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Author Topic: IPA: Brewing Techniques by Mitch Steele - Opinions needed  (Read 2254 times)

Offline imperialstout

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IPA: Brewing Techniques by Mitch Steele - Opinions needed
« on: February 16, 2013, 09:31:54 pm »
Looking for opinions of IPA: Brewing Techniques by Mitch Steele. The reviews on Amazon include the following. I am looking for good book of recipes with in-depth tips on how to brew this particular style. Not much interested in the history. What has been your experience with this book?

lacking in real tips for brewing better (modern) IPAs. There is good recipe information for brewing historical IPAs circa 1800-1850 but none of the recipes are scaled for the standard 5 gallon homebrewer setup

book is dedicated to history…was looking for the end-all technical book on how to brew the perfect IPA…technical portion of the book is surprisingly short …haven't learned a lot I didn't already know …some of the information is vague…recipes are a little tricky to follow, with some not clearly stating hop amounts. So, if you're looking for technical how-to, you might be a little disappointed.

was hoping for actual recipes from commercial brewers but the hop schedules are silly. What am I to make of "use 30% Chinook in the boil, 30% Columbus at 30 minutes and 40% Simcoe at knockout" Unless you have the total amount of hops used this is worthless information, and how does adding 12 ounces of Goldings hops at the beginning of the boil of a 5 gallon batch only give you 70 IBU's? That is just from the first recipe...The history is fine but the recipes are horrible

very well written history of the IPA style with a few brewing tips and recipes thrown in towards the end of the book. Some recipes are so vague as to make you scratch your head and not be of any use at all.

recipes were all very interesting. I've tried two of the recipes so far, and they're both better than the previous half dozen I got online.

Offline greatplainsbrewer

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Re: IPA: Brewing Techniques by Mitch Steele - Opinions needed
« Reply #1 on: February 17, 2013, 05:54:40 am »
Actually I liked it.  Having said that I haven't brewed anything from it rather I used it to check my tweaks to my ipa recipe so this may not be the endorsement you're looking for.  Some of the recipes aren't given in the usual format but if you're familiar with brewing you'll be fine. 

There is quite a bit of historical stuff but to me (history teacher) that stuff is necessary to understand the style.  There are also quite a few modern examples/recipes with some of the "why" explained.

Offline hopfenundmalz

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Re: IPA: Brewing Techniques by Mitch Steele - Opinions needed
« Reply #2 on: February 17, 2013, 06:34:29 am »
This might be my favorite style book. Loved the history.

A beginning brewer might be intimidated by the recipes, but those are written to be very general so that different system utilizations and efficiencies can be factored in. I did a beer based on the Fatheads Headhunter IPA and it was stunning. One just looks at the additions, and with a little time on your brewing software you can have a beer with the right IBU level, flavor and aroma.

Highly recommended.
Jeff Rankert
AHA Lifetime Member
BJCP National
Ann Arbor Brewers Guild
Home-brewing, not just a hobby, it is a lifestyle!