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New Brewing Lager Beer Review

By Paulie Weese

Books about beer, brewing beer, and beer living get my attention.  I enjoy reading about all of these things and generally increasing my education around brewing.  Though I do not consider myself a master brewer by any means, I do consider myself well-versed in tasting beer!  Over the last few months, I have been studying Greg Noonan’s New Brewing Lager Beer.  This book is an excellent book that goes into more detail about the pieces of beer and brewing than Charlie Papazain’s book.   

Sometimes I had the thought that Greg went into detail in a more scientific way than necessary, and have since found it valuable.  After more study, I found these details revealing parts of the brewing process that I have taken for granted.  It never occurred to me that understanding the botany of barley and hops would have an impact on my understanding of making beer.  As well, having a clear understanding of the fermentation process has already eliminated a number of mistakes. 

 Greg goes into ‘Brewing Constituents’, or the pieces that make up beer, like barley, hops, water, and more.  He goes into detail about barley, the types of barley, and the malting process.  There are chapters on yeast, water, fermenting, equipment care and more.  (I found the section on water very enlightening as not all water is made the same!  The source of water will affect the end flavor.) This book is a complete guide to brewing beer from the foundation of science to common practice.  Noonan is an expert at brewing and this book is a sought after text due to its’ completeness.  This book is a great complement found in many brewers’ libraries due to the completeness in which Noonan presents brewing information. 

Lager beer separates itself from ales by the process to brew being cooler than ales.  This produces a slower fermentation process and a longer period of cold conditioning.  In the store, we find lagers sold in the microbrew section, but pilsners are also lagers.  Many pilsners are sold American brewed.  These are often very light, and commonly have more water in them than homebrewed pilsners.  Lagers rely on the interplay of malt, hops and water for their flavor.   

New Brewing of Lager Beer replaces the previous edition which was published in 1986.  The current book sold was published in 1996 and is recommended by the National Homebrewers Association, ________, and ________.  

I consider this brewing resource to be essential to my library, especially as a complement to Charlie Papizain’s The New Complete Joy of Home Brewing.  (I review this book here.)  What I really like about Noonan’s  book is that it is about brewing and not recipes.  There are a handful of recipes representing each type of lager beer, and that is all.  This book is about the nitty gritty of brewing.  In my brewing adventures, I have found this book to excel my understanding the parts, procedures, and determinable results of my processes.  Brewing is a lot like cooking.  Ingredients matter, as much as the pans used, and the taste of the cook.  I recommend this book to anyone ready to looking to better their brewing.

Published October, 2009

Paulie Weese, www.thebarleyreview.com

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