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Author Topic: Let's Talk Books!  (Read 5288 times)

Offline KRISTI

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Let's Talk Books!
« on: September 28, 2021, 01:17:41 pm »
Let’s Talk Books!

I’ve produced 27 books since I became publisher at Brewers Publications and many title ideas have come from our homebrewing community! As I plan for the future, I’m interested to know if there are subjects that you would like to dive into more deeply? What will help you on the next step of your brewing journey? What do you feel would help you improve your processes, techniques, or understanding? What resource are you missing in your library?

In your opinion, what are up-and-coming trends or styles? What do you want to know more about that falls into the category of fermentation? What brewers/writers would you like to learn more from?

Finally, if you have enjoyed any Brewers Publications books, I’d like to encourage you to leave a positive review on Amazon, Goodreads, Bookshop, etc. Reviews can improve our standing in search results and help our authors (and BP) be recommended more often when customers need guidance.

Please drop me a line and share your input directly with me or note your ideas below. I look forward to hearing from you and appreciate your support of Brewers Publications!

Cheers,
Kristi Switzer
Publisher, Brewers Publications
kristi@brewersassociation.org
Kristi Switzer
Publisher, Brewers Publications

Offline erockrph

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Re: Let's Talk Books!
« Reply #1 on: September 28, 2021, 06:58:33 pm »
I do all my "reading" on Audible nowadays. If BP released their books in audio format I'd snap them all up. Many of the authors are very well-spoken and would be great narrators as well.
Eric B.

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Offline dmtaylor

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Re: Let's Talk Books!
« Reply #2 on: September 28, 2021, 07:34:10 pm »
Fact: A huge percentage of homebrewers (I'm thinking at least 50-60%??) are scientists, engineers, and IT people.  Give us SCIENCE and give us MATH.  We want to learn everything there is to know about mashing temperatures, mash time, hop boil times, whirlpool hop additions, experimentation, and the most accurate way to calculate IBUs.

We don't care about IPA.  Give us science.

And give me some good German lager.

You know what we really need?!  A new update to Designing Great Beers by Ray Daniels.  If he ain't going to update it, FIND SOMEONE WHO WILL.  WE WILL BUY THAT BOOK.

Thanks for the opportunity.  Cheers.
Dave

The world will become a much more pleasant place to live when each and every one of us realizes that we are all idiots.

Offline tommymorris

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Let's Talk Books!
« Reply #3 on: September 28, 2021, 08:00:54 pm »
What about stories and biographies? I personally don’t want math or science. I do that at work. I also don’t want recipes. I get those for free here. But, I bet there’s a lot of stories to be told.

PS. I’ll take my stories on Audible, please ;)
« Last Edit: September 28, 2021, 08:03:22 pm by tommymorris »

Offline HighVoltageMan!

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Re: Let's Talk Books!
« Reply #4 on: September 29, 2021, 05:34:18 am »
Fact: A huge percentage of homebrewers (I'm thinking at least 50-60%??) are scientists, engineers, and IT people.  Give us SCIENCE and give us MATH.  We want to learn everything there is to know about mashing temperatures, mash time, hop boil times, whirlpool hop additions, experimentation, and the most accurate way to calculate IBUs.

We don't care about IPA.  Give us science.

And give me some good German lager.

You know what we really need?!  A new update to Designing Great Beers by Ray Daniels.  If he ain't going to update it, FIND SOMEONE WHO WILL.  WE WILL BUY THAT BOOK.

Thanks for the opportunity.  Cheers.
I agree. Most books are written for beginners or intermediate brewers. I find myself reading more white papers on studies done for the professional brewing industries on different aspects of brewing to learn more about brewing. I find more information put out by professional outlets like Master Brewers Association than from home brewing sources. Something other than the basic subjects covered in greater depth would be nice. I like the idea of historical and biographies too, but I'm looking more for advanced techniques, science and processes. German beers in depth.
« Last Edit: September 29, 2021, 05:37:32 am by HighVoltageMan! »

Offline hmbrw4life

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Re: Let's Talk Books!
« Reply #5 on: September 29, 2021, 07:00:15 am »
Fact: A huge percentage of homebrewers (I'm thinking at least 50-60%??) are scientists, engineers, and IT people.  Give us SCIENCE and give us MATH.  We want to learn everything there is to know about mashing temperatures, mash time, hop boil times, whirlpool hop additions, experimentation, and the most accurate way to calculate IBUs.

We don't care about IPA.  Give us science.

And give me some good German lager.

You know what we really need?!  A new update to Designing Great Beers by Ray Daniels.  If he ain't going to update it, FIND SOMEONE WHO WILL.  WE WILL BUY THAT BOOK.

Thanks for the opportunity.  Cheers.
I agree. Most books are written for beginners or intermediate brewers. I find myself reading more white papers on studies done for the professional brewing industries on different aspects of brewing to learn more about brewing. I find more information put out by professional outlets like Master Brewers Association than from home brewing sources. Something other than the basic subjects covered in greater depth would be nice. I like the idea of historical and biographies too, but I'm looking more for advanced techniques, science and processes. German beers in depth.

Uhh, like beyond this?

https://www.themodernbrewhouse.com/list-of-brewing-references/
Science functions when theory correctly predicts the results of experiments.
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Offline denny

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Re: Let's Talk Books!
« Reply #6 on: September 29, 2021, 08:36:53 am »
I do all my "reading" on Audible nowadays. If BP released their books in audio format I'd snap them all up. Many of the authors are very well-spoken and would be great narrators as well.

Dude, you would NOT want to spend hours listening to me read a book.  Not to mention that authors arent always great speakers. I produced a lot of audio books back I studio days and the author almost never read them.  A trained voiceover person would do it.
Life begins at 60.....1.060, that is!

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Offline denny

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Re: Let's Talk Books!
« Reply #7 on: September 29, 2021, 08:37:31 am »
Fact: A huge percentage of homebrewers (I'm thinking at least 50-60%??) are scientists, engineers, and IT people.  Give us SCIENCE and give us MATH.  We want to learn everything there is to know about mashing temperatures, mash time, hop boil times, whirlpool hop additions, experimentation, and the most accurate way to calculate IBUs.

We don't care about IPA.  Give us science.

And give me some good German lager.

You know what we really need?!  A new update to Designing Great Beers by Ray Daniels.  If he ain't going to update it, FIND SOMEONE WHO WILL.  WE WILL BUY THAT BOOK.

Thanks for the opportunity.  Cheers.

I'm pretty much over that type of book.
Life begins at 60.....1.060, that is!

www.dennybrew.com

The best, sharpest, funniest, weirdest and most knowledgable minds in home brewing contribute on the AHA forum. - Alewyfe

"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts." - Bertrand Russell

Offline denny

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Re: Let's Talk Books!
« Reply #8 on: September 29, 2021, 08:37:53 am »
What about stories and biographies? I personally don’t want math or science. I do that at work. I also don’t want recipes. I get those for free here. But, I bet there’s a lot of stories to be told.

PS. I’ll take my stories on Audible, please ;)

Homebrew All Stars
Life begins at 60.....1.060, that is!

www.dennybrew.com

The best, sharpest, funniest, weirdest and most knowledgable minds in home brewing contribute on the AHA forum. - Alewyfe

"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts." - Bertrand Russell

Offline Andy Farke

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Re: Let's Talk Books!
« Reply #9 on: September 29, 2021, 08:59:03 am »

You know what we really need?!  A new update to Designing Great Beers by Ray Daniels.  If he ain't going to update it, FIND SOMEONE WHO WILL.  WE WILL BUY THAT BOOK.


+1 to this suggestion. The statistics that were in the original DGB book were really helpful...at the very least, a book with a bunch of numerical tables would be something I would use. E.g., a "Homebrewer's Handbook." Bring all the stuff together, no fluff, just the data. Water profiles, hop profiles, yeast data, style data, etc. I have these spread across a gazillion individual books, websites, programs, and PDFs right now...
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Offline dmtaylor

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Re: Let's Talk Books!
« Reply #10 on: September 29, 2021, 09:00:35 am »
You know what we really need?!  A new update to Designing Great Beers by Ray Daniels.  If he ain't going to update it, FIND SOMEONE WHO WILL.  WE WILL BUY THAT BOOK.

I'm pretty much over that type of book.

Not I.  And not others.

I think I might want to pick up a copy of that All Stars book sometime.  Seems like it would be interesting.  ;) ;)
Dave

The world will become a much more pleasant place to live when each and every one of us realizes that we are all idiots.

Offline Wilbur

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Re: Let's Talk Books!
« Reply #11 on: September 29, 2021, 09:06:12 am »
Fact: A huge percentage of homebrewers (I'm thinking at least 50-60%??) are scientists, engineers, and IT people.  Give us SCIENCE and give us MATH.  We want to learn everything there is to know about mashing temperatures, mash time, hop boil times, whirlpool hop additions, experimentation, and the most accurate way to calculate IBUs.

We don't care about IPA.  Give us science.

And give me some good German lager.

You know what we really need?!  A new update to Designing Great Beers by Ray Daniels.  If he ain't going to update it, FIND SOMEONE WHO WILL.  WE WILL BUY THAT BOOK.

Thanks for the opportunity.  Cheers.

Designing Great Beers-I kind of think it'll become outdated too quickly. Too many new styles, malts, and hops coming out.

How about a homebrewer version of the Quality Management/labs book? I think there's a lot of info on yeast, cell counts, etc. but I'm sure there's a lot of simple things from the pro side that could be adapted to homebrewing. Like using sieves to quantify mill crush.

Or a book on homebrew clubs and competitions? Could dive into some of the history, etc and have sections for legal considerations, paperwork, bylaws, etc.

"Farmhouse" brewing and techniques from around the world? There's ~3 forests worth of books on lager, european beer, and IPA. I've enjoyed some of the Zymurgy articles on Tej, distilling in South American, etc.

Denny, isn't podcasting just reading a very poorly edited book?

Offline denny

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Re: Let's Talk Books!
« Reply #12 on: September 29, 2021, 09:43:47 am »
You know what we really need?!  A new update to Designing Great Beers by Ray Daniels.  If he ain't going to update it, FIND SOMEONE WHO WILL.  WE WILL BUY THAT BOOK.

I'm pretty much over that type of book.

Not I.  And not others.

I think I might want to pick up a copy of that All Stars book sometime.  Seems like it would be interesting.  ;) ;)

I understand, but I'm not the only one with that viewpoint.
Life begins at 60.....1.060, that is!

www.dennybrew.com

The best, sharpest, funniest, weirdest and most knowledgable minds in home brewing contribute on the AHA forum. - Alewyfe

"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts." - Bertrand Russell

Offline denny

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Re: Let's Talk Books!
« Reply #13 on: September 29, 2021, 09:44:49 am »
Fact: A huge percentage of homebrewers (I'm thinking at least 50-60%??) are scientists, engineers, and IT people.  Give us SCIENCE and give us MATH.  We want to learn everything there is to know about mashing temperatures, mash time, hop boil times, whirlpool hop additions, experimentation, and the most accurate way to calculate IBUs.

We don't care about IPA.  Give us science.

And give me some good German lager.

You know what we really need?!  A new update to Designing Great Beers by Ray Daniels.  If he ain't going to update it, FIND SOMEONE WHO WILL.  WE WILL BUY THAT BOOK.

Thanks for the opportunity.  Cheers.

Designing Great Beers-I kind of think it'll become outdated too quickly. Too many new styles, malts, and hops coming out.

How about a homebrewer version of the Quality Management/labs book? I think there's a lot of info on yeast, cell counts, etc. but I'm sure there's a lot of simple things from the pro side that could be adapted to homebrewing. Like using sieves to quantify mill crush.

Or a book on homebrew clubs and competitions? Could dive into some of the history, etc and have sections for legal considerations, paperwork, bylaws, etc.

"Farmhouse" brewing and techniques from around the world? There's ~3 forests worth of books on lager, european beer, and IPA. I've enjoyed some of the Zymurgy articles on Tej, distilling in South American, etc.

Denny, isn't podcasting just reading a very poorly edited book?

But much shorter.  And more humorous. Seems like a scientific audio book would be dry and boring.
Life begins at 60.....1.060, that is!

www.dennybrew.com

The best, sharpest, funniest, weirdest and most knowledgable minds in home brewing contribute on the AHA forum. - Alewyfe

"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts." - Bertrand Russell

Offline KRISTI

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Re: Let's Talk Books!
« Reply #14 on: September 29, 2021, 03:50:03 pm »
Good feedback. Keep it coming!

Thank you.
Kristi
Kristi Switzer
Publisher, Brewers Publications