American Sour Beer – Book!

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You guys stink! I pre ordered months ago, but when I found out about the AHA pre sale 40% off! I thought I'd get it earlier that way so I cancelled the amazon order.

TD


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Amazon.com: Your package with American Sour Beer has been shipped. Expected delivery: Monday, 16-Jun by 08:00 PM.
 
Received my copy last night! I was hooked by the first paragraph:

I am not a religious person, but if there were a god I imagine it to be something like a brewer: setting conditions that yield pleasing results.

Awesome! I had a hard time putting it down last night. Great job, Michael!
 
If you have amazon prime it's cheaper than the aha preorder due to shipping costs.
 
Arriving tomorrow. All of a sudden, I can't remember what was on the honey to do list...
 
I can't wait! this has been pre ordered for a while. I will probably do two back to back batches after I read this. I know I will be trying a turbid mash.
 
Just got my copy in the mail this weekend.

I'll be taking it out to Sonoma CA for reading material. Hopefully I'll get to cross paths with Russian River.
 
Christmas in June/July today:

Location Date Local Time Activity
Charlotte, NC, United States 06/16/2014 7:52 A.M. Out For Delivery
06/16/2014 6:17 A.M. Arrival Scan
Raleigh, NC, United States 06/16/2014 3:15 A.M. Departure Scan
Raleigh, NC, United States 06/15/2014 10:54 P.M. Origin Scan
 
Christmas in June/July today:

Location Date Local Time Activity
Charlotte, NC, United States 06/16/2014 7:52 A.M. Out For Delivery
06/16/2014 6:17 A.M. Arrival Scan
Raleigh, NC, United States 06/16/2014 3:15 A.M. Departure Scan
Raleigh, NC, United States 06/15/2014 10:54 P.M. Origin Scan

Santa is being a *****...
 
Glad so many people have received their copies! Hope everyone enjoys the book, gets inspired to start a few new batches of sour beer (not that you needed help), and learns a few things!

If you enjoy it: consider writing a review, telling your homebrewing club/shop, or posting about it. Every little bit helps, and it sends a message to Brewer's Publications about the sort of books homebrewers want to read!

If you catch any typo's or issues, please let me know ASAP. There will be an ebook in a few months and I'll be able to get any minor edits in at that point. Thanks again!
 
Glad so many people have received their copies! Hope everyone enjoys the book, gets inspired to start a few new batches of sour beer (not that you needed help), and learns a few things!

If you enjoy it: consider writing a review, telling your homebrewing club/shop, or posting about it. Every little bit helps, and it sends a message to Brewer's Publications about the sort of books homebrewers want to read!

If you catch any typo's or issues, please let me know ASAP. There will be an ebook in a few months and I'll be able to get any minor edits in at that point. Thanks again!

I read it cover to cover this weekend. Really great resource, and well written too.

One possible typo I spotted on p.186. You say that the lowest pH Yakobson tested in his trials was 3.08. I haven't checked this, but I think that should be 3.80?
 
I read it cover to cover this weekend. Really great resource, and well written too.

One possible typo I spotted on p.186. You say that the lowest pH Yakobson tested in his trials was 3.08. I haven't checked this, but I think that should be 3.80?

Glad you enjoyed it!

That was actually the correct pH per Chad's website: http://brettanomyces.wordpress.com/

"Control 0 mg/l
Starting pH=4.95
100 mg/l
Starting pH= 4.55
500 mg/l
Starting pH=4.05
1,000 mg/l
Starting pH=3.75
3,000 mg/l
Starting pH=3.08"
 
My copy showed up last night. So far a great read. I have an out of town meeting tomorrow, so I'm looking forward to hiding in my hotel room and immersing myself in it tonight!

Congats!
 
Got a date with the mechanic sometime in the next couple days... I'll definitely have a chance to finish the book around then.

I really like how the book plainly states things. There's no threads full of conjecture to sort through. 'This is what they do, here's a damn chart to show you. And the pros/cons of it.' Very helpful since I'm starting to sour mash and Brett everything now.
 
Anyone ordering through AHA get their copy yet? Feeling pretty dumb canceling my amazon order, thinking presale would mean I get it sooner....


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Mine was waiting for me at home tonight. Read through first chapter sipping a duchess du B. Don't ask me to spell it! So far a lovely read. Soaking it up for sure. Thanks Michael!


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Mine is at the ups facility, will be hee tomorrow!

Already got a few sours lined up, but I'm sure I'll get more inspiration.
 
My copy arrived today! I read through some of it. It's very well written, I look forward to really digging in.

I caught a small typo on page 17, Oxyclean should be spelled Oxiclean.
 
Oldsock - I may have missed it in the book but one big question remains in my mind. For the recipes you post with a FG of less than "dry" (.998 to 1.002 in my opinion with wine typically ending on the lower end) how does the beer STOP there?

For example on page 333 your Sour Bourbon Barrel Porter has an FG of 1.014 with an ABV of only 8.8%. Why does it stop here - wouldn't the Brett and bacteria keep chugging down to 1.002 over time?

Now for your Courage Russian Imperial Stout Tribute on page 317 you mention to keep the FG at 1.020 and retain the residual sweetness you have to kill the Brett by crash cooling, fining and adding K Meta. This makes sense to me as to why the beer stops.

Sacc C yeast stops when it reaches maximum attenuation by yeast strain - my understanding or lack thereof is that Brett and bacteria are only limited by pH and ABV. Is the pH what causes the Sour Bourbon Barrel Porter to end at 1.014?
 
It depends on the strains of microbes you have. Some Brett/Lacto does not produce alpha-glucosidase for example. Not really sure what is in that barrel exactly, but it leaves residual gravity despite potent (but not overbearing) acidity. I sent a bottle to Nick at The Yeast Bay, not sure if he ever plated it.

At Modern Times playing with some isolates of Brett from Cantillon via Jason Rodriguez that exhibit less than 50% attenuation in standard wort. Alternatively you could generate lots of REALLY big dextrins that are too big (>9 glucose chains) for microbes to ferment.

In most cases you'd need to kill the bugs to get it to stop that high (or in the case of a sour I started at 1.120, top out on ABV).
 
OK - so YOU didn't stop it at 1.014. The brew stopped itself (Sacc C, Brett, Lacto, Pedio and all) and you simply waited until a consistent month to month FG was observed prior to bottling. Ah.
 
OK - so YOU didn't stop it at 1.014. The brew stopped itself (Sacc C, Brett, Lacto, Pedio and all) and you simply waited until a consistent month to month FG was observed prior to bottling. Ah.

Exactly. The Courage is the only batch I've forcefully stopped.

All the FGs are where my batches stopped, but your results will vary based on specific microbes/conditions etc.
 
Let me be the first to curse Mike for writing this book...
1. I don't want to buy any more glass carboys,
2. I don't want to try to find space to store any more filled glass carboys for extended periods of time,
3. I'm out of kegs and tap space as it is,
4. It feels like a foster home trying to care for and feed multiple strains of bottle dregs.

ugh.
 
Ordered my copy over the weekend. I read and use the blog a lot and am looking forward to the book!
 
Great post on the blog today. It's the American saison chapter... Damn editors!
 

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