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From Boak and Bailey’s Beer Blog:
“It would be a shame if any beer lovers were to miss out on Stan Hieronymus’s latest book, For the Love of Hops, because it resembles a technical manual for brewers.
“We have another book in the series, on the subject of yeast, which we’ve found a little heavy going. FORTLOH (yes, that’s what we’re going to call it), though it certainly has all the details on, say, 4-mercapto-4-methylpentan-2-one you might expect, is quite the opposite. In fact, it’s almost a page turner, as the hard facts are woven into vivid reportage from hop fields around the world, laced with Van Klompesque profundities from brewers, and peppered with revelatory statements that bring the pint in your hand into sharper focus.”
From West Coaster:
“First and foremost, For the Love of Hops is a book for brewers; textbooks used at professional brewing schools don’t even have this kind of depth on hops. Everything that we currently know about hops in brewing is covered, starting from breeding and growing new varieties and ending with more detail about hop aroma in finished beer than most people will every fully understand. Hieronymus also provides a whole slew of brewer-contributed recipes which, perhaps surprisingly, cover some styles that we don’t necessarily consider “hoppy” beer styles. This wide breadth of knowledge sheds light on the optimal use of hops for any level of hop intensity and character.
“If you make beer, you need to go out and get a copy of this book as soon as you are finished reading this article. You could actually go right now. You won’t hurt my feelings, don’t worry.
“Non-brewers may find themselves a bit overwhelmed with brewing science terminology at times, but For the Love of Hops will still be an engaging read for anyone with a strong interest in beer. Hieronymus’ keen eye for finding the compelling narrative in his subject matter persists, whether it’s exploring the history of hops in beer, clear descriptions of just about every currently-used hop variety, or explanations of how brewers use hops to create the beers that we all love.”
From Inside Beer (Jeff Evans):
On the face of it, a book that discusses the chemistry of hops, the intracies of plant genetics and the problems caused by verticillium wilt should not be an easy read, but this must-have work by Stan Hieronymus quashes that idea right from the start.
From Bear Flavored Ales:
“The level of detail is thorough and impressive, and with sections devoted to the science of hop acids, IBU calculations, skunking, flavor stability, et cetera; there’s something here that’ll be helpful for every style. This book is as dense with info as a pallet of Citra hops is with aroma. (Feel free to put that on the book jacket of the next edition, Brewer’s Publications).
“All of which would be great and all, but somewhat less helpful, if the book were a chore to get through. Happily, it is not. I’ve read some other books on brewing science that I had to tackle in short spurts — the info just piled up too quickly, and stopped absorbing into my feeble, English-major-not-Science-major mind. That’s not a knock against any such book, as a heft, dense tome is sometimes what you’re looking for. For the Love of Hops manages to be both dense with info and also a compelling read — both profile and research paper — with a surprising amount of narrative behind it.”
To get a broader cross section of opinions (in other words, not everybody loves the book and you can read why) visit the reviews at Amazon.