It's only been a few weeks since we released our first title of 2018, Danish Beer and Continental Beer Gardens. Now IBN has followed up with another pocket classic, Secrets of the Mash Tun: or The Real Causes of Failure in Producing Good Ale or Beer.  First published in 1847, this guide was written for small brewers and home brewers during a period when science was becoming more appreciated for its contributions to the brewer's art. This is not a reproduction, but an all-new edition, freshly re-designed and typeset, including Publisher's comments and a helpful record-keeping section at the back for home brewers.

With simple explanations, useful advice and a common-sense approach, it offers today's small-scale brewers a handy manual of practice and a fascinating insight into our beer-brewing past. It's just the kind of handy reference you would like to add to your homebrewing bookshelf, or sit back and enjoy with a cold ale, next to a mid-winter fire.

Available via Amazon: HERE
Via Amazon UK: HERE

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We’ve just added a new title to the IBN History of Brewing Series—Danish Beer and Continental Beer Gardens, is an all-new, expanded edition of a classic early-20^th century book by Dr. Max Henius. Originally developed as an extended lecture for American brewers, this new edition highlights many of the “best practices” used by Danish brewers and surveys continental attitudes regarding beer drinking culture. It includes a new introduction, an all-new interior layout and additional matter at the back of the book, including subject updates and additional information that adds further context. Presented in a slightly larger format (7” x 10”) than our first two titles due to the many illustrations, most of which were photo-edited to maximize their reprint quality.

“As usual, we refuse to just scan-and-copy an old book and charge an exorbitant price for a reprint,” explained M.A. Schweitzer, who edited this edition. “We essentially created an all-new book, improving the images, adding extra material and providing some relevant context for modern readers.”

Available on Amazon
List Price: $8.59
7" x 10" (17.78 x 25.4 cm)
58 pages
ISBN-13: 978-1983657023
ISBN-10: 1983657026

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I generally brew my beer in the Fall; something about the season always feels right, and the thought of entering the Holiday Season with some special beers on hand makes a lot of sense to me. Fall being harvest time also seems appropriate, especially when considering complimentary flavors that might be added. Note—that does not include pumpkin.
My brew tools are pretty rudimentary and common to most home brewers:  a 6-gallon clear fermenter, brew pots, plastic pails for bottling and secondary fermentation, large bottles, small bottles, an ancient capper—you name it. All this and a handful of books on brewing plus a great local supply shop, The Grape & Granary, provide me with just about everything I need.

Once in a while, however, I come across something new that piques my interest, and so it was with the BrewDemon 2.5-gallon Conical Fermenter. Till now, I’ve always brewed in 5-gallon batches, but I was attracted to the idea of brewing smaller batches, which would allow for a little more frequent experimentation with recipes and new styles. I ordered mine from Amazon with some birthday gift money as well as some spare airlocks and a BrewDemon kit to make one 2.5-gallon batch of Brown Ale, which remains my go-to drink of choice.

For whatever reason, I’ve preferred the beers I’ve made with extract over the last batch I made from a kit that included dry malts and steeped grains. The latter, while good, had more of the roasted malt taste that I associate with American Brown Ales, rather than the sweet, caramel-malt “fruitiness” that typifies good English Brown Ales. My goal with the first batch here is to try and replicate my past efforts, which normally result in a fresh, rich and sessionable Brown Ale, similar to Newcastle, but better. Currently, I’m considering what modest additions I might add to this kit to ensure just a little more body and taste.

I’ll let you know how this works out. I’m also looking at what comes next—I am thinking about some type of rich Harvest Ale, a Holiday Porter, and at least one or two other styles that I can store long term. Over the last winter, I completed building a wine/beer storage cellar under the basement stairs, and it’s been waiting for some occupants. Time to get to work!

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As a home brewer myself, I've always been fascinated by traditional approaches to brewing, particularly those dating back to an earlier age, when brewers did not have the technology or tools that we utilize today.

In truth, the brewing of beers and ales may not be a complex task, but it is one where extra thought and care may result in a superior end product. This approach is evident in both of the classic works we have chosen to offer through our publishing partner, American Biblioverken. Together, they kick off our History of Brewing Series, which we hope will continue to grow with additional titles as time goes on.

