Water, Yeast, Hops... book series, any good?

[Jay-Brew]

Been looking into the Water, Yeast, Hops... book series. Think there is another one or two. I think John Palmer wrote one - maybe Water. Don't remember the other authors. Suspect a number of you know the books I am talking about. The covers all have a similar look to them.

Anyway, would like a comprehensive set of books as a resource and wondering if people think this is a good series. The only book I have at this point is How To Brew.

Thanks.

 

[jekeane]

Water is really focused towards commercial brewers in my opinion. It is a very textbook type read. You'll find useful info in it but most of that info is in how to brew.

 

[SimonHucko]

I've gone through Yeast and Water. both read like a textbook and are geared more toward commercial brewing, but I really enjoyed and got a lot out of Yeast (it helps that I have some background in microbiology). it's a must-read IMO if you plan on yeast ranching (starters, harvesting batch to batch or from dregs, plating and slants, etc.) Water I kinda skimmed through since I'm not really having issues with my water. I did get some good brewing chemistry understanding from it, but a lot of the book is more about correcting for bad water. Hops was recommended to me by a friend who brews commercially, but I haven't gotten my hands on it yet so I can't speak to it.

in general it seems to be a very technical series that will help you truly understand and refine your process. whether or not that's something you'd be interested in is up to you.

 

[cjgenever]

There's a lot of good info. Some of it is more than the home brewer needs, some isn't in depth as much as I'd like.

I would suggest adding Palmer's how to brew to the list... should be at the top. The yeast book is second.

 

[Hamaki]

I thought Hops was not text-book-like enough. A lot of name dropping it seemed and opinion. There were some interesting historical anecdotes but I didn't find a lot of really useful information to help me as a home brewer.

 

[stru]

Do yourself a favor and pick up Radical Brewing by Randy Mosher. Fantastic read and packed with useful information.

 

[sudsybrewer]

I've read For the Love of Hops and am working on the water book now, and will be getting to the yeast one next. I've found them to be very informative so far, and rather technical. The more you know about brewing the better, but on the other hand, you can make great beer without knowing much about the technical aspect of beer. It really just depends on how far down the rabbit hole you want to go. I'm already way down there so I'm all for it!

It's worth noting that a background in biology and chemistry have been useful for reading these, but they do cover the basics that you need to know in the appendices. At least in the water book.

 

[Teromous]

Yeast: Great book that covers everything yeast related. If you plan to run a miniature yeast lab this is the first book I would recommend. Even if you still use pre-packaged yeast it has a lot to offer in terms of discussing yeast health and fermentation. It's not a light read and I would say that more experienced you are in homebrewing the more practical use you will get out of the book.

Water: Easily the most overwhelming of the series. This book talks about everything from waste water treatment to in-depth chemistry. It is probably more detailed than an actual water plant manual, and it actually walks you through quite a few operating water plants at various breweries. I wouldn't say this is a book about water adjustment, it literally is "all things water."

Hops: I feel this has the greatest entertainment value, so even if you aren't interested in the science of hops there is still something to be gained from reading this book. You will get a lot of data and charts displaying information about flavor compounds in hops, bitter compounds, acid percentages, etc. There is information on the history of hops, the parts of the plant, hop production numbers, information on growers, hop selection, etc. What I really like about the book is that circling all of this data is the Stan Hieronymus method of storytelling which keeps me reading the book. I honestly found it more interesting to read the stories than all of the data in the book:

"The museum sill keeps a straw hop devil on display. Farmers feared the gusty winds and thunderstorms that could destroy a hop yard in the final days before harvest and hung the large straw figures in their fields to ward off bad weather." ~Stan Hieronymus: For the Love of Hops

 

[Jay-Brew]

This feedback is great! Thanks very much. Think I know which books would be good for me.