Modern Homebrew Recipes: Exploring Styles and Contemporary Techniques

by Gordon Strong

Craft beer is about innovation, discovery and interpretation. Homebrewing is about all that and more! As the beer scene changes, so do the beer styles we know and love. Grandmaster Beer Judge Gordon Strong takes you on a guided journey of discovery in Modern Homebrew Recipes that include the latest BJCP style changes. Following a primer on specific beer brewing techniques, recipe formulation fundamentals, and how to adapt recipes to your system, Strong shares more than 100 distinctive recipes.

Genres: Beer, Brewing, Nonfiction

346 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 7, 2015

Reviews

[Rob · Rating 5 out of 5]

A gift from my father, it was originally very much middle-of-the-pack on my homebrewing books wishlist. Judging by the title, I figured the book was going to be a collection of "modern" homebrew recipes; for me, I'd rather experiment and design my own, so I wasn't all that interested in just a catalog of what others have done, except to have some points of comparison.

HOWEVER: the first major section of the book is more about how to evaluate beers, how to evaluate recipes, how to pick ingredients, how to scale a recipe, how to reverse engineer a recipe, etc. It is a great primer on recipe design, giving you what you need to properly digest and adapt the recipes that follow.

So in that sense, MOST of the book turned out to be exactly what I thought it was, but that first big chunk provides so much context and so much value. The first 50 pages alone are worth the price.

[Geoff Young · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a useful resource slightly undermined by sloppy production. It builds on the author's previous work, summarizing and refining techniques presented in Brewing Better Beer before jumping into a myriad of recipes.

The first section discusses brewing technique, process, recipe formulation, ingredient substitution, etc. Formulation and substitution are of particular interest to me, and though this volume doesn't go into nearly as much detail as, say, Designing Great Beers, it provides a solid overview of the subject and is more than sufficient to get one pointed in the right direction without overwhelming.

The second section contains "more than 100 distinctive recipes," which are fascinating to read if you find that sort of thing fascinating (I do). As an extract brewer, I'll likely never brew any of these myself exactly as presented, but I intend to borrow liberally from his approach. For example, I can't really use first wort hopping in extract brewing, but I can and will use hop bursting. I can also see myself drawing inspiration from his use of ingredients, specifically spices and honey (many ideas came into my head as I was reading). And I'm pleased to see so many low gravity and Belgian recipes. I currently brew many of the former and am eager to explore the latter.

Appendixes cover basic beer math, considerations in choosing brewing software, and strategies for converting recipes from all-grain to extract (and vice versa). Math is dealt with far more extensively in other volumes, and though the ability to calculate by hand has been made largely irrelevant thanks to automated tools, it's good to know how the sausage is made. Recipe conversion is also an area of great interest to me, and the author offers excellent tips on how to approach that, even though he himself doesn't do extract beers (and looks down on them a bit; where he sees the need to compromise, I see the opportunity to adapt).

My one complaint is with the book's production. As a professional editor and writer, I am all too aware of deadlines and the errors they can foment. As such, I try to cut fellow professionals and their publishers considerable slack. That being said, there are an alarming number of typos that might lead one to wonder about the accuracy of other information presented. I'm willing to give benefit of the doubt here, but future versions of this volume could use better quality control, particularly in the later stages of production.

Still, this is a terrific resource. I'll be returning to it often.

[Ramon van Dam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Despite the title, this is more than just a book of recipes. Gordon Strong clearly explains for each brew exactly why he chose the ingredients and brewing techniques, which is what makes it quite valuable for me.

There are quite some beers in here I'd like to brew myself, but picking the brain of this expert is what makes this a big recommendation.

[Nile · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the first half of the book with all the background techniques for developing a balanced beer recipe. I didn't personally like the sound of many of the recipes and am not sure if I will try one or not. I may end up using some for brainstorming ideas, but regardless, this book has helped me grow my overall knowledge of the beer making process by better understanding the ingredients and the role that each plays. It was also an enjoyable read, nothing like a textbook.

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Update. I tried some recipes and have not been disappointed! Update to 5 stars. This is now my go to inspiration.

[Paul Klammer · Rating 5 out of 5]

My go to recipe book after brewing classic styles. The book is more than recipes though as it encourages the reader to consider choices they make in process and ingredient as they produce their personal take on a beer. The description of each beer illuminates the concept that Gordon Strong has of the beer which is and how his recipe and brewing process achieve it. The book can help an experienced brewer develop their own approach to recipe design. This is like a recipe book that helps a cook who has mastered technique cook without recipes and adjust and tweak to achieve their personal idea of an original dish based on inspiration gained from experience.

[Al · Rating 5 out of 5]

Informative book. Tweaks older methods with new ideas and approaches. Adding new thoughts, methods and procedures to your brewing is just plain fun.

Anytime you can understand what is going on in your brewing, jsu makes the brew better. After all, that's why I brew.

[Daniel Gonzales · Rating 5 out of 5]

More advanced brewing (i.e. focuses more on all-grain), including detailed techniques section and advanced overview of working with recipes. Lot's of good all-grain brewing recipes but includes appendix for converting to extract recipe. Appendices for "Beer Math" too.

[Shane Hunziker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great content but tons of spelling and grammatical errors. The poor editing distracted me somewhat. I can't wait to try some of these recipes, though!

[Michael Travis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Always interesting to explore new brew recipes. Very readable and spot on for its intent. A good read for those already brewing or looking to brew.

[Thea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good resource