Book Sequence

[jsemeyn]

I got a B&N gift card for the holidays and treated myself the the Hops, Malt, Water and Yeast books. Now I need to decide what order to read them in. What would you do and why?
J


Sent from my iPad using Home Brew

 

[Kblandfo]

I have these on my to read list.... I have heard the yeast book can be a slippery slope and have you wanting to buy more gear

 

[Brettomomyces]

I have these on my to read list.... I have heard the yeast book can be a slippery slope and have you wanting to buy more gear

I haven't even got to that section of the book yet and I'm thinking a microscope is in my future...

I think it depends on your experience level and how your beers are, but I would recommend the yeast book first because it's full of so many important tips and processes that apply to every beer you'll ever make.

 

[coolharry]

I'm in a similar boat and decided to go hops, malt, water then yeast. I just finished hops though so I have no idea if this will end up being a good order. But it seemed to me that this was working from simplest to most complex.

 

[Pappers_]

The yeast book is very helpful and fermentation is pretty darn important to making beer.

 

[Calder]

I got the yeast book, read it cover to cover over a weekend, and am continually referencing it.

Then I bought the Hops book - After 6 months, I'm still struggling to get thru it. It doesn't seem to have the information I thought it would.

I have not seen the Malt or the Water books. Would like to know what people think about them.

 

[unionrdr]

Off the top of my head, I'd say Water, then Yeast, malt & hops. Water make up is important to getting good beer, from the type of water used for AE beers to chemical/mineral additives for PM & AG. Then treating the yeast the best way possible to get a good outcome. Then malt & hops for more/different/better flavor/aroma complexities.

 

[Teromous]

I'm more interested in reading what changes people have made to their hobby through the knowledge in these books.

I tried starting a miniature yeast lab to try and archive yeast but it didn't last very long. I was in the process of looking for a used microscope as well but never went anywhere with that. I wanted to use the water book to make adjustments but found it easier to use online spreadsheets (still don't have it all figured out). The hop book I've used for general referencing from time to time. I haven't checked out the malt one but I'm looking forward to that one.

 

[estricklin]

Yeast!!!! Hands down, will improve your process way more than the other books, and you can mark it on your calender that I said it!

 

[ArcaneXor]

Yeast, Malt, then Water. The latter is drier than a dromedary turd in Algeria, but contains a lot of good information. The hops book is very different in style and has less practical information than the others - throw it in whenever you feel like some light reading that is very journalistic/travelogue in style. I am only about a fifth of the way through Malt, but I like it very much so far - it seems to have a good balance between practical advice, history, and science.

Edit: As far as changes in my personal brewing, I don't think there have been many - but I know understand what I do much better. I feel they have also prepared me to tackle a true technical brewing textbook, though I'll have to review that dreaded organic chemistry first....

 

[schokie]

Yeast! Fermentation is the soul of beer. However, I did have to skip the chapter on how you make your own lab at home. I was scared for my wallet.

I've read Hops as well. It's a great history of different hops along with recent research into hop flavors and bitterness. I doesn't have as much practical application as Yeast did.

Malt is next on my list.

I'm saving Water for last. My tap water is decent already, so I don't see changes in my water profile to be as important as yeast control.