Yeast,Hops, Water and Now Malt..

[Fil]

after receiving a pointer to the Yeast book http://www.amazon.co.uk/Yeast-Practical ... 0937381969 got it and read it almost cover to cover found it interesting clear, and inspiering to start yeast banking myself.

I then got the Hops Book http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1938469011/r ... AWTZ17RXK4

and enjoyed this too and last year grew and harvested (poor) my first crop of challenger and fuggles home grown hops. (no signs of life this year.... baited breath hehe) but the soil is pretty wet and clayish here ,,, fingers crossed.

then the Water book arrived http://www.amazon.co.uk/WATER-COMPREHEN ... gy_b_img_z
And i was keen to explore and learn about this aspect of our hobby.. OOOPS!!! not the accessible read the previous volumes were..
But this book is a bit of a struggle for me, and i have yet to manage more than a 30 min or so reading session before giving up.. Its still within reach and i keep chipping away every few months, BUT, its an uphill read for me.

I have now just received the Malt book http://www.amazon.co.uk/Malt-Practical- ... K8S6A77RPC

And i am very gratified to find what little i have read so far (preface, chap1, and a lil skim through) is again pitched at a level i can both read and enjoy.. so is now my #1 paper reading..

All in all the series is great, and as soon as i can get round the concept of a compound when dissolved in water is both the compound AND discrete charged ions of its constituents at the same time, ( all sounds a bit quantum 2 me) i may be able to make some progress with the Water book, and enjoy learning about this too..

these books fill in all the gaps between all the different 'how to' books and instructions available, and imho well worth looking at.

[snakepie@hotmail.com]

Really interesting and informative review Fil. I completely agree. I am reading the hops book - great, got the yeast book - great. The water book does not appeal - far too scientific - and I like science. Simply too "laboratory" for me!

I completely support what you have said above!!

[Fil]

cheers snakepie.. i hate it that the info in water book is bouncing off my head,, hopefully one day i will have an eureka moment.. im sure its me and not the authors, its a subject way outside my scope of reference.

To date the only treatment my pre brew liquor gets is a dechlorinating 1/2 a campden tab though when i start brewing more wheat/white beers and others that prefer a softer water than in my tap, i would like to have a deeper appreciation of the chemistry before i start doseing with crs and similar.

[Wonkydonkey]

Now I must say, I've been going them all as well. a bit here and a bit there, when I get a bit of time.

But I know what you mean with the water book, but. Like most peeps chemistry is not for them, but also saying that pH is a biology thing as well.
So if both of these went over yor head in school/college, then yeh you will find it hard.
But using those lovly calculators ( I've seen 3 very similar xls spreadsheets ) it makes it almost a simple as building a recipe.
But that's how I see it. And Once you know what does what, gypsum, baking powder etc. bobs your uncle

Wonky

[ONBP]

I love these books. They are so indepth aren't they.