Wouldn't you love to brew an Orval clone? Did you know there is actually more than one Orval beer brewed at the monastery (despite constant articles to the contrary)? There is actually enough information in this book - assuming you know what you are doing in the all-grain world - to pull it off. But you're going to have to introduce Brettanomyces into your brewery to do it ... and there's the awful temptation! As it is with virtually all Belgian beers, never mind the host of wild yeasts and bacteria that go along with them!

Add the wonderful, detailed brewing information to the history and stories and you get quite an unusual brewing book. It may be read for brewing purposes, as a casual read, for historical purposes, for cultural perspective, even for its religious content. Orval, of course, is just one of the Trappist breweries presented in the book.

Highly recommended. And I agree with another reviewer that this is the best book in this particular series.

Imagine that you-an experienced homebrewer-got to gather around a fire with some folks who had years of experience brewing versions of your favorite beer style. It would be hard to have a bad time, harder still not to come away a better brewer for it.
This friendly, if somewhat disorderly book is just that conversation. I love the complexity and depth of belgian strong beers. Occasionally, by dumb luck, I've brewed one. Other times, my efforts have been dull, or over-concentrated or just odd.
In these conversations, we get some clarity about yeast, malt, fermenters, temperature control and bottling.
I think the odds in my favor just went up. This is a book to mine for insights.

Lynn Hoffman, author of The New Short Course in Wine

This is another excellent book from Brewers' Publications. Non-brewers will find herein an engagingly written history of Belgian brewing both within and outside the monastary walls. You'll become acquaintaed with the brewers of Orval, Westveletren, Duvel, and others, their history, their personalities, and most importantly, their beers.
For those who are brewers, the book offers even more. Ingredients and specifications (gravity, IBU) are given for commercially available beers whenever possible (and the author has done a *lot* of homework to get his hands on this information). Additionally, full recipes are provided for various Belgian style and Belgian-inspired beers. Even better, the authors of these recipes explain *why* they formulated their recipes as they did, and the author supplements this advice with his own, with advice from professional brewers, and from BJCP judges. This enables the brewer to not just mimic the recipes he finds in the book (though believe me, they are definitely worth mimicing!), but to thoughtfully exercise his own creativity within the rich history and style of the Belgian tradition.
Beginning brewers will find a lot of technical information regarding krausening, PH adjustment, etc. that goes over their heads. But this shouldn't scare anyone off. The technical information is easy to skip over and there's enough in this book for readers of all levels.
This book represents the state of the art in knowledge regarding Belgian brewers and brewing. No matter how long you've been brewing, you will come away from this book entertained, sometimes surprised, and better informed.

Inspiring view into the brewing techniques of the Belgium beer. Outstanding historical look along with what is going on today. A must read if you are into the Belgians.

I highly recommend to this anyone who wants to learn more about Trappist and Trappist inspired ales. Very accessible and thorough.

If you've ever wondered how people brewed beer in centuries gone by this book's for you! There are few, if any, modern conveniences in use in the Abbey breweries around the world and yet the Monks continue to produce some of the best brews available anywhere. A great read for those dreaming of making good beer with minimal equipment! It's also a great read for those interested in life in a monastery as there is a lot of information given concerning the living conditions, activities, expectations, etc., of the Monks who inhabit those facilities. It's a sad thing, but the very folks who brew those liquid treats are themselves prohibited from consuming more than just a sampling of their work. On the other hand, that is good news for the rest of us. We can sample lots of their handiwork!!! If you like beer (you do, or you wouldn't be interested in this book!) and if you are even remotely interested in its production, then, by all means, buy this volume. You won't be sorry!

Very informative book on the belgian styles in question. The best in the series.

Brew Like a Monk, the third book in a series about Belgium brews, hones in on the strong ales of the country famous for its diverse styles of beer. The first chapters look at the six Belgium Trappist breweries, providing a sense of place, some points of history, details of the beers produced, and comments about the brewing processes.

The next chapters are devoted to the brewery Duvel, the producers of abbey ales, brewers of strong ales, and prominent makers of these Belgium styles in America. A reader interested in brewing can get a sense of visiting each brewery and asking questions about the beers made.

Accompanying the discussions of the beers are lists of ingredients, hop levels, alcohol levels, and other brewing specifications, surmised or known. The lists are somewhat general but enough to enable an experienced brewer to experiment with replication. Specifics about recipes and brewing methods are, understandably, guarded by the breweries.

The later chapters discuss malts, sugars, hops, yeasts, and bottling processes for these Belgium beers, before a final chapter on recipes. Rather than presenting many recipes, the chapter pulls the book together by defining each of the strong ale styles, with comments on brewing and charts showing original gravities, alcohol percentages, color ranges, bitterness levels, and ingredients.

Very interesting book for hombrewers because it teach the tricks used for many hundred years by belgian monks and brewers.

I'm a long way from trying to home brew Belgian beer, but I do like drinking it occasionally and learning about its history and variations (including American versions) and thinking about how I'd brew it. This book was ideal for those. Good discussions on basics like yeasts and sugars and the techniques used by the different Trappist brewers. Even some good photos

If I decide to attempt brewing it I'll need more step-by-step information, but I'll already understand the background and some important concepts. Perhaps more important, after reading it I'll appreciate more the ones I drink!

This, in my opinion, is the most interesting of the series. It has a great balance of technical info. and history of the Abbey's and their beers.

So if you've just done your first batch of beer this is not the book for you. As a matter of fact, if you have just done your first all grain batch this might not be the book for you. However, if you are a seasoned veteran of the mash tun and want to really delve head first into some of the most beautiful beers on earth this could be your ticket. I know Stan and can affirm that he knows as much about Belgian brewing as anyone in the US. Interviews with Belgian beer masters as well as those stateside gives the advanced homebrewer or professional a great idea of what it will take to brew great belgian inspired beers. Clearly the most important parts of this book to the brewer are the sections on ingredients and fermentation. If you are a diehard English inspired brewer this book will be an eye opener as to what exactly is so different about brewing belgian ales.
While being the most accessible of the series, Brew Like a Monk does have periods of extreme tehnical pursuit and it is not just there to baffle, but to educate. Topics such as pitching rates, krausening, bottle conditioning, mash PH, hop extracts, fermentation temperatures, attenuation, and adjunct types are covered in full. For those that are so inclined, Malt analysis and enzyme content are also covered as well as fermenter design of the trappist and secular breweries.
As I said, this, as well as the other two in this series, are not for the novice brewer, but if you really want a definitive and complete working knowledge of belgian brewing in the trappist tradition, look no further.