Looking for a good brew book

Have heard alot of good things about john palmers "how to brew". just looking for a good book that covered brewing from top to bottom, also charts and recipes are good too. So what have you guys read??

How to Brew by Palmer

The Complete Joy of Homebrewing by Pappizan

Brewing Classic Styles by Jamil Zani*howdoyouspellhisname*Chef

But mostly How to Brew and The Complete Joy of Homebrewing will get you going in the right direction.

The Brew-Masters Bible by Stephen Snyder

devaspawn said:

The Brew-Masters Bible by Stephen Snyder

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That's a decent book, but a little out of date
Brewmasters' Bible has 8 very good pages (pg 98-107) which are the charts for formulating recipes. The ingredients have changed somewhat over the years and they are based on poor efficiency, but the guidlines are sound. He doesn't give recipes on those pages he gives guidelines, a starting point if you will, such as

Bitter (ESB)
Primary Grist
9-12 lbs 2Row Pale

Specialty Malts
.50-1lb 20-40L Crystal
.50-1lb Dextrine Malt

Hops

30-55 IBU's
Fuggles
EKG
Northern Brewer
Challenger
Target

Adjuncts
Torrefied Wheat
Flaked Maize
Flaked Barley

Water
Hard
Sulfate 300ppm
Low temp hardness

Mash method
Single Infusion @ 150-154 for 60-90 minutes

Boil
60-90 min

Yeast
Wyeast 1098-1028-1968

OG/FG
1.042-1.060//1.010-1.016

Primary
5-7days 60-70f

Secondary
7-10 days 50-60f with Dry hops

Serving temps
50-55f

If you follow the advice on that recipe you can make a good beer that is your own not someone elses. I find it very helpful when in the design stage of a recipe

Here's an older thread with all the info you need on books. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=9046

I really like Radical Brewing by Randy Mosher

You probably have all the technical manuals and recipe books - this is a . . . hybrid and very readable.

Once you start buying books you won't stop.

Lile poker - there is no ONE perfect book.

niquejim said:

That's a decent book, but a little out of date

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Agreed but I read and got some useful info out of it after I read How to Brew.

I REALLY learned more from Designing Great Beers by Ray Daniels than any other book. If you're wanting to learn how to make your OWN recipes and not kits this is the book. If you're looking for techniques, it's not the lit for you.

Radical Brewing is an awesome book in general, tons of history, great and rare recipes, equipment, art. it's truly a beautiful book.

i'm currently about half-way through Designing Great Beers by Ray Daniels. although it's not really the most fun to read this cover to cover, it has wonderful information, charts for hops and malts per style based on competitions, and a wealth of information.

it's really a book you can pick up and just read one chapter any time. fantastic stuff.

+1 on Radical Brewing. Very easy read with lots of info and recipes. I flew through it. Designing Great Beers by Daniels took me a lot longer to get through, but it has all the nuts and bolts for the major beer styles...

The Complete Joy of Homebrewing by Carlie Papazian will cover everything you need to know about homebrewing. Brewing Classic styles by Jamil Zainasheff and John J. Palmer have GREAT recipes. And this book doesn't tell you really how to brew but it is my FAVORITE beer book i read when i take dumps all the time. Its called Microbrewed Adventures by Charlie Papazian. ANd after it talks about the microbrewed beer it gives you a homebrew recipe. It has some amazing recips. And i am going to order radical brewing....seems like a great book

Daniels, Designing Great Beers

Noonan, New Brewing Lager Beer

Both are technical and thorough to all aspects of brewing and both are a little out dated.

The most current book you will find is teh "Palmer/Zaineychef"

I absolutely love Radical Brewing. I flew through it and after I finished it, its still the book I pick up the most. Anytime I need some inspiration, I pick up Radical Brewing and flip through it for a few minutes.... It doesn't take long before I have my next beer picked out. I've never actually brewed any of the recipes.... come to think of it, I haven't brewed the recipes in any of my books... but the book is great.

On a related note, can anyone recommend a book geared more to the science of brewing. I saw some text books on Amazon, but don't want to spend $200. Anyone read Brewing by Michael Lewis? It seems pretty technical and much cheaper at $47.

I'm surprised there aren't more DIY books for brewing, unless I just didn't see them. Also, it seems like a lot of the material is a little out of date.

Have Brewing Like a Monk and Radical Brewing on the way. Can't wait to read them.

Brew Chem 101 is pretty good.

I am kinda new to breing and I have found "The Complete Joy of Homebrewing" and "The Homebrewers Companion" by Charlie Papazian bot very helpfull I also own "Designing Great Beers" by Ray Daniels and its great too.

cool thanks guys, looks like I have a few books to look into, and yes I know once I buy one I'll have another right behind it. not sure If I'm ready to try my own recipe since my 2nd brew is only in primary now but hope to by the early part of 09. thanks

shertz said:

On a related note, can anyone recommend a book geared more to the science of brewing. I saw some text books on Amazon, but don't want to spend $200. Anyone read Brewing by Michael Lewis? It seems pretty technical and much cheaper at $47.

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That's sort of what I'm looking for. From reviews I've read (haven't gotten any of the books yet), Brew Chem 101 is good if you don't have a strong chemistry background.

If you have the chem background or don't mind doing the extra research, George Fix's Principles of Brewing Science seems to be recommended and is only $20.

The classic in-depth text seems to be De Clerck's A Textbook of Brewing (in two volumes). It was first published in English in '57, but seems to still be well regarded for the basics of brewing science. If you go for this one, get it directly from The Siebel Institute of Technology (the publisher) as most places sell the two volumes for $75 each ($150 total) while the institute sells both for $95 total (or so it seems).

As I mentioned, I've been looking for a nerdy beer book (McGee's On Food and Cooking is one of my favorite food books), but haven't read any of these yet, only reviews. I could be completely wrong.