[.ca] Stout (ISBN 0937381446)

not the best.:
I found this book on stout to not be as good as the chapter on stout in designing great beers. This is probably the worst in the series. If you are getting all the books in the series you may as well get this one otherwise save yourself some time and just get designing great beers. My biggest complaints. a. Completly dismissive of the Oatmeal Stout style saying it's just a sweet stout plus marketing. b. Treats imperial stout as just a stronger version of standard stout. c. Doesn't ever define stout. d. no recipies for milk stout or oatmeal stout(see a). e. Refuses to accept porter as a different style. f. Lot's of downright incorrect information.

Uninspiring, surprisingly empty - worse than 'Belgian Ale':
The books in the classic beers styles vary to a great deal- they are all written by different authors, and some beers just happen to have more vivid or unique histories than others. But no matter what, all of the titles are written by authors with barely contained enthusiasm and affection for the style. It is in these respects that Mr. Lewis fails. A few of the more disappointing aspects of the book: *At risk of sounding like a snob, Lewis claims that his all time favorites include Guinness and Budweiser. His experience as a brewer aside, one must certainly question the man's taste. *He scoffs at the idea of a separation between stout and porter. Read Terry Foster's far superior 'Porter' and you'll know this to be patently false. How can anything this man says be taken seriously? *He doesn't seem to 'believe' in milk stout or oatmeal stout. This alone is an unforgiveable stance. *The 'homebrewing' section of the book was not written by Mr. Lewis and thus is in no way tied to the rest of the book. The homebrewer (or craft brewer) is robbed of any real context for the few, very questionable, recipes presented. *He goes out of his way to take pot shots at Michael Jackson. His only motivation here seems to be to dismiss the idea of substyles, and to promote his own very sterile, near meaningless critiquing system. *Historical aspects of the book are often speculations- and bad ones at that- that do little to provide historical background. *Pages and pages of mostly irrelivant survey material from a number of stout breweries is presented, out of context and to little effect. *Aside from a very few remembrances of Welsh coal miners slaking their thirst with a stout, this book reads like it was written by a brewer's CPA, not someone with a great deal of respect and enthusiasm for the style. In 'Belgian Ale,' Rajotte can (maybe) be forgiven for producing a less than adequate book because the subject is so diverse. In this case, one can only hope that a new edition of 'Stout' will feature a different author. Compared to others in the series, this edition is without merit.