Making Beer

by William J. Mares

A former dark-ale champion of Vermont shares his recipes, reveals his secrets, and introduces readers to an entire community of beer connoisseurs, in a comprehensive guide to preparing and bottling first-class porters, stouts, ales, and lagers, at home and on the cheap. Illustrations.

Genres: Reference, Brewing

173 pages, Paperback

First published April 12, 1984

Reviews

[Justin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was loaned to me by my buddy Rick, the one who oversaw my first home-brewing attempt! While this book was a bit dated (1984) and portrayed some questionable tastes (Pilsner Urquell is something to aspire to? blech!) it was an entertaining narrative about the beginnings of a home-brewer. It was, at the same time, informative about various aspects of home brewing, and provided a down-to-earth exploration of a home-brewer’s quest to learn more about starting his own brewery. Altogether it was a fun and easy read (especially for a budding home brewer) and fueled my interest to explore brewing further. Sounds like a success to me!

[Lance · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is an easy read, however out dated.
It was a walk down memory lane in some cases as I was in the industry and interviewed with McAuliffe, knew Schleuter from college and visited many of the breweries mentioned in the book.
For those considering the craft industry it is worth a read.

[Nick Klagge · Rating 3 out of 5]

Picked this up in a used bookstore on a whim. Not a bad light read. It's mostly about the experience of being a homebrewer, though it does have a couple of recipes in the back. It was interesting to read since it was written before the American craft beer renaissance. In all, it made me feel somewhat disinclined to try all-grain brewing and definitely disinclined to ever try to start a brewery, but encouraged to continue in my partial-mash forays.

[Pon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Those who are a serious brewer and want to open a brewery should really read this book. It's much more helpful than Brewing a Business by Sam Calagione. Plus this book provides a concise history of craft brewing in America in the past couple of decades. It was as if you had talked to many brewers yourself and learned about the craft industry first-hand. Great writer. Good read.

[bubbles (Albert) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting, but I was expecting more about beer making, and less about culuture of home-brewing.

[Monty · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun, informative read, which (mostly) confirms my long-held conviction that I (probably) don't really want to expand from extract brewing to all-grain brewing.