Best Homebrew book?

[johnsmh2]

What do you all feel is the best updated homebrew book available covering all aspects of brewing?

 

[BrokenDog]

Most everyone here will probably say How to Brew by John Palmer. It's not the most current edition but if you go to www.howtobrew.com you can read the book in its entirety online.

 

[JasonInBTR]

Lots were mentioned in this post:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f14/book-recommendations-214278/

Palmer's is supposed to be the beginner's bible.....

Jason

 

[Guidry]

I would agree with Palmer's book as the best overall. However, as I have said many times before, do yourself a favor and buy a copy of the book. You'll refer to it over and over. Personally, I prefer having a book to grab and look up something over the brew kettle than having to break out a computer.

 

[Bpts_finest13]

I haven't even started my first batch yet and i am learning a lot from "How To Brew". Someone mentioned it here in another thread and I picked it up couple days ago.

 

[BrokenDog]

I would agree with Palmer's book as the best overall. However, as I have said many times before, do yourself a favor and buy a copy of the book. You'll refer to it over and over. Personally, I prefer having a book to grab and look up something over the brew kettle than having to break out a computer.

I agree, having a hard copy is the way to go, but I will say the online version had been great at work when I have had a few minutes of down time.

 

[SumnerH]

How to Brew is great. The print version is a must pick-up, as it's far more up to date than the online version.

Even the newest stuff is out of date on some points; supplement by listening to BBR and reading here!

 

[jbrookeiv]

HomeBrewTalk.com

 

[Hoosier]

+1 for How To Brew

 

[poley]

How to Brew is my favorite after brewing for many years, I did start with Papazian's Joy of Homebrewing, which is way less technical, and does a lot for your peace of mind if you're a beginner. HtB is still my personal recommendation, but Papazian's has something special in it too.

Good luck!

 

[ChickenBeer]

I like How to Brew, Joy of home brewing, Brewmasters Bible by Stephen Snyder, its got a couple of point in it that you find in some other places then a bunch of recipes. And most recently I had picked up Designing Great Beers which is a little more technical in some areas. On another note has anyone ever read Yeast: The Practical Guide to Beer?

 

[bstacy1974]

The Brewers Companion
Randy Mosher

 

[Ziggybrew]

I would warn against just ONE book. Start reading somewhere (Palmer works) but I found the slight differences between Palmer, Papazian, Snyder and others to be critical and getting a well rounded grasp. Don't stop at one source. It is important to see that even the experts differ on some points.

Me personally, I wish the very first thing I learned was "RELAX don't worry, have a homebrew", from Charlie Papazian. I recommend Charlie as a fist book maybe. My first few batches were like having a newborn in the house. I worried over everything and was in a panic over nothing half of the time.
His attitude is just as important as the practical information.

 

[WildGingerBrewing]

I like How to Brew, Joy of home brewing, Brewmasters Bible by Stephen Snyder, its got a couple of point in it that you find in some other places then a bunch of recipes. And most recently I had picked up Designing Great Beers which is a little more technical in some areas. On another note has anyone ever read Yeast: The Practical Guide to Beer?

+1 to How to Brew, Joy of Homebrewing and I just started Designing Great Beers and love it. I picked up Yeast: The Practical Guide the other day. I think for me it may be a bit of a hard read. I don't know much about biology and chemistry and the second chapter took forever to get through. There were about 8 words in the whole chapter in which I knew the definition But since I really want to learn more about yeast, I finished chapter 2 and will now move on through the book. The preface says that only a small part of the book is written like chapter 2.

 

[Rev2010]

Also reading How To Brew, at about page 100 now and I've learned a lot so far and am thoroughly enjoying it.


Rev.

 

[NOLA_NICK]

Homebrewing for dummies is also a good book to start you off. But How to Brew is graet too.

 

[Acoma]

I just received Designing Great Beers and Brewing Classic Styles in the mail. About to step up my brewing game!

 

[jigidyjim]

It depends on your personal taste.

How To Brew is a great book that gets into some technical detail. The first time I read it, I skipped most of it because I wasn't interested. 3 months later, I went back and ate it all up because I wanted all the knowledge I could get.

Joy of homebrewing, while the information isn't the same as the best practices you'll read about here on this site, is much more casual and geared towards someone who just wants to crank out some beer and have fun doing it.

For me personally, I"m glad I read Joy of homebrewing first, then How To Brew. I think How To Brew would have overwhelmed me as a starting point.

Then there are a zillion books that specialize in things... extreme beers, classic beers, yeast, belgian beers, creating beer recipes, clone recipes, you name it.

 

[NyPDFustercluck]

A fun read is also The Alaskan Bootleggers Bible. It's got a ton of DIY stuff and also talks about basic winemaking. Not the first book you should get, but deffinately one for the collection

Edit===> +1 to brewing classic styles, I've made about five batches from their recipes and they've all come out awesome