Robert Rivelle George is an award-winning brewer and vintner with more than 40 years of experience with the fermentation arts. A graduate of University of California Davis programs on Advanced Home Brewing and Microbrewery Operation, Mr. George is currently Associate Brewer and Director of the soft-drink division of Torchlight Brewing Company in Nelson, British Columbia. Mr. George is the author of hundreds of analyses and reports for high-technology industries. As a consultant with Dun and Bradstreet and Gartner Group, Mr. George provided Global 1000 corporations with enterprise-management software selection services. He received an MBA with a concentration on market research from San Jose State University. As numerous consumers of his products have consistently applauded the results, Mr. George has been persuaded to commit the lessons he’s learned in the pursuit of the perfect beverage to the public record, in the hope that the magical pursuit of fermentation science will be vigorously pursued, and the knowledge of transcendent consciousness kept alive. Why did you write this book? When I first started brewing, the range of ingredients available, even to commercial brewers, let alone the home hobbyist, was very restricted. But as micro brewing started to take off, ingredient manufacturers were spurred on to expand their product offerings. These ingredients slowly made their way into home brew supply stores, and, living in Massachusetts, and then California, I was able to patronize stores that were at the forefront of the trend. I have a natural curiosity, and when I’d see an unfamiliar ingredient I would try it out. My recipes became over time more and more elaborate. At the same time I was trying out new micro-brews that I would see for sale. Most of these I found uninspiring and uninteresting. My own brews, in contrast—and with the agreement of my friends, were wild flavor extravaganzas, richly satisfying. I decided to figure out why, and came to the conclusion that it was a balancing act created by the wide variety of ingredients that I was putting into each recipe. Friends would concur, with statements like “Wow! There’s so much going on there! You should write a book!” I’ve also realized that I have a knack for creative visualization. I can imagine in great detail what I want a recipe to look and taste like before I make it, and I have the experience with ingredients to know how to make it look and taste like I want it to. The difference between my brews and commercial brews was that I was paying attention to their umami balance, without realizing what it was that I was actually doing. When I read Malcolm Gladwell’s book mentioning the taste “umami” it all came together for me on a theoretical level. The book had been kicking around in the back of my mind for years, and this gave me the hook that would differentiate it from the many other recipe books out there. I made it a call to chefdom rather than a cook book. Over the years I’ve developed techniques and procedures that let me “hit the nail on the head” as it were, every time. I saw that there were large numbers of people interested in the creative process known as “brewing” and I saw this as an opportunity to share what I’ve learned. As a reality check I entered four competitions and won five medals. I knew I was on the right track, and everyone who has read the book so far agrees!
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