Rating: 
Summary: Decent book, good recipes
Review: I found this to be slightly better than North American Clone Brews. It's aimed at extract brewers, although it's still useful for all-grain brewers. They chose a nice variety of beers for this book, and I don't see too many clunkers. The disadvantage of this is that many of the beers are difficult to find. I've had good luck with all the recipes I've tried. While the first section of the book contains a brief description of the process, I strongly reading a beginner's brewing book (such as Papazian's Joy of Homebrewing, Dave Miller's Homebrewing Guide, or Marty Nachel's Homebrewing for Dummies) if you haven't brewed before. As with all brewing recipe books, you should take it with a grain of salt. I strongly recommend double-checking recipe ingredients with ProMash or the equivalent prior to beginning to make sure you'll hit the target gravity and bitterness. This is especially true if you're making the all grain or partial mash versions of the recipes. One of the major problems I have with this book is that for a lot of beers vital information is included in the Helpful Hints section, where you might miss it. For instance, lagering is only mentioned in the Helpful Hints section. This should be part of the main recipe. This seems to be a flaw in the format. I found the serving suggestions included with each recipe somewhat silly. There are a number of recipes at the end of the book which I haven't tried, although a number look decent.
Rating: 
Summary: BEER CAPTURED - me five ribbons.
Review: I have been brewing beer from this book for a couple of years and, to date, the recipes have earned me five home brewing ribbons - including (2) First Places. My most recent, and proudest, is a first place I earned for my version of Stovepipe Porter. This beer placed first in the Northeast Regional's of the 2004 National Homebrewing Competition.
Tess and Mark have incroporated a wealth of information into this book. The recipes are easy to follow and with some care will produce very nice beer. This book (as well as their earlier "Clonebrews") makes one thing difficult - which beer to make first??
This is a MUST HAVE for anyone interested in brewing their own beer. I can not thank Tess and Mark enough for their tireless efforts and dedication to making brewing beer so easy and rewarding!! Keep up the great work! PROSIT !!
Rating:
Summary: BEER CAPTURED - me five ribbons.
Review: I have been brewing beer from this book for a couple of years and, to date, the recipes have earned me five home brewing ribbons - including (2) First Places. My most recent, and proudest, is a first place I earned for my version of Stovepipe Porter. This beer placed first in the Northeast Regional's of the 2004 National Homebrewing Competition.
Tess and Mark have incroporated a wealth of information into this book. The recipes are easy to follow and with some care will produce very nice beer. This book (as well as their earlier "Clonebrews") makes one thing difficult - which beer to make first??
This is a MUST HAVE for anyone interested in brewing their own beer. I can not thank Tess and Mark enough for their tireless efforts and dedication to making brewing beer so easy and rewarding!! Keep up the great work! PROSIT !!
Rating:
Summary: Simply the BEST
Review: I just came from the library last night and viewed over 10 different brewing books, including 4 recipe books. I get home today and my new Beer Captured came in the mail. WOW. What a book. If you're looking for the top of the line recipe book, then this is the one, without a doubt. I researched myself and this book blew away the others. After reading this book and going through a few recipes, I wanted to brew a batch right then and there. Instead, I drank a few! Wow. I see what the other review meant by the drool on the cover. This book will be used A LOT by me and any friends I loan it to. Way to go Mark and Tess!!! When is Beer Captured II coming out?????????? I CAN'T WAIT! Don't let anyone fool you with other clone recipe books, this is THE one.
Rating:
Summary: Best in Show-review written by Von Bair
Review: I owe Tess and Mark Szamatulski for the "Best of Show" award my Saison captured at the 2001 Green Mountain Homebrew Competition. I followed their Fantome recipe from "Beer Captured", especially the spicing, closely in brewing the beer. "Beer Captured" and "Clone Brews" may seem to be meant for new brewers, since the featured version of each recipe involves the use of extract. However, I am an experienced (163 batches), whole-grain, successful (ranked third in New England at this point), brewer. Although I take pride in my recipe formulations, I depend very much on the information provided in their two books in preparing for a brew. The appendices provide a broad range of information, thorough and well-organized. The multiple recipes for nearly every style of beer provide comparisons that guide my final formulation of grain bills, adjunct additions, and hopping schedules. The two books are my most frequently consulted reference.
Rating:
Summary: Best in Show-review written by Von Bair
Review: I owe Tess and Mark Szamatulski for the "Best of Show" award my Saison captured at the 2001 Green Mountain Homebrew Competition. I followed their Fantome recipe from "Beer Captured", especially the spicing, closely in brewing the beer. "Beer Captured" and "Clone Brews" may seem to be meant for new brewers, since the featured version of each recipe involves the use of extract. However, I am an experienced (163 batches), whole-grain, successful (ranked third in New England at this point), brewer. Although I take pride in my recipe formulations, I depend very much on the information provided in their two books in preparing for a brew. The appendices provide a broad range of information, thorough and well-organized. The multiple recipes for nearly every style of beer provide comparisons that guide my final formulation of grain bills, adjunct additions, and hopping schedules. The two books are my most frequently consulted reference.
Rating:
Summary: nice book for the collection
Review: I really enjoyed this book as there is a wide range of recipes in varing styles. There is also a good description of hop and yeast varieties. My only complaint would be that there is sketchy recipe detail for the all grain brewer. Clearly this book was written with the extract brewer in mind. If you are an extract brewer and have your sights set on moving up to a partial mash then this book is a must have.
Rating:
Summary: A must for every homebrewer!
Review: If you're looking for a recipe book, this is the one to have.
Rating:
Summary: A beer quest fulfilled
Review: In December, I first tasted Sierra Nevada Celebration at a local pub and loved it. I started dragging my family to places were they served it, found it in a store in bottles so I'd have some at home, and raved about it to other brewing friends. Then I found out it was a seasonal beer, and was crushed that it would run out. Admittedly obsessed, but hey this is beer we're talking about. Then for Christmas, Beer Captured showed up under the tree, along with the ingredients for their Celebration clone. I brewed soon after, and just comparison tasted my version to my last bottle of the real thing. Not only did it turn out amazingly close to the original, but it is the best beer I've personally brewed. Now I don't have to wait until next winter to have this beer again. Not only can this book help you create beers that you know you like, it also has a great summary of brewing techniques, a nice set of tables summarizing brewing ingredients and their impact on beer flavor and aroma, and a section on brewing water that is very useful. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Beer Captured is a must have for the Homebrewer's Library!
Review: Mark & Tess have compiled some of the most comprehensive recipe information to assist brewers at every level. Beer Captured contains step by step breakdowns of popular commercial brews from around the world; crucial to every homebrewer as he/she researches classic examples of beer styles. In addition, the water chemistry tables provide a guideline for water chemistry adjustments necessary in order to duplicate a desired beer style. All of the information is outlined in basic formulations that are easy to comprehend and to incorporate into your brewing methods. This book will take you as far as you want to go.
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