Brew Like a Monk: Trappist, Abbey, and Strong Belgian Ales and How to Brew Them

Of all the books in my library, this book is by far the best and is hands-down the most detailed text on Trappist ales. Even if you are not a homebrewer, anyone who is even slightly interested in Trappist ales and the monastic way of life will not be disappointed. I have read this book cover to cover many times and I am always finding helpful and interesting info that propels my love for Trappist ales even further. Stan Hieronymous takes the reader inside the walls of the abbeys where these beers are made and not only presents the history and beers of each abbey but even manages to list a few ingredients for each beer. Because the monks and lay workers who work in the breweries are quite secretive regarding their recipes and ingredients, one can only imagine the effort that was put in by the author when writing this book.Above anything else, the author reminds the reader that each of these places is an abbey with a brewery and not the other way around. Despite the fact that the beers are truly amazing, Stan Hieronymous does not let the reader forget the reason for the existence of these beers (to add extra income to the abbey and serve as a form of manual labor according to the Rule of Saint Benedict). The author does a wonderful job of outlining the monastic way of life and mentality, and how this life of silence and harmony manages to produce some of the finest beers in the world time and time again.In addition to the famous Trappist Ales, Stan Hieronymous also provides extensive information on other commercial examples that are produced both in Belgium and the United States. While the main focus of this book is about the Trappist ales produced in the six specific Cistercian monestaries, the reader can also find detailed information about Abbey ales as well as beers brewed in the United States that follow the Belgian tradition and style.Homebrewers will not be disappointed. With plenty of mash schedules and temperatures as well as listed ingredients, fermentation times and temperatures and yeast strains, this book is a highly valuable asset for any homebrewer who wants to try (underline the TRY about five times considering the amazing quality of these beers) to make a beer similar to these Belgian styles at home.If Amazon.com had a rating for 6 or even 10 stars I would choose the highest possible rating for this truly excellent book, as well as a personal commendation for Stan Hieronymous who so artfully presents the Trappists' breweries and way of life.

Although this book is now sixteen years old it remains the absolute authority on Belgian Trappist/Abbey styles by a mile. These styles may not carry the popularity driven by this book in the mid to late 2000s but there are many like myself who are big fans and care about trying to brew them well. Like Stan Hieronymous's other publications there is a good mix of technical, philosophical and historical information. There is a lot of content discussing both Belgian originators and their progeny on both sides of the Atlantic which includes the history of the styles and key philosophical concepts about how to develop recipes and brew them. Also like a lot of his writing this is not intended to be a book of recipes and definitely not a book of clone recipes. The writing style is light and easy to read. It is approachable for newer brewers but also a great resource for more experienced brewers seeking to try their hand at these styles.Brewers seeking clone recipes or a recipe book will need to look elsewhere and there are plenty of great model recipes across the internet that can fulfill that need. It is also neither an advanced brewing textbook nor a basic how to brew guide.

Michael Jackson’s World Guide to Beer infected me with the Belgian beer bug in the late 1980’s and award winning beer writer Stan Hieronymus’s book Brew Like a Monk is one of the best books on the topic in long time. His writing style is engaging and informative, coming across like someone you would like to spend an afternoon in a bar with listening to him talk about beer. He divides the book into three parts: Brewing in Belgium, Brewing in America and Brewing in Your Own. His Belgian beer section covers the monastic brewing tradition, Trappist Ales, Abbey Ales (commercial beers inspired by Trappist Ales), and independent breweries. This section expands the understanding of the craft beer fan and provides a lot of useful information for the home brewer interested in these styles. Hieronymus’s discussion of brewing in America describes how American craft brewers has adapted and extended to style to American conditions. Two important chapters cover process issues such as ingredients and how to handle them and important process issues such as coaxing esters and higher alcohols out of the wort. In his section on Brewing Your Own, Hieronymous, gives the home brewer enough information to understand and brew these styles along with a series of recipes to use as guides. Highly recommended for both the home brewer and fan of Belgian Trappist and Abbey Ales.

This book was informative, from the historical perspective. It did have some instruction type information, but not as much as I wanted.

Amazing book and read

Melhor livro sobre o assunto, produção de cervejas de estilo de Abadia, sensacional, recomendo a todos cervejeiros que desejam se aprofundar nesse assunto

Ottimo testo.

Etant brasseur de métier, je ne m'imaginais pas pouvoir apprendre autant en un seul livre. Ce livre n'est évidemment pas à conseiller au brasseur d'extrait qui veut (et croit pouvoir) brasser un clone de Rochefort 10, mais bien aux brasseurs connaissant déjà bien les bases, et désireux de réellement "comprendre" les bières d'abbayes (et styles associés).Vous trouverez dans ce livre des exemples concrêts, des références précises quant aux matières premières à utiliser, des infos d"taillées sur les levures typiques belges, etc.Superbe ouvrage a réellement conseiller à tout brasseur désireux d'apprendre.

This book is primarily aimed at Trappist beers but also covers some similar styles that reflect the range of beers produced by Trappist breweries.As the author says, this is not a step-by-step on how to clone Trappist beers and does not contain any homebrew recipes as such. In the context of complicated beers such as these, 'recipe' is in fact a misnomer; replicating the grain bill, hop schedule, water profile and buying the 'right' yeast are not enough to produce accurate replicas of these famous beers. Having said this, anyone with a passing knowledge of recipe formulation should easily be able to knock up a recipe for any of the beers listed from the info provided, which is ample.So, instead of 'recipes' he gives you an enormous amount of information on a range of breweries and beers, and leads you through an exercise in discovering how these beers come to be. The book is packed with breakdowns of beers and commentaries and details of brewing practices, and covers every aspect of production. Many pages are also devoted to individually introducing all of the Trappist brewing monasteries as well as a select few Belgian and American breweries, and for anyone with an interest in Belgian beer these are fascinating.This is an excellent primer on Trappist and Belgian brewing, well written and entertaining to read. It is never dry, even when discussing the minutae of brewing practice, and the author is obviously very enthusiastic about the subject,