From an award-winning beer author comes this fascinating tour of the historical brewing techniques and traditions behind 26 of the world's classic styles. Modern brewers offer homebrewing recipes for the time-tested beers.
Best-selling author Jeff Alworth takes serious beer aficionados on a behind-the-scenes tour of 26 major European and North American breweries that create some of the world’s most classic beers. Learn how the Irish make stout, the secrets of traditional Czech pilsner, and what makes English cask ale unique by delving deep into the specific techniques, equipment, and geographical factors that shape these distinctive styles.
Contemporary brewers carrying on their traditions share insider knowledge and 26 original recipes to guide experienced homebrewers in developing your own special versions of each style.
Book Features:
- A fascinating, behind-the-scenes tour of 26 of the most prestigious breweries in the world. Featuring original interviews with master brewers across Europe and North America, Jeff Alworth offers an in-depth analysis of the ingredients, methods, and techniques that have shaped the world's classic beer styles, from Scottish ale to British cask ale, Bavarian lager, Belgian saison, and many others.
- Features homebrew recipes not covered in any other homebrewing book. Homebrew recipes for each of the 26 classic styles, along with tips and insights into the subtleties of how the master brewers do it, will empower avid homebrewers to not just clone but replicate their favorites using the original brewing techniques.
- An amchair guide for beer lovers who are history and travel enthusiasts. The Secrets of Master Brewers traces the origins of traditional beer styles and what makes each unique along with the stories of the people who are keeping these techniques alive, and the role these classic brewing techniques continue to play in guiding contemporary craft beer brewing.
Two col illustrations throughout.
About the Author
Jeff Alworth has been writing about beer and brewing for twenty years. He is the author of
The Beer Bible (Workman, 2015), Cider Made Simple (Chronicle, 2015), and
The Beer Tasting Toolkit (Chronicle, 2012). He is a columnist for
All About Beer and has written for a number of magazines and newspapers, and he blogs about beer at his popular site, Beervana. He lives and brews in Portland, Oregon.
Industry Reviews
"This guided tour of some of the finest breweries in Europe and North America showcases the culture, brewing techniques, equipment, and geographic factors that shape their distinctive beers. But the true value of this book may be the 26 recipes Alworth includes for creating each style, including Irish Stout, German Weissbier, Belgian Saison, Italian Lager and American Hoppy Ale." --
Ale Street News "Making art without a sense of what has come before is empty rattling. With insight from the people who live the world's great beer traditions, Jeff Alworth helps us appreciate the subtle and somewhat hidden attitudes and practices that make each classic style so uniquely delicious." -- Randy Mosher, best-selling author of Tasting Beer
"One of the truly essential books on modern brewing, period. This immaculately detailed gift to the entire brewing community is a treasure trove of insight into how great beers are actually made. No other brewing book, aimed at professionals or homebrewers, could improve your brewing as much as this one will." -- Ben Edmunds, brewmaster at Breakside Brewery in Portland, OR
