True Brews: How to Craft Fermented Cider, Beer, Wine, Sake, Soda, Mead, Kefir, and Kombucha at Home

Great book, well written and easy to understand May lack for more experienced, but perfect for beginners

Detailed recipes for many fermented drinks. My go to recipes for kombucha. Both procedures and cautions are clear with pictures and proportions as guidelines.

I purchased this book looking to expand upon my small-batch operations spurred on by the Brooklyn Brew Shop kits. I already had the supplies, I figured I'd try making other beers and other brews! I had never heard of kefir or kombucha, and they seem weird so I'm unsure of whether I'll try those or not... So those are not mentioned in this review. Soda: so far I have made the orange cream and cherry lime sodas. They were very easy to make and tasted great. Many people said the cherry lime one tasted like cherry pie in a bottle! I agree. Just make sure you let the soda carbonate fully before drinking! My first one came out a bit flat, which was my fault for rushing. Beer: the Mocha Stout I made via this recipe has been pretty good. The book is VERY basic on the brewing process, and doesn't give you all the information you need to make GREAT beer. From my limited experience in making over half a dozen beers over the past 2 months, I have found that having a decent library of other brewing books and advice from experienced brewers will help you make a better product. When I first tasted the Mocha Stout, it had a strong sort of olive aroma, which I learned comes from the roasted malts. This will mellow with age, so I have put the rest of the batch in the fridge and will try it over the next several weeks/months to learn about the mellowing process. Overall, the recipes are ok but are very basic. If you really like brewing beer you will need to go beyond this book. Cider: I am currently aging the Sweet Spiced Mulled Cider produced from the recipe in this book. It seems to be coming along well, as it's been aging a little over a month and was recently racked to its third fermentation stage to get it off the sediment. My first cider started out brown and murky, and is starting to clarify beautifully. It has an amber, golden aura and is truly beautiful. When I racked it over to another glass fermenter for longer aging, I was hit with yeasty and spiced aroma that was almost overwhelming but then I had a small taste. Those strong smells and tastes faded, and left me with a clean tart apple and sweet honey taste. I can tell this will be amazing after bottled and left to age so the initial funk dissipates. IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT CIDER: again, I had to find this information out from sources other than this book... Most cider you find in grocery stores and farmer's markets is strictly a "sweet" apple cider. The sweeter the cider, the less actual apple taste you will end up with. I happened to stumble upon a sweet-tart organic cider from a small farm near Richmond, VA that seems to be ideal so far. Many orchards apparently do make batches of cider specifically for home brew cider making, so ask around and try to get some of the cider that has a good amount of tart apples if you want that apple flavor. Wine: mead will be first on the list, but I haven't tried it yet. Seems similar to the cider section so I'm confident I can do it with these recipes!

Bought as a gift, she loved it! Sampled a bunch of items she has made! Thinking about buying it for myself!

I LOVE this book! First, it is SO BEAUTIFUL. It sits on my coffee table to show people that I am not a complete weirdo for fermenting beverages. Second, all of the recipes are for a one gallon batch or less. If it fails (like our Ginger Ale and Plum Wine), no worries-- we'll try again and tweak the recipe... or actually follow the recipe next time. duh. Third, it gives a little introduction into each section and then gives a little introduction before each recipe. I like this with any cookbook, but it is especially helpful to have an overview of the brew process and final product when you are deciding whether or not to invest a lot of time making a brew.

I saw this book at Sur La Table, but it was super expensive, so I came home to see if I could buy it on Amazon (lol, you can buy ANYTHING on Amazon) and it was a heck of a lot less expensive. The book is a high quality hard cover for the price, and I love the layout of the recipe organization. Every item in the book has a "master recipe," or a basic recipe that allows creative culinary artists the opportunity to improvise without completely screwing up their home brew, as well as individual specific recipes for those that like to follow to a T. So far, I've made 4 batches of soda at home, and my family has loved them! I followed the ginger ale recipe from the book, and the other three were improvised from the master soda recipe - peaches and cream, strawberry basil rhubarb, and passion fruit mango. All of them turned out delicious and beautiful! I can't wait to make beer and wine next!

I bought this book for a recently-initiated brewer who was interested in learning how to make sodas and some other alcohols and drinks. This book seems to be designed for the non-brewer, and the recipes looked like they were written to be made with kitchenware, so I don't think many or any brewing-specific tools are needed. I would not recommend this for an advanced brewer with a general knowledge of brewing and drink recipes, but it is a useful, accessible book with a true variety of introductory recipes. This book is a hardback with colored pictures and very aesthetically pleasing shots, I'd recommend this as a keepsake and as a useful recipe book.

Wow. I'm really impressed with this book. Our family has had some experience in brewing beers, and are ready to expand into other fermented drinks. This books has something for everyone's palate and experience level. So far we've tried two recipes- one for the watermelon mint soda and one for a mead. Both turned out better than expected! There are little interviews with folks in the industry at the start of each chapter, and I really appreciate the trouble shooting guides for each category. Easy to follow directions and tips on how to get creative once you understand the process. I'm looking forward to trying more recipes and sharing the joys of homemade brews with family and friends.

… je dévorerais ce livre d'une traite ! Des photos superbes, des recettes et des techniques très bien expliquées. Recettes originales et tentantes, on a envie de tout essayer ! Il ne me reste plus qu'à chercher du marc de Champagne, très utilisé comme ingrédient.

un superbe livre de référence tres complet et bien expliquer qui permet d'expérimenter de nouveaux breuvages!!!

I'm not entirely satisfacted with this book, because I like to understand more about what's happening in the brewing processes than to have straight recipes that works with high certainty. I just tried some sodas, the easiest recipes, two different flavours. In the Ginger ale recipe, I tried the alternative that was use bread yeast to carbonated the beverage. But in the next recipe, Orange Cream Soda, I combined knowledge from other book, The art of fermentation (Sandor Katz) and used instead whey from the iougurt that I make weekly. I was amazed at the results! It took longer to starting the carbonation process, but it was a more natural approach. Anyway, for someone that are interest in starting brewing a lot of different beverages at home, this book is a great starting point. Those that prefer a more naturally approach to brewing, it is better to combine the recipes of the book, with tips from other books and internet blogs.

It is a good book if you want to begin with brews. It is easy to read and has good recommendations. In addition, the pictures are so nice.

Beautiful book with fantastic recipes