false 157248 1 Part 1 of <I>Designing Great Beers</I> is a complete book in itself, focused solely on home-brewing ingredients and techniques (including <I>three</I> superb chapters on hops alone). Ray Daniels proves himself the "techie" type, infusing his introductory chapters with as much brewing math as brewing lore. Yet, Daniels never hops off the deep end of beer geekdom. Instead, he complements this emphasis on data with the creative use of graphics; where one could get bogged down in the stats, there is usually a clear visual depiction to instantly summarize their meaning.<p> This focus on facts continues into part 2 of Daniels's guide, where it backs an admirably pragmatic take on beer styles and their importance in home-brewing. Daniels devotes a chapter to each of 14 major style categories, detailing historical origins and modern brewing techniques. He lays a contemporary groundwork by compiling and analyzing the recipes of the National Homebrew Competition's most successful beers. The assumption is that beers deemed representative of particular beer styles in modern competitions serve as ideal models for recipe creation. Among the information provided for each style is a chart showing the percentage of brewers using each type of grain and in what proportions the grains were added. Similar data are supplied for hop varieties, yeast strains, and water treatment. This reverse engineering of award-winning beers naturally benefits experienced brewers seeking to wow judges at the next competition. Yet, even brewers taking their first shy steps into creating their own recipes have much to gain from this kind of practical analysis. Daniels provides the basic tools a brewer of any level can use to formulate recipes with confidence and creativity. <I>--Todd Gehman</I> 151752 25 1 2000 Designing Great Beers: The Ultimate Guide to Brewing Classic Beer Styles total:58|5:34|4:18|3:4|2:2|1:0| 58 258 87 16 5 0 false false Wed Dec 24 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sat Dec 27 07:27:13 -0800 2008 Sat Dec 27 07:32:59 -0800 2008
My only criticism of th...more...]]> 5 0 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Thu Apr 23 08:51:20 -0700 2009 Thu Apr 23 08:53:21 -0700 2009
I really appreciate their statistics of what ingredients were used and which combination of ingred...more...]]> 5 0 false false Mon Apr 21 06:55:36 -0700 2008 Mon Apr 21 07:00:24 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Tue Jan 27 21:06:31 -0800 2009 Tue Jan 27 21:07:11 -0800 2009 4 0 false false Sun Aug 31 09:00:12 -0700 2008 Sun Aug 31 09:06:19 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Thu Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Wed Nov 14 21:20:18 -0800 2007 Wed Nov 14 21:23:22 -0800 2007 more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Jan 29 13:13:49 -0800 2008 Wed May 28 15:18:40 -0700 2008
However, I'm brewing a lot of Belgian and less-common German beers these days, so I find myself referencing thi...more...]]> 5 0 false false Fri Jun 15 12:40:28 -0700 2007 Fri Jun 15 13:06:43 -0700 2007
note: For an examination of Belgian-inspired beers, check ...more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed Dec 12 13:32:29 -0800 2007 Wed Dec 12 13:41:41 -0800 2007 5 0 false false Mon Jun 02 11:05:43 -0700 2008 Mon Jun 02 11:08:04 -0700 2008 5 0 false false Tue Jul 29 11:04:13 -0700 2008 Tue Jul 29 11:05:28 -0700 2008 5 0 false false Sat Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Thu Feb 21 07:48:25 -0800 2008 Thu Feb 21 07:48:57 -0800 2008 5 0 false false Tue Feb 05 19:23:05 -0800 2008 Tue Feb 05 19:23:29 -0800 2008 4 0 false false Wed Sep 12 18:28:12 -0700 2007 Wed Nov 28 12:21:49 -0800 2007 5 0 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sat Jul 26 00:32:40 -0700 2008 Sat Jul 26 00:33:39 -0700 2008 0 0 false false Fri May 23 22:02:25 -0700 2008 Fri May 23 22:02:30 -0700 2008 2 0 false false Sat Nov 07 09:19:48 -0800 2009 Sat Nov 07 09:19:48 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Thu Nov 05 12:59:23 -0800 2009 Thu Nov 05 12:59:23 -0800 2009 5 0 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Tue Oct 13 14:42:18 -0700 2009 Tue Oct 13 14:42:38 -0700 2009 3 0 0 false false Wed Oct 07 08:23:55 -0700 2009 Wed Oct 07 08:23:55 -0700 2009