brewing books

Since I started with home brewing I read a lot on the internet.

Then I bought Palmer's "How to Brew" and my horizons definitely expanded. After this I bought Mosher's "Radical brewing" which is really a great book, and I enjoyed reading it...

Now I'm out of literature, so I'm asking for advice - what could I read next?

What is your favourite brewing book?

thanks

400d said:

Since I started with home brewing I read a lot on the internet.

Then I bought Palmer's "How to Brew" and my horizons definitely expanded. After this I bought Mosher's "Radical brewing" which is really a great book, and I enjoyed reading it...

Now I'm out of literature, so I'm asking for advice - what could I read next?

What is your favourite brewing book?

thanks

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In addition to the two you mention (both great) I have and heartily recommend:


Daniels: Designing Great Beers
Zainasheff and Palmer: Brewing Classic Styles
Hieronymous: Brew Like a monk
Harrison/Durden Park: Old British Beers and how to brew them

+1:

Hieronymous: Brew Like a monk

He takes you through the Belgian brewing processes in great detail. It's full of great information and is a fun read too.

I have the Palmer book, I see people talking about "The Complete Joy of Homebrewing" alot on here.....

brewagentjay said:

I have the Palmer book, I see people talking about "The Complete Joy of Homebrewing" alot on here.....

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I've noticed people talk about it a lot. Wonder how is it comparing to palmer and mosher....

I really liked Mosher's style because he mixed practical and theoretical stuff through the book, while adding a lot of historical facts. The book is also very rich with illustrations and interesting pictures.

400d said:

I've noticed people talk about it a lot. Wonder how is it comparing to palmer and mosher....

I really liked Mosher's style because he mixed practical and theoretical stuff through the book, while adding a lot of historical facts. The book is also very rich with illustrations and interesting pictures.

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Not sure how it is but gets good reviews on here. I'd use google books see if I can read alot of it then purchase if you like what you see.

I also have a pdf of "Handbook of brewing" which is a huge book for industrial brewing.

This is probably the most detailed book I've seen by now. A lot of chemistry and physics, very scientific approach, referring to probably hundreds of other sources.

This was written by multiple authors and each one of them had one or two chapters....

If there is somebody interested in this, please PM me.

Designing Great Beers is very very technical. Its not a fun/easy read but if you want to nail a certain style, then it can be very beneficial.

Brewing Classic Styles is a pretty good one especially as a jumping off point for recipe design.

Also Tasting Beer by Randy Mosher. Not a homebrewing book per say, but a great book for understanding how to drink beer critically.

If you like wheat beers, I just picked up "Brewing With Wheat" by Hieronymous.

brewagentjay said:

I have the Palmer book, I see people talking about "The Complete Joy of Homebrewing" alot on here.....

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It's VERY dated. It was "the book" many years ago but so much has changed that it's now very outdated. Palmer's book has take it's place.

I highly recommend Brewing Classic Styles. It's the best recipe book I've ever owned.

+1 Brew Like a Monk - This book not only takes a walk through making great Belgian beers, but gives a different perspective on looking at styles. I feel like the book is more about philosophy of brewing moreso than technicality, however it covers that pretty well too.

Brewing Lager Beer by Greg Noonan - Excellent source of technical info on brewing, highly beneficial for the lager or ale brewer.

brewagentjay said:

I have the Palmer book, I see people talking about "The Complete Joy of Homebrewing" alot on here.....

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Great book written by a great guy. This is where the "RDWHAHB" sentence originated from. There's some great recipes in that book, a little bit of beer's history, and instructions to go from hopped kit to extract with specialty grains to all-grain. The instructions are very detailed as to leave no place to interrogations when it's time to brew. He goes to length to explain how yeast work, what does mashing do, etc. He even wrote an appendix on how to siphon without using your mouth with schema and diagrams.

The book is aimed at beginners.

But his methods are, nowadays, a little bit outdated: the book was first written in 1984 (first edition). Still a great read, but if you have Palmer's book, then you don't need Papazian's. They cover the same material.

Cpt_Kirks said:

If you like wheat beers, I just picked up "Brewing With Wheat" by Hieronymous.

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+1

Stan is a real nice guy and we judged some beers last week at the local meeting.

brewagentjay said:

I have the Palmer book, I see people talking about "The Complete Joy of Homebrewing" alot on here.....

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I thought palmer's was awsomen but joy was a let down. I felt it was a begginers guide

I got Joy many years back when I first tried brewing. Great book and covers everything well. However, I must agree that my edition, the 2nd, is a bit dated now. If you start with it, you won't go wrong, but if you already have Palmer's book, then you don't need it.

