Book Review of "Making Fine Spirits"
-book written by Zymurgy Bob-
There are many blogs and internet posts that are aimed at providing insight and a helpful hand to those set ting out to learn and practice the art of distillation.
While many of them appear on the surface to be accurate, most of them rely on the reader to already know some of the science. Other articles are outright incorrect or so poorly written that they are misleading.
For all the reasons listed above, I was extremely pleased to come across this book, as it provides an easy to read, A-Z summary of the science, equipment and techniques involved. It is engaging and, best of all, includes examples for readers to manufacture their own beginner stills, so they may put the knowledge into practice without spending a lot of money.
The book starts by exploring the legality and safety of distilling at home. It then goes into the basics of a home-made pot still (for under USD $30) and the basics of making “cuts”.
Readers are then rewarded with advise on fermentation, building larger pot stills, plus recipes for various washes. The book then ends with a couple of chapters on aging, instrumentation (laboratory equipment) and a discussion on next steps for those wishing to learn even more.
To gain all this knowledge without the book, a distillation neophyte would have to spend a considerable amount of time researching -and sifting- through tons of web pages and blogs, not knowing the overall accuracy of the compiled information. Why not just pick up this book and spend all those saved hours actually fermenting and distilling, while being guided by Zymurgy Bob?
The book (ISBN 978-1-935761-04-4) is available from The Amphora Society via their website: http://www.amphora-society.com/.
Cheers!
Margaret Ayala, Publisher