![\"Jack's](\"https:\/\/kfi.jpm.mybluehost.me\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/20240621-lager.jpg\")
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Thirty-eight years ago, Brewers Publications released its first title, \u201cBrewing Lager Beer.\u201d <\/p>\n
Ten years later, when an expansive update, \u201cNEW Brewing Lager Beer,\u201d was published, author Greg Noonan wrote, \u201cThe trickle of knowledge available to craft and homebrewers when this book was first published has become a flood.\u201d<\/p>\n
Twenty-eight more years later, the newest book from Brewers Publications is \u201cModern Lager Beer.\u201d <\/p>\n
The flood has not abated, but new information is not all about MLB that is different. BLB was never just about lagers. It followed a \u201chow to\u201d approach, and served as a manual for home- and microbrewers, as they were known at the time. MLB is only about brewing lager and takes more of a \u201chow they\u201d approach. Authors Jack Hendler and Joe Connolly of Jack\u2019s Abby Craft Lagers spoke with more than 70 brewers and beer professionals before they wrote the book.<\/p>\n
What is the same is an important lesson: There is no one way to brew great beer, but there is a way.<\/p>\n
The authors get right to the point in the introduction.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen American craft brewers create lagers, they often do so without changing any of the processes or brewing techniques they use for their ales,\u201d they write, later adding, \u201cwhile American craft ale fermentation is at the absolute cutting edge of quality, American craft lager is lagging woefully behind.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
They continue, \u201cMost brewers will state that their aim is to make great beer. But consider that greatness can often come at the expense of quality. While unique, bespoke products with interesting provenance can captivate a consumer in a specific moment, it is quality and consistency over time that defines the truly great lagers of the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
Their goal is to answer a basic question: What makes a great lager beer? One of the most general answers, \u201cand the one that guides our approach to this book, is process. Over and over again, lager brewers emphasized to us the importance of their process to the finished quality of their beer.\u201d <\/p>\n
There is plenty of \u201cwhy\u201d in this book, about techniques and raw materials; and about ingredients that aren\u2019t necessarily raw materials, such as carbonation and time. When \u201cNew Brewing Lager Beer\u201d was published, Thomas Kemper brewmaster Rande Reed offered this endorsement: \u201cTo date, Greg Noonan is the only modern researcher to compile practical data on the mysteries associated with decoction mash programs.\u201d<\/p>\n
MLB devotes 50 pages to decoction, and also gives voice to brewers who choose not to employ decoction.<\/p>\n
Who is the book for? Craft brewers, obviously, but while there is information in the book that homebrewers will not be able to act on, there is much they can use. There\u2019s also something here, at not much more than the cost of a triple dry hopped hazy IPA, for beer drinkers who care about why the beer they are drinking tastes like it does.<\/p>\n
Malt? At Bamberger Malt they allow the grains they intend to malt to determine the level of modification. Instead of homogenizing malts, they keep them separate. Brewers may choose a specific batch, recognizing it might be different than the last batch they used.<\/p>\n
Hops? The authors describe a visit to the Seitz Family Farm in Germany\u2019s Hallertau region. Seitz grows hops for Jack\u2019s Abby and several other small American breweries.<\/p>\n
Yeast? There is a discussion about the Saaz and Frohberg classifications, as well as the Carlsberg-type and Tuborg-type yeasts that differentiate American lager strains. <\/p>\n
I\u2019m certain that Greg Noonan would have appreciated this book. I\u2019m equally certain that there will be fewer disappointed craft lager drinkers if more brewers embrace the lessons within. Greatness does not have to come at the expense of quality.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A can of Jack’s Abby beer Thirty-eight years ago, Brewers Publications released its first title, \u201cBrewing Lager Beer.\u201d Ten years later, when an expansive update, \u201cNEW Brewing Lager Beer,\u201d was published, author Greg Noonan wrote, \u201cThe trickle of knowledge available to craft and homebrewers when this book was first published has become a flood.\u201d Twenty-eight … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[8,701],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18366","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-books","category-local-indigenous"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4wTn-4Me","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/appellationbeer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18366","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/appellationbeer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/appellationbeer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/appellationbeer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/appellationbeer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18366"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/appellationbeer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18366\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18375,"href":"https:\/\/appellationbeer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18366\/revisions\/18375"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/appellationbeer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18366"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/appellationbeer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18366"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/appellationbeer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18366"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}