for is feedback on:
1. Is anyone offended by the idea of me doing this, I know there are rules about advertising for businesses like I said I’d like to do it not for profit but I’ll buy a business membership and add that to the cost of the book if mods prefer.
2. Do you like the idea or hate it? Would you definitely, possibly or never buy the book shipped for $20 (highest end cost estimate) I figure I’d need at least 30 people to have some solid interest to make it worth all the effort.
3. Any other suggestions about the concept, process of selecting recipes, or broad concepts?
4. Please don’t submit recipes at this time as I’d like this to be a general discussion about the concept and we’ll worry about actual recipes later on.

End Scene

 

[BendBrewer]

Books are so yesterday.

 

[Ricand]

I think it's honorable for you to want to give something back, but I don't own any recipe books. Everything I do is in my favorite brewing software. If I had a book, I'd have to end up retyping the recipe anyway and use my computer.

I wish people were more diligent in posting the files for these recipes. I'd love to just import a btp file or Beerxml, rather than type all the recipe ingredients into Beer Tools Pro.

Are you really 25? I made a bet with myself before I looked at your profile, and lost.

 

[Rev2010]

Books are so yesterday.

Completely disagree with this, but that's for another thread to discuss entirely - and I'm an IT Technician for a living so I'm always embracing new technology every day of my life.

To answer the OP, I think it's an awesome idea. However, to make matters simple I'd think compiling a .pdf recipe book would be the smartest way to go, main reasons being:

1. No need to get a publisher
2. No need for people to spend cash for book and shipping - more like a free community thing
3. Can easily be read on mobile devices as well
4. Less hassles (copyrights, income statements, etc) - regardless if you plan to make nothing off it this has to be reported to the US Gov.

There are more reasons but that'll suffice. A pdf, maybe only downloadable from HBT with a registered account, would be a better way to do it and easier also.

I would think there should be sectionalized extract (with grain steeping), partial mash, all grain recipes, etc.


Rev.

 

[BendBrewer]

But don't we have a list of threads here on HBT that already does all of that?

 

[Rev2010]

But don't we have a list of threads here on HBT that already does all of that?

Pretty much, yes. But, there's no way, least not that I know of, to easily separate what method (extract, all grain, partial) nor any "best of". Again, I just might not know as I've only been on here a little over a month.


Rev.

 

[Scooby_Brew]

I'm in!
1. I'd buy it.
2. I would be delighted if one of my recipes would show up in there. But if it didn't I would buy the book anyways.

 

[jimwormold]

I think this is a great idea.

The main reason being that this site, being the wonderful resource that it is, contains a mountain or two of information. If someone new to brewing just wants to pick up list of highly recommended (by experts) recipes with brief descriptions and get cracking, then this would be the way to do it.

I got "Brew Your Own British Real Ale (Camra)" and this got me hooked.

I also agree with the pdf route. I don't think there's any need to lock it down to registered account holders though. Make sure that the forward makes the origins of the recipes known, and maybe include homebrewtalk in the headers/footers?

 

[skeeordye11]

I believe putting anything in print with regards to HBT would need Tx approval. You may wanna shott him a PM with a link to this thread with your idea and see what he says before you get too involved in the process. Just a thought.

 

[jbrookeiv]

I'd be into it. I'd certainly buy a copy.

 

[tjp68]

Despite owning “Designing Great Beers” and “Brewing Classic Styles” I have come to realize that almost all of the recipes I now make are partially or fully obtained from hbt. I also really like the feel of having an actual book because you can do a lot of things with it that you can’t with a computer or internet, easily write in it, spill on it without worry etc.

That’s why I came up with the idea of producing an hbt recipe book. I figured I would throw it out there and see if there was any interest. Now there are a lot of things I haven’t figured out yet but here’s what I was thinking thus far:

1. I would make no profit, I’m not doing this to make money but to give something back to the site and community, also since none of the recipes would be mine I wouldn’t feel right about taking a profit. The cost would be for printing and shipping.
2. I’d “self-publish” the book and have orders drop shipped from the publisher to individual orderers, this would allow me to once formatted give the book to the publisher and let them deal with the orders etc. (At some point I’ll probably ask for advice about this)
3. I would obtain the permission of each recipe creator before adding it to the book they will have the option of being credited by: screen name, real name, both or anonymous if the prefer.
4. I’d want all the recipes to be listed in the hbt section as that’s kinda the whole point. I was thinking I’d divide the book along bjcp guidelines and pick 1 or 2 “hbt favourites” for each category. Ideally I’d be looking for recipes brewed by multiple brewers with consistent positive feedback.
5. The books structure: I’d like to have a little introduction about hbt etc. Maybe a beginner tips section maybe not, 1 or 2 recipes per style in AG and extract if possible. In certain styles I think I’ll do a “true to style” and 1 or 2 “off the wall” or “outside style yet delicious” recipes, finally a “top 5 (or 10) hbt favourites section, immediately I think of: Cream of 3 Crops, Ed’s Apfelwein, Haus Pale Ale etc.
6. I’d like to focus on 1 or 2 sub styles per week and do my research on favourite hbt recipes for that style, I considered running a weekly poll but that could get tiresome and take up lots of room on hbt, also considered starting a blog to do this whole thing and run the poll there but I don’t know how much traffic it would get. Ultimately there’s going to have to be some calls made and some great recipes will have to be left out. Even at that rate this looks to be a year long project just to get the recipes assembled.

