Anybody recommend a good book on AG

Homebrewing? I'm looking for a good book that covers in depth all the aspects of making excellent AG homebrew. I don't want one that spends 3/4 of the book talking about beginner extract stuff.

I find myself constantly having to run to the computer as a reference while brewing or getting paralysis by analysis while formulating a recipe. The only books I have gloss over AG because they are introductory type books.

Any suggestions?
Al

Palmer's How to Brew...

howtobrew.com

Ray Daniels' Designing Great Beers has a lot of good information in it for AG brewing. But it also covers extract brewing, and more than half of the book is devoted to analyzing the characteristics of different ale styles. It isn't a "how to" book though, it's more oriented to theory, so I wouldn't call it an AG cookbook or primer, but I do think it could be a useful addition to your library.

If Palmer's 'How to Brew' has too much beginner/extract brewing in it, then get a copy of Greg Noonan's 'New Brewing Lager Beer'. Despite the title, the book is a comprehensive tome on brewing ales and lagers for AG brewers. Highly recommended. Just be aware that it is a few years old now, and you won't spot any guidance on batch sparging or construction of a cooler MLT using a stainless steel braid (see the latest edition of Palmer's book for that).

Palmer's book is great...It covers Noob to Scientist.

Is Palmers hardcopy book different or more in depth than the online version? I have been primarily using that one but I don't have the hard copy. I actually have Noonan's book but at first thumb through it appeared a bit more in depth than i thought I wanted to go. Now that I'm getting more into this AG think I guess I'm going to have to tackle the whole chemistry/ph etc. Good grief how I hated chemistry in HS!

I really just want to correct my problems and brew good beer w/out becoming a mad scientist.

I'll pull out Noonan;s book and re-read it.

Thanks for the replies,
Al

GIusedtoBe said:

Is Palmers hardcopy book different or more in depth than the online version? I have been primarily using that one but I don't have the hard copy

Click to expand...

I think Palmers' printed book is the 3rd edition while the online version is the first edition.

Try "Designing Great Beers", "Radical Brewing" and "New Brewing Lager Beer". I found that between the three I got a pretty good 360 deg view of AG.

"Designing Great Beers" is one of the better books I have read. "How to Brew" is really good too, however you can read that one online for free. The first book i read was "The Joy of Homebrewing" by Papazian.. its a good book as long as your after general info and stories.