Speed Brewing: Techniques and Recipes for Fast-Fermenting Beers, Ciders, Meads, and More

I think this book works for both a new brewer and an experienced brewer. I've brewed beer for at least 5 years, but beer brewing can take a whole day of my time, lots equipment and a lot of equipment cleaning. In Speed Brewing, Izett documents all kinds of interesting brews, boozy sodas, ciders, wines, meads and beer, that can be fun, creative and quick. Her recipes include interesting ingredients, like spices and teas, fresh fruit and frozen fruit, alternative sugars, honey, apple cider, and juices. She encourages the reader to experiment.If you're new to brewing, all the basic information you need is in here. The first few chapter describe the fermentation process (primary fermentation) and bottling and carbonation (secondary fermentation). You need a hydrometer, kitchen thermometer, a one gallon fermenter, such as a jug or 1 gallon jar, a stopper and an airlock. And yeast nutrient. You can get all of those inexpensively at a homebrew store or online. Her suggestion that a new brewer use plastic PET bottles is good advice. PET bottles are like plastic soda or seltzer bottles. You can reuse your own or buy them new. Fermentation creates co2, and inside a bottle that means pressure builds inside. Glass bottles can explode which is dangerous. With PET bottles you just check them every day and when they are hard you have sufficient c02 and you then put them in the fridge to stop fermentation. No worries.I made the Rubarb Soda (3.5% ABV) first, adding strawberries. I only made one gallon, there was no one hour boil (just some off boil water poured over the fruit) so it only took me 30 minutes to make. The soda is pink, very pretty and delicious. I already started another batch. Next I made her City Cider recipe. Very simple with no boiling at all. It took 15 minutes. At bottling time, I decided to use some juices I had, Pomegranate and Guava juice as the priming sugars (sugars mixed in at bottling time to give the yeast just enough food to create carbonation in the bottle).I have a ginger short mead fermenting as well. After listening to her Fuhmentaboudit! podcast on kombucha, I was inspired to try that and I've made all kinds of 'buch with black teas, white teas, roibos tea, jasmine tea etc. Now having read the book, I will move onto her boozy 'buch recipes including a 'faux' Flanders Red that can be made in weeks rather than the year or more it takes in the traditional method. She also documents kettle souring, a good way to make a Berliner Weisse or a Gose beer. There is a short beer making chapter with recipes.This book inspired me to make other fermented drinks in addition to beer. The writing is clear, the descriptions of ingredients is detailed and the recipes are creative and internationally inspired. In addition, the techniques are quicker than standard beer brewing. However I would say that the fact that the brews are faster are a happy side effect, and the real intention of the book is fermenting out of the box, or alternative fermented beverages you may have never thought of. Many of her recipes were inspired by interesting fermented beverages she found while traveling.It's full of beautiful photos of ingredients, equipment, and fermented, carbonated beverages looking gorgeous in fancy glasses. I would not get an e-version of this book, it's more than the text. I think the title Speed Brewing might throw someone off, so the publisher added a long winded subtitle, attempting to describe the book in more detail. Fermenting on the Flip Side, which was a talk she gave at NHC would more accurately describe the book. Or Beyond Beer. Publishers dictate titles and authors have little choice but to accept their marketing decisions.

The book begins with an introduction to the ingredients, equipment, and overall process of brewing. It then talks about "brisk beers" you can brew, short meads, city ciders, kombucha, kefir, and more. Izett does a nice job of describing each fermented beverage covered in the book, giving brewing instructions, recipes, and suggestions for variations to keep it interesting. While there are a few beverages in here I will probably never bother making, many of them intrigue me enough to try.One of the best parts of the book, in my opinion, is the table included in the section on ciders. This table discusses how a variety of different yeast types (e.g., American Ale, English Ale, Belgian Ale) can drastically change the flavor of a cider. Some make it more dry, others more sweet. Some accentuate the apple flavors, others contribute additional flavors. The brewing world needs more experimentation and sharing like this.If you're interested in trying out home brewing and want to create some simple fermented beverages, this is a great book. If you're experienced as a brewer but are interested in seeing what kind of things you can whip up in a week or two, check out the book as well.

I am not a patient person. I'm also an avid homebrewer of beer. A recent experiment with a gallon of cider opened my eyes to the possibilities of "alternative" fermentation. I picked up this book hoping to find information on shortening my brew day, and my wait, for delicious new (to me) types of fermented beverages. Speed Brewing does not disappoint! It provides plenty of information on basic techniques for those who don't have a background in fermentation, but not too much to bog down the experienced brewer. The recipes are clear and concise, and the accompanying beverage pictures are truly mouthwatering. The book is easy to use, contains some fun facts about the respective beverages, but most importantly, leads you to produce some wonderful drinks. The Sima is crazy refreshing on a hot day! If you're looking to start brewing or expand your repertoire of delightful fermentables like cider, mead, or Sima, then Speed Brewing is a fantastic place to begin.

Let me begin by saying that I am not someone who has a lot of experience with home brewing. Actually, I know nothing, but I became curious about the subject, as part of a search for a new hobby. I think most people would agree with me that home brewing can seem a bit daunting from the outside looking in. So, it's really important that that first experience be a good one. This book will guarantee that happens.The book is easy to read and more importantly the recipes run the gamut from familiar to unusual(at least to me). Izett makes it fun for the new brewer. I tried one of the recipes and it turned out great! This lead to more brewing and more drinking and well now I'm hooked. I heartily recommend this book to anybody who is thinking about getting into brewing. You won't be disappointed.

This is a great book if you are a mad scientist of brewing and fermenting. There is a wide variety of alternative brewing techniques. If you are just looking to brew a good regular beer at home, this book may not be for you.

Found 'beer' recipes using green tea, honey etc that I found exciting

Uma boa fonte para o ingresso no mundo da fermentação alcoólica caseira. A autora apresenta receitas e modo de fazer fermentações rápidas.

If you like dry and tart drinks, like the author does, you will probably enjoy this book. Personally I am not a fan of dry and tart; I didn't find much in it for me.The author has done a lot of international travel and experimentation of her own and knows her stuff. Her style is easy to read.

Some chapters are great, some merit more text; the photography is really neat.

An excellent book for both us that have been homebrewing for a while and need inspiration and new ideas. Also a great start for people who doesn't want to spend too much money to start up homebrewing.