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Brooklyn Brew Shop's Beer Making Book: 52 Seasonal Recipes for Small Batches
Brooklyn Brew Shop’s Beer Making Book takes brewing out of the basement and into the kitchen. Erica Shea and Stephen Valand show that with a little space, a few tools, and the same ingredients breweries use, you too can make delicious craft beer right on your stovetop. Greenmarket-inspired and seasonally brewed, these 52 recipes include Everyday IPA and Rose Cheeked & Blonde for spring; Grapefruit Honey Ale and S’More Beer for summer; Apple Crisp Ale and Peanut Butter Porter for fall; Chestnut Brown ale and Gingerbread Ale for winter; and even four gluten-free brews. You’ll also find tips for growing hops, suggestions for food pairings, and recipes for cooking with beer. Brooklyn Brew Shop’s Beer Making Book offers a new approach to artisanal brewing and is a must-own for beer lovers, seasonally minded cooks, and anyone who gets a kick out of saying “I made this!”
292 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2011
36 people are currently reading
91 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
August 7, 2014
I love the premise of this book. You don’t need to spend thousands of dollars on a brew stand, dedicated fermentation chamber, or other toys to enjoy making beer at home. You also don’t need to make five gallons at a time; you can learn a lot from making one gallon batches if that is all the space or stove top power that you can manage. These are good messages to bring to the homebrew world.
That said, if you are a beginning brewer, you probably need a bit more instruction than is provided in this book to make beer that doesn't taste like bananas and band aids. Brewing doesn’t have to be super complicated, but in the name of making it seem simple, a few major points were skipped over. Suffice it to say that if you followed the guidelines they give in this book on temperature control (don’t worry if you can’t keep the beer below 70 degrees) and water treatment (no mention of chlorine) you are going to end up with some significant off flavors in your beer- that’s something I learned from making those mistakes myself.
Look, I’m not a great home brewer. I don’t have time to brew multiple batches a week, which you need to do if you want to make beer that might compare to the stuff you buy. And I firmly believe that making homebrew, even very average homebrew, is the best beer appreciation course you can take. So I think it is great if this book inspires someone who thought they didn’t have the space or money to try homebrewing. The recipes look to be well written, and I will try some of them- I have no doubt that, with the right care, they will produce some excellent beer. But if you want a good technical introduction to brewing that might help you produce results that are in the ballpark of good beer, maybe read “How to Brew,” and then apply the technical things you learn from that book to the small scale brewing method proposed in this book.
That said, if you are a beginning brewer, you probably need a bit more instruction than is provided in this book to make beer that doesn't taste like bananas and band aids. Brewing doesn’t have to be super complicated, but in the name of making it seem simple, a few major points were skipped over. Suffice it to say that if you followed the guidelines they give in this book on temperature control (don’t worry if you can’t keep the beer below 70 degrees) and water treatment (no mention of chlorine) you are going to end up with some significant off flavors in your beer- that’s something I learned from making those mistakes myself.
Look, I’m not a great home brewer. I don’t have time to brew multiple batches a week, which you need to do if you want to make beer that might compare to the stuff you buy. And I firmly believe that making homebrew, even very average homebrew, is the best beer appreciation course you can take. So I think it is great if this book inspires someone who thought they didn’t have the space or money to try homebrewing. The recipes look to be well written, and I will try some of them- I have no doubt that, with the right care, they will produce some excellent beer. But if you want a good technical introduction to brewing that might help you produce results that are in the ballpark of good beer, maybe read “How to Brew,” and then apply the technical things you learn from that book to the small scale brewing method proposed in this book.
September 8, 2018
This book came as the manual in a Brooklyn BrewShop 1 gallon beer kit that I got in a Quartlery.co subscription box (curated by Wil Wheaton, I think, or perhaps Tim Ferriss) a few years ago, but has sat on my shelf unread. I decided this week to get back into brewing beer, but this time going beyond the basic goop-like extract mix, yeast, and water. Time to steep and sparge the grains, add the hops, boil and ferment the wort, bottle, and drink!
It’s designed by New Yorkers for their small living spaces, and so uses a 1 gallon container to make up to 10 bottles, rather than the large food buckets that make 40 bottles typical of home brewing . Ideal for small spaces, learning, and experimenting.
With the exception of using US measurements (its full of pounds, ounces, gallons, quarts, cups, and Fahrenheit), which I suppose is to be expected considering where it was written, it’s an instructive, straightforward and easy to follow book. The recipes are many and varied, to suit all tastes, it has a few gluten-free recipes, and a bunch of non-beer recipes... including a recipe for how to turn your leftover grain into dog biscuits.
It’s designed by New Yorkers for their small living spaces, and so uses a 1 gallon container to make up to 10 bottles, rather than the large food buckets that make 40 bottles typical of home brewing . Ideal for small spaces, learning, and experimenting.
