What can I say about "Decoction!" that hasn't already been said? Pretty much anything as no-one has ever said bugger all about it.
Mini Book Series volume IV, "Decoction!" is a celebration of central European beer. It covers tricky and poorly documented topics such as Lager styles, methods of decoction mashing, extinct German top-fermenting styles and more detail on Berliner Weisse in English than anywhere else.
It's a handy companion to the Oxford Companion to Beer, for those worried about little details such as accuracy and completeness. A full set of my books is certainly a more reliable reference than the OCB, if a tad more expensive. But at least the money goes to poor starving children (Andrew and Lexie) rather than the rapacious OUP.
Buy "Decoction!" now.
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1 comment:
Definitely a favourite of mine especially the rolling descriptions of pub visits in Franconia and Czech Republic. The tales about Habendanz, or eg, the waiter who vetoed a schnapps ordered because (presumably) he thought his choice was better, tend to stick with you. Or eg the brothers in a gasthaus, one a brewer and one not, with different personalities.
I liked too the parts when beers that are off are described, eg, tasting of cleaning fluid (we've all been there).
When I was in Bavaria last year and also Vienna, and albeit at about the coldest time of the year, I had a number of beers that were off. Once it was the windshield fluid taste. Once a white vinegar sourness (in an unfiltered lager). Once a Stiegl from a green bottle from an outdoor market that seemed clearly light-struck. This was only occasional, but it did occur, in Prague too. I have never visited a beer region where this wasn't the case, in fact.
Gary
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