So that’s my rant it’s an idea I’m been tossing around for awhile now, personally I think it would be cool to have a book that was “ours” as a community and I know I’d buy it. What I’m looking for is feedback on:
1. Is anyone offended by the idea of me doing this, I know there are rules about advertising for businesses like I said I’d like to do it not for profit but I’ll buy a business membership and add that to the cost of the book if mods prefer.
2. Do you like the idea or hate it? Would you definitely, possibly or never buy the book shipped for $20 (highest end cost estimate) I figure I’d need at least 30 people to have some solid interest to make it worth all the effort.
3. Any other suggestions about the concept, process of selecting recipes, or broad concepts?
4. Please don’t submit recipes at this time as I’d like this to be a general discussion about the concept and we’ll worry about actual recipes later on.

End Scene

I think it's a great idea. The idea that "books are so yesterday" is absurd. I use brewing software, but I also record things that I need to retain on paper. Some day, and in the blink of an eye, Facebook/Twitter/Computer could be a memory. If that happens, I'll pull out my recipes and brew on. I'll also have a copy of tax returns, family photos, etc. that won't be lost forever.

And by the way, my career for 20 years has been in information technology.

 

[Homercidal]

I think it's a cool idea! But I wonder how you will prove these recipes are valuable. Do you intend to get ratings from members? And really, even with books and online recipes, I doubt I've ever followed any recipes except Biermunchers Centennial Blonde and the Blue Balls Wit. I normally sort of follow a recipe and then tweak with what I have and what beersmith says it will look like when my substitutions.

 

[Veinman]

I appreciate all of the feedback including those helping me iron out some details. I will PM Tx shortly to see what he says.

I am indeed 25 which is why I have everything figured out :cross:

The beauty of the self-publishing is that in order to submit it I will have a pdf of the "book" as well. That I could post for those who want the paperless format as it has certain advantages (mainly being able to search), and for those who want to go old school on pages all they'd have to do is order from the publisher.

Rev2010 I appreciate your points as well but:
1. I'd only have to pay tax on any revenue I turned, since I'm self-publishing I won't be bringing in a large amount and paying expenses I'd bring in no money thus no taxes, that's how the Canadian Revenue views it anyways I'm also outside the IRS's jurisdiction.
2. Can't imagine I'd pay for a registered copyright for several reasons:
unregistered copyright does provide some protection
recipes are very difficult to copyright to begin with as it basically requires a straight up copy to offend copyright law
the only real reason to register a copyright is to protect profits which we've seen I'm not making

Homer:
Your point about ratings is really the one I've been struggling with, really how do you say one recipe is "good" and the other "bad". Any suggestions on picking recipes I'm open to, I think recipes posted that have been brewed multiple times with positive feedback have some credibility and could fairly be called "good". I also agree about substitutions I do it all the time out of desire or ingredient neccessity but I still enjoy having recipes as starting points and having some "go to" good ones.

 

[Homercidal]

I'd hit up some of the regular on here for any honorable mentions. I KNOW there are some tried and true recipes and brewers who you could steal from on here. But there has been discussion about how to cull the unproven recipes from the recipe list and as far as I know nobody's come up with a good way of knowing, so they all stay.

 

[RIT_Warrior]

I think it is a good idea. Although I think the pdf format might be an even better idea. If you aren't making any money off of it, might as well release it in a format that won't cost you any money.

Personally, if I got the PDF I would print it out and then 3-hole punch it, and put it in a 3-ring binder. That way I'd have the convenience of a book that I could set on my counter while I brewed up the recipe without the cost (to you or to me) associated with buying a traditional book.

Another plus would be that you could release new recipes (or updates to existing recipes) when they came out and we could simply insert them where they needed to go in the 3-ring binder.

 

[Rev2010]

Another plus would be that you could release new recipes (or updates to existing recipes) when they came out and we could simply insert them where they needed to go in the 3-ring binder.

This right here, excellent point. He did say though in his last post that he'd have both .pdf and hard copy.


Rev.

 

[asidrane]

Just publish it as an e-book. There's no need to pay for printing. If someone wants a hard copy, that can be printed easily.

 

[johnp]

just publish it as an e-book. There's no need to pay for printing. If someone wants a hard copy, that can be printed easily.

+1. If it were published through Lulu, for example, any one could either download it, or simply purchase the hard copy and lulu will take care of the rest.

 

[rycov]

i think its cool. i would buy a book if you made it, if not i would print it out if it was an e book.

 

[Trouble_Brewing]

This only reason I don't use the recipes on this site more is that there's really no way to know which are good. If you accomplish that with a book or ebook it would be worth something to me. I agree it would take up a lot of thread space but it would be cool if there were a way for people to vote on their favorite recipes.

 

[theschick]

I always look at the recipes on this site. Simply go to the category you want (e.g. Strong Ale). At that page, click on the "replies" column, which sorts them by the most replies. I go by the assumption that recipes with the most replies are the most popular, tried-and-true recipes here.