books on brewing

I'm trying to learn as much as I can about brewing and working hard to get better at it. The problem I have found is I dont know that I did something wrong, until after its done and im trying to figure out what happened. It seems like you get an extract kit from the LHBS and learn the bare basics then it's all kinda learn from your mistakes from there. I have about 5 batches under my belt now and I want to make better beer. Any books or collection of books on brewing to increase my knowledge on the subject. If it matters I mostly brew belgian wit, IPA and scotch ales.

 

There are plenty if great books. Designing great beers, radical brewing, brewing classic styles, and brew like a monk are some good starting points

 

If you don't have any books, the first one you should buy is John Palmer's How to Brew.

 

How to brew by John Palmer has been great for me. Along with the other books listed above.

 

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0937381888/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
This is prob the best for new brewers. There's a section towards the back that describes all different kinds of tasting flaws.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0060952164/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0060531053/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0937381926/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0937381500/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

These are great ones to start. I use the How To Brew by Palmer all the time, as do alot of brewers. Get a sticky pad and mark off the pages for quick reference.

 

+1, then if you're into weird beer, get Extreme Brewing by Sam Calagione next. Also a subscription to BYO is essential.

 

I found this exact forum to be my best book. Seriously !

 

This too. There's a home brew club offering subscriptions on here.

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f16/brew-your-own-subscription-390380/

 

Thanks everyone. I think I got to happy on Amazon and bought about 4 more books than I should have, but hey I have trading material for a long time

 

Try to come up with your own recipe. Trial by fire i say

 

Books are good. +1 on all stuff recommended so far. But you've got 5 brews. My advice is just keep brewing. With experience comes familiarity not only with technique, but ingredients. You'll start to learn what you should add or leave out, what you like and don't like. It's only natural that you will develope recipes that you like. But like I said, great recommendations on reading. I found some good books at my library too.

 

How to Brew is almost a must for a starter. I've read that and the Complete Joy of Homebrewing and liked How to Brew much more. After that it's just a matter of where you want to learn more. Designing Great Beers is pretty awesome. I really want to read the Yeast book next.

 

How to Brew - Palmer
Brewing Classic Style - Zainasheff
Radical Brewing - Mosher
Yeast - White
THEN:
Brewing Better Beer - Strong
Brew Like a Monk - Hieronymus
Brewing with Wheat - Hieronymus

 

Brew like a Monk is good read.

 

How to brew by Palmer is the first book you should buy. You only need one how-to book and Palmer's is the best. It is a little dated (it probably needs a section on BIAB) but its still a great reference to have.

If you want a good recipe book, Brewing Classic Styles. Most recipe books suck and this one has its flaws too but it delivers a great overview of the BJCP guidelines and provides a "to style" recipe for each subcategory.

Brewing Better Beer by Gordon Strong. A lot of people hate this one but Strong's book gives you a lot of great ideas for improving your beer. It says its for "advanced brewers" but if you have a basic understanding on how to brew and your beer doesn't completely suck, you are "advanced" enough for this book (if you truly are an "advanced brewer" you will probably hate this book). It doesn't give you step by step instructions on anything but tells you what you need to do at a high level and leaves it to you to figure out how to accomplish it on your system. It also covers topics that most books don't touch like blending, competition brewing and bottling, hangover prevention, post fermentation adjustments, cold steeping etc...and unlike every other homebrewing book, it explains brewing water chemistry in a simple, practical way (don't even waste your time looking at the water section in How to Brew, it will only confuse you)

 

...and even better than books:

Podcasts like Brew Strong, Basic Brewing Radio, Jamil Show, BrewingTV

...and even better than any media, join your local homebrew club. You'll meet nerds who will happily help you improve your beer and you will get to taste hundreds of examples of homebrew. Ask questions about other peoples process and recipes so you can learn from their successes and mistakes. Thinking of throwing a stupid adjunct into your beer or making a dumb hybrid style like Cascadian Dunkel Weizen? I dont have to waste a brew day because somebody else did and I got to taste the results.

 

Skip the books, use the search function, learn from all our mistakes.

 

Hold off on the books. I read the online version of How to Brew, but you can get all the basic info here, on YouTube and at your local homebrew club.

Once you have your methods nailed down, then you can start making your own recipes. That is where the books above really shine.

If you head that way, check out the 1-gallon forum here. Unless you are made of money, failed 1-gallon experimental batches are a lot easier to swallow.

 

How to Brew and Brewing Classic Styles are the two essentials IMO. Then Yeast by Chris White.

I own literally every book mentioned here except for that one poster with all the Amazon links, but after the three I mentioned, I think it's really just about what interests you.