Brewing better beer : master lessons for advanced home brewers

337 Pages·2011·19.284 MB·English

by  Strong, Gordon

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Gordon Strong
A Division of the
Brewers Association
Boulder, Colorado
Brewers Publications
A Division of the Brewers Association
PO Box 1679, Boulder, Colorado 80306-1679
BrewersAssociation.org
© Copyright 2011 by Brewers Association
All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without written
permission of the publisher. Neither the authors, editor nor the publisher assume any
responsibility for the use or misuse of information contained in this book.
Printed in the United States of America.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
ISBN: 0-937381-98-5
ISBN-13: 978-0-937381-98-4
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Strong, Gordon, 1962-
Brewing better beer : master lessons for advanced home brewers / by
Gordon Strong.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-937381-98-4
ISBN-10: 0-937381-98-5
1. Beer--Amateurs’ manuals. 2. Brewing--Amateurs’ manuals. I. Title.
TP577.S795 2011
641.8’73--dc22
2011003301
Publisher: Kristi Switzer
Technical Editor: Joseph A. Formanek, Ph.D.
Copy Editing and Index: Daria Labinsky
Production & Design Management: Stephanie Johnson Martin
Cover and Interior Design: Julie White
Cover Photography: Jon Edwards Photography
To Joe Frisbie and Ken Weems, who first got me
interested in craft beer and homebrewing,
and
To my wife, Karla, and my daughter, Katya,
for putting up with me ever since.

table of contents
Acknowledgements ..............................................................................xi
Foreword ..............................................................................................xiii
Introduction ...........................................................................................1
Blown Up, Sir - 1
The Journey Is the Reward - 4
Structure of This Book - 7
Using This Book - 8
But Why Nothing on Extract Beers? - 9
Part I: Philosophy
Chapter 1. The Philosophy of Brewing ...........................13
Everyone Has a Story - 15
Channeling Influences - 18
Mastering Skills - 20
Developing Your Own Style - 22
Part II: Mastering Your Craft
Chapter 2. Mastering Techniques ...................................27
Transforming Grain - 28
Mash Fundamentals - 29
Common Mash Rests - 30
Doughing-in - 32
Single-infusion Mash - 33
Step Mash - 35
Decoction Mash - 37
Handling Dark Grains - 43
Lautering - 48
Preparing to Sparge - 49
Lautering Options - 50
Managing the Boil - 57
Using Hops - 64
Traditional Hopping - 65
All-Late Hopping - 66
First Wort Hopping (FWH) - 68
Post-Boil Finishing Hop Methods - 70
Multiple Additions - 73
Chapter 3. Mastering Equipment ...................................75
Matching Equipment to the Task - 76
Measuring Ingredients - 76
Crushing Grain - 78
Moving Liquid - 79
Managing Heat - 80
Mashing - 82
Lautering - 83
Boiling Wort - 84
Chilling and Separating Wort - 84
Fermenting and Conditioning - 86
Packaging - 88
Learning Your System - 89
Optimizing Your Brewing - 94
Planning Your Brew Calendar - 95
Planning Your Brew Day - 96
Approximating and Estimating - 99
Chapter 4. Mastering Ingredients .................................103
Assessing Ingredients - 104
Malt - 106
Modification, Diastatic Power, and Protein Levels - 107
Characterizing Malt - 109
Selecting Malt - 110
Preparing Malt - 111
So What Do I Do? - 113
Adjuncts - 115
So What Do I Do? - 117
Hops - 120
Storing Hops - 121
Characterizing Hops - 121
Selecting Hops - 124
So What Do I Do? - 125
Yeast - 127
Choosing a Yeast Strain - 128
Preparing the Yeast - 130
Managing Fermentation - 132
So What Do I Do? - 136
Water - 137
Water Sources and Classic Profiles, A Cautionary Tale - 138
Water Basics - 139
Assessing Your Water - 142
Adjusting Your Water for Brewing - 144
So What Do I Do? - 150
Part III: Applying Your Knowledge
Chapter 5. Evaluating Your Own Beer .........................155
Understanding Beer Styles - 156
The Purpose of Beer Styles - 157
Understanding BJCP Terms - 158
The ‘Narrowness’ of Styles - 159
The Style Space - 159
How to Read and Apply the Styles - 161
Developing Your Palate - 162
The Tongue Map - 162
Understanding Balance - 163
Aroma Techniques - 165
Tasting Techniques - 167
Malty vs. Sweet - 172
Building Your Skills - 173
Critically Assessing Your Own Beer - 176
Structured Tasting - 177
Evaluating for Faults - 179
Evaluating for Style - 179
Chapter 6. Envisioning Your Beer ................................183
Recipe Formulation - 187
Adjusting Balance - 196
Scaling Recipes - 196
Adjusting Final Gravity and Attenuation - 198
Balancing Bitterness, Alcohol, and Tannins - 198
Interactions - 200
Avoiding Clashing Flavors - 201
Recipe Formulation Examples - 203
Example: Cloning a World-Class Beer - 203
Example: Modifying or Improving Someone Else’s Beer - 206
Example: Brewing a Style Not in the Guidelines - 207
Example: Creating a Beer Based on a Food Idea - 211
Example: Building a Recipe From Historical Research - 214
Example: Make a Reference Beer, Then Adjust - 218
Conceptualizing New Styles - 220
Getting Ideas - 220
Creating a Fusion Recipe - 222
Avoiding Stupid Ideas - 224
Chapter 7. Troubleshooting ..........................................229
Detecting Beer Faults - 230
Technical Brewing Faults - 232
Style-Related Faults - 242
Low Gravity - 243
Incorrect Attenuation - 244
Boil-related Issues - 245
Harshness - 245
Aftertaste Issues - 246
Clarity - 246
Chapter 8. Finishing Beer..............................................249
Factors Affecting Beer Stability - 249
Conditioning - 251
Lagering - 252
Clarifying - 253
Stabilizing - 255
Carbonating and Packaging - 255
Final Adjustments - 259
Adjusting Finished Beer pH - 261
Adjusting Salts for Flavor - 262
Adjusting Color - 262
Adjusting Carbonation - 262
Adjusting Clarity - 263
Adjusting Balance - 263
Blending - 264
Why Blend? - 265
Conceptualizing Blended Beers - 267
Strategies for Blending - 270
Methods for Blending - 271
Chapter 9. Competition Brewing ..................................275
Brewing for Quality - 276
Timing is Everything - 278
Brewing for Quantity - 279
Winning BJCP Competitions - 285
Understanding Competitions and Judging - 286
Preparing for Competitions - 291
Packing and Shipping - 295
Chapter 10. Conclusion .................................................299
Expanding Your Knowledge - 300
Staying Current - 301
Final Advice - 302
List of Recipes - 305
Index - 307