With the exception of using US measurements (its full of pounds, ounces, gallons, quarts, cups, and Fahrenheit), which I suppose is to be expected considering where it was written, it’s an instructive, straightforward and easy to follow book. The recipes are many and varied, to suit all tastes, it has a few gluten-free recipes, and a bunch of non-beer recipes... including a recipe for how to turn your leftover grain into dog biscuits.
May 12, 2017
Excellent book which compliments my Brooklyn Brew Shop kit that I received as a gift perfectly.
It contains some wonderful and slightly unusual beer recipes which although they maybe take a bit of care to get right, they are certainly not difficult to achieve.
If you like small batch (1 gallon) all grain brewing then this is a very good book to get.
I only knock a star off as I'm having to do my own metric conversions for the amounts.
It contains some wonderful and slightly unusual beer recipes which although they maybe take a bit of care to get right, they are certainly not difficult to achieve.
If you like small batch (1 gallon) all grain brewing then this is a very good book to get.
I only knock a star off as I'm having to do my own metric conversions for the amounts.
July 15, 2018
My husband and I enjoy home-brewing, and these recipes look like something we'll definitely try in the future. The author's style is casual, easy to read, and very informative. I'm walking away from reading this feeling like I understand parts of the process that I didn't know about earlier.
February 12, 2024
A pretty shallow brewing book, but I think it's enough for the intended audience. There are some interesting recipes in here, as well as some additional instructions for food that include the use of your homebrews.
May 18, 2021
Let's make some beer
November 28, 2011
For a novice female brewer who's just starting out with home brewing, I bought myself this book at the Chocolate Maple Porter to kickstart my homebrew journey. After completing the book, I am very pleased with my choice.
Oh, don't worry, I also reserved Charlie Papazian's homebrewing books from the library and a few more to teach myself the science, lore and practicality of homebrewing. However, this book is perfectly geared toward super small batches (my preferred) of one gallon. Five gallon modifications are also given. But, for someone who's only interested in bottling 10 to 12 bottles one of batch vs 20, this works for me.
I also love how the book is categorized by seasons and is jam packed with various styles and fruit brews. It's easy to read, understand and work with. In short, get this book - even if you don't purchase the BBS's kits. Nothing beats an accessible, well written book that presents what could be hella scientific and challenging information in an easy to digest manner.
Happy brewing! Even if you're gluten-free!
Oh, don't worry, I also reserved Charlie Papazian's homebrewing books from the library and a few more to teach myself the science, lore and practicality of homebrewing. However, this book is perfectly geared toward super small batches (my preferred) of one gallon. Five gallon modifications are also given. But, for someone who's only interested in bottling 10 to 12 bottles one of batch vs 20, this works for me.
I also love how the book is categorized by seasons and is jam packed with various styles and fruit brews. It's easy to read, understand and work with. In short, get this book - even if you don't purchase the BBS's kits. Nothing beats an accessible, well written book that presents what could be hella scientific and challenging information in an easy to digest manner.
Happy brewing! Even if you're gluten-free!
March 29, 2013
Got this through the library's e-book option. Couldn't have been easier to get it out. Very easy to return (quickly). Very abbreviated how-to section. May eventually try her method, but I had too many questions after I read it to be confident I could do it. Maybe if I'd read this first, I'd try it, but it is too different from "Beer Craft", which I'm trying now. It has been loads of fun and the results have been surprisingly good.
March 16, 2014
Pretty good beginner book. The things I like about this book are that it teaches a method of all-grain brewing that doesn't need a ton of extra equipment and it's mainly for 1 gallon batches. I live in an apartment and making a 5 gallon batch takes too much space. 1 gallon is the perfect size for me, right now. And the recipes all sound delicious. I can't wait to start.
December 29, 2015
A delightfully inventive brew book. Recipes incorporating mustard, lobster, and heavy doses of cardamom intersperse with more traditional brews. There is even a GF carrot-based brew that demands to be tried!
A great book.
A great book.
August 29, 2012
Pretty interesting read. I love how it has small batch, and full 5 gallon batch recipes. I can't wait to try some of these out!
November 2, 2012
I might have to buy this book. It is kind of what I have been looking for. A small batch brewing guide plus some recipes to cut my teeth on.
February 10, 2013
A freaking boatload of delicious-sounding homebrew recipes. I'll definitely be making a lot of these.
October 24, 2014
Super inspiration til lille-skala brygning. Mange interessante opskrifter. Glæder mig til at få mit eget fem-liter bryggeri op at køre...
November 1, 2014
Needed English measurements but awesome for the home brewing ideas
January 3, 2013
Some very interesting recipes!
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews