BREWING BEERS LIKE THOSE YOU BUY

Although relatively new to homebrewing, I have become an avid brewer. Like most newbies, I am constantly looking for new recipes to try. Davd Line provides plenty of good, straightforward recipes--especially for British style brews. You have to do some work to use this book if you are primarily an extract brewer (converting the all-grain amounts to extract amounts is the biggest problem, but that is simple if you look around for conversion tables). Some of the ingredients he uses (such as barley syrup) are not common in the U.S. But despite these drawbacks, the book provides the homebrewer with an excellent source of solid recipes often obtained from the breweries themselves. I highly recommend this to someone who is looking for new recipes to try.

Dave Line originally published this book in 1978, a year before his death. While a lot has changed, and some of the terms may seem a bit unusual for those of us on the American side of the pond, there really is a lot of good information here. Of particular note is the number of great recipes here; though since the use of malt extracts were not as common twenty-five years ago, most of the recipes include raw grains and hops instead of the liquidized and pelletized versions more common today. Thus, without a knowledge of how to figure the conversion ratios, newcomers such as myself may find themselves doing things a bit more of the "old-fashioned" way. This is fine by me, but might be something to bear in mind if you are just getting your toes wet.

I have to laugh out loud at the first reviewer.. Been brewing long?? ALL beer is 90% water. ALL of it!! You can not produce beer with less then 90% water!! Dave Line was an early pioneer of the craft (along with Ken Shales).. I hold both authors in very high esteem and all their books have a place of honor in my brewing library.. Sure brewing technic has evolved since the 70's.. What hasn't?? To write the review that you did (personally attacking the author) shows not his problems.. It shows YOURS!! If you don't like the recipes, then don't use them.. By your own admission, you only paid $2 for the book.. I will buy it from you right now for $3!! Cheers.. Mtner

Dave Line wrote two great books, "The Big Book of Brewing" and this book. This book was a recipe book, not a guide. It's great to see how he approached brewing each beer. I have been brewing full mash brewing since 1980. I usually brew bitter and pale ales. This book is a constant reference. Other than the discontinued use of Sodium metabisulphite for sterilization, I'm not sure how "Homebrewing has evolved so much since then"? His Big Book of Brewing was written in 1974 and the recipe book in 1978. The making of great beer has not changed since then. The full mash process has been the same for hundreds of years. Both books are great reference books and should be part of any brewing library.