Good books for beginners

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THRobinson

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Does anyone know of any really good basic books for beginners?

I bought 'Designing Great Beers' this week online based on all the good reviews, but, definitely not for beginners, very technical. Just looking for something small, simple, describes processes and terms etc.
 
"How To Brew" by John Palmer. Good for both beginners and more advanced brewers. I read it when I was first starting up and have referred to it many times since. Great book!
 
The Complete Joy of Homebrewing by Charlie Papazian is another one that I got a lot of good info out of.
 
"How To Brew" by John Palmer. Good for both beginners and more advanced brewers. I read it when I was first starting up and have referred to it many times since. Great book!

Damn... I was going to buy that one, almost had to flip a coin between the two. Ended up with the one I have because although "How to Brew" was a better seller, amazon.ca had only 2 reviews, vs the 19 the other had.
 
Damn... I was going to buy that one, almost had to flip a coin between the two. Ended up with the one I have because although "How to Brew" was a better seller, amazon.ca had only 2 reviews, vs the 19 the other had.

I would trust the reviewers on this board before those on Amazon :D
 
I will point out that the version up on the website is much, much older than the current edition, which has several updates worth heeding.

But for beginning stuff it's probably fine.
 
I got Palmer's book a few months ago and it really is a great book. DGB is more advanced, but you may find it interesting to use either Palmer or Papazian as your main guide then DGB once the brew is in the primary just to learn a bit more about what you're making. In time, as you re-read it, you'll likely have some a-ha moments as things come together nicely.

B
 
I really liked reading Radical Brewing by Randy Mosher when i first got into the hobby
 
If you read Palmer's book you won't get much out of Joy of Homebrewing, technically but I'd still read both as it's a classic and a fun read.
 
If you read Palmer's book you won't get much out of Joy of Homebrewing, technically but I'd still read both as it's a classic and a fun read.

+1

I read Palmer first. It is really, really good.

When I wanted to learn to make my own recipes, I read Daniels. His book is indispensable for making recipes and brewing to style.

I read Pappazian after these two. At that point, I did not find his book helpful. It is a quick, fun read, but I prefer Palmer.
 
One book that doesn't get much mention here , that I think has pretty good info is : The Homebrewer's Companion by Charlie Papazian

"Many ask me, 'What's different about The Homebrewer's Companion?' It's a book that I might have titled The Complete Joy of Homebrewing, Volume 2. The information is 98 percent new information, including improved procedures for beginning and malt-extract brewers as well as advanced and veteran brewers. There are loads of new recipes and useful charts and data that I continually refer to in my own homebrew recipe formulation (I still homebrew about 20 batches a year). My theme throughout is 'Keep it practical. Keep it useful.' I wanted to answer 10 years' worth of questions in this one volume. I did ... and I had fun doing it."

-- Charlie Papazian
 
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