Hey everyone,

I'm kinda a nut for all stuff old and have stumbled across a bunch of online books about brewing (mostly through Google Books). I've decided to host some of the better ones on my website....feel free to grab em and let me know what you think!

Parker

http://www.parkeraudio.com/brewing/treatise_on_brewing_1835.pdf

http://www.parkeraudio.com/brewing/Domestic_Brewing_1835.pdf

http://www.parkeraudio.com/brewing/Domestic_Cookery_1840.pdf

http://www.parkeraudio.com/brewing/at_the_Factories_Brewery_1843.pdf

http://www.parkeraudio.com/brewing/The_Complete_Brewer_1852.pdf

http://www.parkeraudio.com/brewing/Practical_Brewing_1885.pdf

http://www.parkeraudio.com/brewing/Science_of_Brewing_1891.pdf

http://www.parkeraudio.com/brewing/Brewery_Refrigerating_Machines_1895.pdf

http://www.parkeraudio.com/brewing/Britain_at_Work__brewery_1900.pdf

Wow -- that is fascinating, Parker. Thanks for hosting that. It's wild to see how much some things have changed and yet how many things hold true to this day!

Cheers,
Push Eject

I found the same thing a couple of months ago. I spent several days printing them out at work. In the end I printed 3 of them and the stack of paper was about 8" highh. I started reading one of them and then I quit because it didnt take me long to learn that back in those days they didnt have no where near the knowledge we have now. I started coming across tons of info in those books that we know today as just plain wrong. I still have alot to learn about brewing especially on the science side. I didnt want to taint my brain with wrong info because it would probally stick. Also the style of wrighting back then is hard to follow.. I liked how to brew much better.. But yes.. that is awsome that all of those out of copywright books are avaible for download..

These are pretty cool. I really like the one on refridgeration. Neat to see a cooling system from the 1890s being used for fermenting rooms.


I mean, you gotta admit, this is pretty sweet:

Unlike Jamil, my memeroy is so bad that I can read all of the info in there and forget it the same day. It's neat to see how far things have come. Kind of like the old medical journals. Isn't progress wonderful?

You’ll find some wrong information in these books, however, don’t be so quick to discount it. Some of these brewers were making thousands of barrels of beers, ales and porters a year. Apparantly with good results. If you read through them you'll be amazed how advanced they were without knowing about sanitation (1830's & 1840's). Also, there's lots of references to mash temp and quality of beer, they knew HOW it worked, they were just wrong on WHY. For example, the feeling was that you needed a certain mash temperatures to dissolve the sugars in the pulp of the malt. They didn't have the knowledge of enzymatic action.


I’m guessing you could follow the guidelines in these books and end up with some pretty good beer. I've made several recipes from old domestic guides (New England Cider, Ginger Beer) and they've come out fairly well. All I do is add sanitation and I let it ferment out and add corn sugar before bottling.

My personal opinion is that brewing was more advanced than medicine in the early 1900’s. Plop me in the 1830’s….I’ll take a Porter over a Root Canal any day!

Thanks for the post Parker!!!!!!!!

Like you, I really dig that old shit. I think tradition is just as much a part of brewing as the yeast. I can't wait to read through that stuff.

Very cool stuff!!