I have all of them and really enjoyed Mosher's Radical Brewing. Great read, though not so much a guide to brewing. I felt it helped understand beer more and gave good descriptions of style. He's a fantastic author, and very enjoyable. Tasting Beer is a must have IMO.

Other than that, I like Brewing Classic Styles. Some good basic info at the start, and tons of proven recipes that you can brew as they are, or as a starting point for tweaking. There seems to be a little blurb with each recipe describing what to look for, and pointers for making it turn out "on style".

If you've already got Radical Brewing, and How to Brew, then you might just need to keep reading the boards! I've found this place to be the best source of information right after the reference books.

a good goto text is brew "chem 101" great for isolating off flavors, palmer's cover most all the info but this is a nice little package and has a great "flavor wheel" that helps you pin down that off flavor youy just can't put your finger on.



if you are gonna grow hops or any other brewing herb i would go for "home brewers garden" great book with detailed instructions and diagrams. way more thorough imo then "homegrown hops" which is good but is writen heaviely by authors point of view and only covers hops it still good but i feel it take second prize.

if i had three books they would be
How to brew
radical brewing
homebrewers garden

but i to would like to expand my horizons

I have over 40 brewing books in my library...hard to say what would interest you most.

I am listening to "Brewmaster's Art: The History and Science of Beermaking" by Charles Bamforth right now. It's a 14-part lecture-type series in audiobook format in The Modern Scholar series that many public libraries carry. Really enjoying this one!

ArcaneXor said:

I am listening to "Brewmaster's Art: The History and Science of Beermaking" by Charles Bamforth right now. It's a 14-part lecture-type series in audiobook format in The Modern Scholar series that many public libraries carry. Really enjoying this one!

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I expect it to be a bit "dry", but I really want to check this out! I wonder if it's online?

nicknoty said:

a good goto text is brew "chem 101" great for isolating off flavors, palmer's cover most all the info but this is a nice little package and has a great "flavor wheel" that helps you pin down that off flavor youy just can't put your finger on.



if you are gonna grow hops or any other brewing herb i would go for "home brewers garden" great book with detailed instructions and diagrams. way more thorough imo then "homegrown hops" which is good but is writen heaviely by authors point of view and only covers hops it still good but i feel it take second prize.

if i had three books they would be
How to brew
radical brewing
homebrewers garden

but i to would like to expand my horizons

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I found "Brew Chem 101" a little lacking. Some of the stuff in that one does not add up. If you have 10 sources of information, and one of the 10 does not agree, I tend to suspect the one.

Homercidal said:

I expect it to be a bit "dry", but I really want to check this out! I wonder if it's online?

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I'm just downloading it from torrent....

ArcaneXor said:

I am listening to "Brewmaster's Art: The History and Science of Beermaking" by Charles Bamforth right now. It's a 14-part lecture-type series in audiobook format in The Modern Scholar series that many public libraries carry. Really enjoying this one!

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I started with this yesterday and really enjoy it. These lectures are really great!
So far I listened first two CD's out of 7, and this guy explained the malting process in such a great manner, that I doubt there is a better explanation available

Can't wait to listen to the rest of it, especially the brewing process and more important quality of the beer where he explains all the factors that make flavor and aroma....

I recommend this to everyone! It's free, and you can order it paying only shipping. I'm not sure where from but the guy mentioned it in the lecture. Or you can download it like I did from torrent....

Again - great stuff!

Course Syllabus:

Lecture 1 The Shape of the Worldwide Brewing Industry
Lecture 2 The Basics of Brewing
Lecture 3 The History of Brewing
Lecture 4 Raw Materials: Barley and Malt
Lecture 5 Raw Materials: Water and Hops
Lecture 6 The Brewhouse
Lecture 7 Fermentation Through Packaging
Lecture 8 Beer Styles: Top-Fermentation Beers
Lecture 9 Beer Styles: Bottom-Fermentation Beers and Other Product Types
Lecture 10 The Quality of Beer: Flavor & Flavor Stability
Lecture 11 The Quality of Beer: Appearance
Lecture 12 Beer: Healthfulness & Perception
Lecture 13 Beer in the United States
Lecture 14 The Impact of Science on the Development of the Brewing Industry-Past, Present, and Future

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Don't laugh, but in addition to Palmer's book, I have "Home Brewing for Dummies". It's pretty decent/well-organized, and has a nice section on kegging, which Palmer lacks. Marty Nachel is a longtime brewer and is a BJCP. No doubt that the Palmer book is better, though--much more detailed info on the "why" for those who really want to jump in to the science.