The science and mystique of what makes truly great beer is explored with logic and order. The long-awaited second edition of the George Fix classic looks at ways in which fundamental science impacts brewing. This comprehensive and highly technical study bridges the gap between professional brewing texts and standard texts on chemistry, biochemistry and thermodynamics. Recent major developments in brewing science have been significant, especially in the most crucial determinants of beer flavour quality -- fermentation and oxidation. Dr Fix pays special attention to basic chemical pathways used by bacteria and wild yeast, chemical changes that occur during malting, and the application of gas laws to carbonation and dispensation. This is a book no brewer should be without.

The late George Fix will be remembered as a pioneer in finite element methods, phase field methods and for numerous other contributions to numerical analysis and applied mathematics. He also distinguished himself as the chairman of three mathematics departments. George had a second concurrent and distinguished career as a practitioner and scientist in the brewing of beer. He was named Homebrewer of the Year in 1981 by the American Homebrewers Association® (AHA). He wrote two books with his wife, Laurie, An Analysis of Brewing Techniques (Brewers Publications, 2008) and Vienna, Märzen, Oktoberfest (Brewers Publications, 1998). In addition, he authored a scientific treatise titled Principles of Brewing Science, which has gone through two editions. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Recognition Award by the Association of Brewers in 1991 and the Ninkasi award by the AHA in 1997, the highest honors bestowed by these organizations at the time.