This accessible home-brew guide for alcoholic and non-alcoholic fermented drinks, from Apartment Therapy: The Kitchn's Emma Christensen, offers a wide range of simple yet enticing recipes for Root Beer, Honey Green Tea Kombucha, Pear Cider, Gluten-Free Sorghum Ale, Blueberry-Lavender Mead, Gin Sake, Plum Wine, and more.
You can make naturally fermented sodas, tend batches of kombucha, and brew your own beer in the smallest apartment kitchen with little more equipment than a soup pot, a plastic bucket, and a long-handled spoon. All you need is the know-how.
That’s where Emma Christensen comes in, distilling a wide variety of projects—from mead to kefir to sake—to their simplest forms, making the process fun and accessible for homebrewers. All fifty-plus recipes in True Brews stem from the same basic techniques and core equipment, so it’s easy for you to experiment with your favorite flavors and add-ins once you grasp the fundamentals.
Covering a tantalizing range of recipes, including Coconut Water Kefir, Root Beer, Honey–Green Tea Kombucha, Pear Cider, Gluten-Free Pale Ale, Chai-Spiced Mead, Cloudy Cherry Sake, and Plum Wine, these fresh beverages make impressive homemade offerings for hostess gifts, happy hours, and thirsty friends alike.
“I dare you to get through the first chapter of True Brews without running to your kitchen to try a recipe. Emma Christensen demystifies the process of homebrewing with her clear, empowering, and enticing recipes, showing us the full brewing potential of even the smallest and most basic kitchens. Even more, her enthusiasm is entirely infectious—get this book into enough hands, and I predict a homebrewed revolution.”
—Alana Chernila, author of The Homemade Pantry
“Fermented beverages come in many varied forms, and True Brews explores a vast array of them. I applaud Emma Christensen for this user-friendly compendium of ancient wisdom, modern methods, and inventive flavor combinations. Invite microbes into your life via some of these lively brews. Become part of the fermentation revival!”
—Sandor Ellix Katz, author of The Art of Fermentation and Wild Fermentation
“I’ll confess: I was skeptical about brewing at home before picking up Emma Christensen’s True Brews. My skepticism was immediately quashed by this book, which like a shaken-up bottle of homebrewed soda, positively explodes with accessible techniques, enticing recipes, and best of all a clear, enthusiastic voice that guides you through the process. Thanks to this book, I can’t wait to start brewing and drinking my own beer, wine, and soda at home.”
—Adam Roberts, author of The Amateur Gourmet and Secrets of the Best Chefs
“Are you fed up with the homogenized commodity beverages that often dominate the shelves of your local retailers, devoid of flavor, texture, and personality, but bountiful in marketing campaign dollars? Then do yourself a favor and learn to make your own! Use quality ingredients to create flavors that you want to drink—with True Brews as your guide, it’s not so hard to do. Cheers!”
—Greg Koch, CEO and cofounder of Stone Brewing Co.
“Small-batch beverage-making encapsulated in a neat, easy-to-follow book. With 1-gallon introductory recipes and procedures making this all the more interesting (and fun), there are beverages for all tastes, ages, and circumstances. Health and refreshment be with you.”
—Charlie Papazian, author of The Complete Joy of Homebrewing