The first, A Treatise on the Brewing of Beer, was written by E. Hughes and dates from 1796. It is a very modest work, extending but to 36 pages, but does include some insightful thoughts on the production of beers and ales via traditional methods. The second book, The London and Country Brewer, was originally published in 1736, and offers 100 pages of thoughtful advice on brewing, selection of malt and hops, as well as beer storage and transportation.

Upon reading, what does become clear is the realization that while modern technology does make brewing easier, and results in a more consistent product, it may not be absolutely necessary to produce a quality beer or ale, and that there is much "lost knowledge" from which today's brewers may still benefit.

In both examples,  the writing style is far more formal than modern ears may be accustomed to, and this may present a modest challenge to some readers. Nevertheless, the information as presented is logical, heartfelt and indeed, rather entertaining. To that end, we have retained all of the traditional idioms and spellings from the original edition, since they add so much to the overall effect of the works.

Both books are available at the links listed above, via Createspace, at $5.50 and $9.99 via the links above.  We'll post the links to Amazon in a few days, when they become available. The cost is the same at both sources.

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Not sure why, but Fall has always been my favorite time of year to brew beer. The air gets cooler; stronger, more flavorful beers call out to my palate; and the upcoming feasts of the holiday season demand memorable home-made beers to match the great food. Invariably, I will start things out with a batch of Brown English-style ale and progress to more complex, holiday ales as December approaches.

This year seems no different, I started out with a brown ale kit I picked up a month or so ago at my local homebrewing store, The Grape & Granary. Up till now, I had mostly brewed all-extract brews of this type and have always been happy with the results. This kit included some specialty grains for steeping--which added another extra step to the process, but one which I hope will make a notable improvement.

I had anticipated a long time getting the kettle up to boil; it was easy enough to get the water up to 150 degrees or so for steeping the grain. But even on my commercial-grade range, it seemed to take forever when it came time to get the wort up to a rolling boil after adding the extract and bittering hops. I rigged up a colander and some coffee filter paper in an attempt to strain out most of the solids from the wart--but the results were mixed, due to the added grain.  As I wait out the primary fermentation, I'll have to consider a more reliable method to remove the remaining "silt."

For now, the wort is working in the basement...the yeast is really cranking and you can see the rolling action as fermentation builds inside the 5 gallon acrylic fermenter. It's always fun to watch, but I'm already planning my next batch; something more of a "Christmas Style" ale.

To that end, I'm looking at adding a couple of smaller fermenters; the 2-gallon BrewDemon Conical models have caught my eye, and they might just be the ticket. A recent issue of Brew Your Own magazine had an interesting article about the advantages of brewing smaller batches--there's the matter of convenience, time savings, and less investment lost if a batch doesn't turn out "as expected." It's a little easier to experiment with new ideas and flavors, too.

I bottle-condition most of my beers and make labels for them, which is almost as much fun as drinking the beer. While I often have a name and type in mind, I usually wait until tasting a sample to make my final decision on this, since the final taste and flavor characteristics will often influence the choice of name and label graphics.

Thus, if you ever see a bottle of Bedpan Brown Ale in my refrigerator, you'll know the final results were probably less than expected.

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Future Publishing's [UK] Homebrew Handbook has been out for a little while now - but it was only recently that it caught my eye at the local Barnes & Noble. I'm a sucker for a nicely-produced book or magazine of any kind, so I couldn't resist grabbing a copy and taking up to the checkout.

The handbook is a very attractive, well-written and well-illustrated guide on how to brew your own beer. Like most publications from Future Publishing, it's a very high-quality piece, printed on high-quality paper and made to serve as a handy, durable reference that will last you through many homebrewing sessions. I will look good on your coffee table, too. The handbook looks at three essential methods of brewing (Home Kit, Extract and Full-Mash) and includes some solid reference material on malt, hops, water and various aspects of the brewing process that the beginning homebrewer--whether they are in the UK or the US--will find helpful. As it has been a while since I've brewed myself, it also served as a nice refresher, and the articles on establishing microbreweries and labeling your beer were interesting and inspirational, too.

One of the most useful parts of the book is the nice collection of recipes that are included, from very basic types to some more specialized brews that were provided by some popular craft breweries. Some of these you might be familiar with; others are rather obscure offerings from lesser known brewers, but they are all interesting to read about and assess, and may inspire you to tinkering with your next batch of homebrew.

All in all, a nice publication that we would highly recommend at just $14.99.

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