Hello, I want to brew . . can someone suggest a book

[HermitageHoller]

I am a brewing ignoramous. I need a book so that I can learn the process a bit before deciding what system to buy to get brewing. Help!

 

[Baja_Brewer]

How far back do you want to go? You can start here:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=576243


How to Brew by John Palmer is a great book. I think the previous edition is available in its entirety on his site, even: http://www.howtobrew.com/

The Complete Joy of Homebrewing, by Charlie Papazian is widely regarded as the homebrewing Bible. I've never read it, I do like John Palmer's book, though!

 

[FirstAidBrewing]

+1 for How to Brew. The first edition is free online, which is plenty to get you started:

http://www.howtobrew.com/

I'll also give a shout for Designing Great Beers by Ray Daniels

 

[jtp137]

How to brew is great and brewers apprentice are great to learn how to brew. Brewing classic styles and designing great beers for recipes

 

[Aristotelian]

Yes, How to Brew is the classic, but it is a ton of information to absorb. You may want to talk to someone at a homebrew shop or post back here when you have narrowed down the options (extract, all grain, brew-in-bag; 5 gallon, 1 gallon, etc).

 

[NeoBrew]

How to brew is required reading. But NOT for a first time Brewer. The information is great, but it's so dense and hard to read. If you are the type who likes to be fully informed, then go for it.

I'm the type that likes to leap first. I'd just buy a homebrew kit and get started. Most come with good directions that will get you started. The only thing most miss is to try to keep your beer in the mid 60's while fermenting.

What level do you want to be when you start?

 

[mongoose33]

Books are great--but nothing, IMO, beats watching an experienced home brewer go through the process. If you can find someone local who will walk you through it, do that. It will demystify so much and make the books much more understandable.

My 2 cents...and welcome to the obsession.

 

[Bender]

Books are great--but nothing, IMO, beats watching an experienced home brewer go through the process. If you can find someone local who will walk you through it, do that. It will demystify so much and make the books much more understandable.

My 2 cents...and welcome to the obsession.

+1. Nothing works like watching someone do it live. Follow the process from crushing the grain and making a starter (if used) through bottling/kegging.

The down side is you'll pick up a lot of the shortcuts and bad habits they have, but if the beer is good who cares? And you can always read a book later with a homebrew or 3. Or 4. Or...

 

[Transamguy77]

+2 to Mongoose, watching someone in person is the best but a close second is YouTube, there are a lot of great vids on how to brew.

 

[HermitageHoller]

I cant afford Heady Topper . . and its a ways to get it it (4 hour drive). I want to make a Heady Topper clone. too ambitiousfor a beginner?

 

[mongoose33]

+1. Nothing works like watching someone do it live. Follow the process from crushing the grain and making a starter (if used) through bottling/kegging.

The down side is you'll pick up a lot of the shortcuts and bad habits they have, but if the beer is good who cares? And you can always read a book later with a homebrew or 3. Or 4. Or...

The guy I watched for the first time made what I'd considered to be some mistakes...such as sanitizing in bleach solution but then rinsing with tap water. But it was enough to introduce me to the process.

 

[Bender]

I cant afford Heady Topper . . and its a ways to get it it (4 hour drive). I want to make a Heady Topper clone. too ambitiousfor a beginner?

Do yourself a favor. Start out with a simple stout or IPA. The heavier flavors will cover up small mistakes. If you start out too ambitious you'll be disappointed and may give up. If you're going to start alone get a kit from one of the sponsors here. They come with detailed instructions and everything you need (aside from hardware) to make a great beer.

I would also recommend you get some brewing software. I like Brew Smith, there are others. After you get a batch or two under your belt you can start tweaking recipes.

 

[Bender]

The guy I watched for the first time made what I'd considered to be some mistakes...such as sanitizing in bleach solution but then rinsing with tap water. But it was enough to introduce me to the process.

Back in the 90s bleach is what we had.

 

[GQT]

Randy Mosher, of course.

 

[Singletrack]

How to brew is great, but realize the information in the free on-line version is a bit dated. HBT will set you straight.


Charlie's book is fun, but come on, it is an "updated" version of homebrewing when dinosaurs roamed the earth. (Yeah, I know humans and dinosaurs never...)


No on the Heady Topper clone. I have found that type beer is the hardest to master, so far. Agree that a porter or stout is the best first brew. If you don't like those styles, maybe a brown or red.

 

[Aristotelian]

How to brew is required reading. But NOT for a first time Brewer. The information is great, but it's so dense and hard to read. If you are the type who likes to be fully informed, then go for it.

+1 on this. I mostly use HTB as a reference when I want to look up something specific. Reading it cover to cover would be just too much information. For your first time you should be able to buy a kit and make a decent beer just following the kit instructions.

 

[HermitageHoller]

Stouts out . . . I quit drinking alcohol all together about 3 years ago for 2 years . . . when I decided to imbibe again I found the status quo beers just uninteresting . . . I moved to kraft IPA's . . . Dogfishhead 60 minute, bells two hearted ale, troegs perpetual is ok, and then went to visit my daughter in vermont, whammo! Heady Topper . . . do you think an IPA could be a good first brew venture?

 

[unionrdr]

Here's a whole page full of books at amazon; http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=home+brewing+books

 

[Homercidal]

IPA is fine. But note that the modern IPAs tend to do a lot of LATE HOPPING (Adding most of the hops shortly before the boil is over) and they have a lot of DRY HOPS (hops added to the fermentor after primary fermentation is complete, or maybe to secondary if you decide to use a secondary.)

Now I am not saying that those things are advanced techniques, but it's not as simple as boiling some extract and tossing an ounce of hops in right after the boil starts.

Now you seem like a smart fellow, so I'll recommend you just go for it. Read up on what hops goes into your favorite IPA and brew one. Make sure to pay attention to when the hops are added to the kettle. This is important in modern IPAs!

And beyond that, read a LOT on the basic brewing principles, and the very common helpful tips, like SANITATION, and FERMENTATION TEMPERATURE. Those two are pretty critical to success.

I'll also chime in and say that if you go the extract route to start, things will be easier, but don't expect the beer to turn out exactly like what you expect. Generally the recipes for extract versions end up different than the beers they claim to clone. All Grain is slightly more work to plan, but I think most people who try it never go back to extract brewing (Except to save a little time once in a while.)

Check out Brew-In-A-Bag brewing for inexpensive All Grain brewing method.

Lastly, welcome to the addiction!

 

[HermitageHoller]

A wee blunder . . . I thought I was buying a brewing kit (that is equipment to get going with) but as it turns out once I received the shipped email is; It appears I have only bought the ingredients needed to brew an IPA (extract kit) . . . I figured that I would take some advice from this threads response and buy a kit. bought just the ingredients. Any thoughts on a proper set of tools to do this with. If you were me, what would you buy as equipment to begin this with. I went to Northern Brewers as suggested. not a big deal I just thought I was getting a good deal on equipment . . . now I need the equipment.

 

[unionrdr]

Make sure you look at the brewing starter kits this time. Some kits come with a beer kit you have to choose. Then you might have to go back & order the fermenting kit. Just get a kit to brew with & you're good.

 

[Aristotelian]

A wee blunder . . . I thought I was buying a brewing kit (that is equipment to get going with) but as it turns out once I received the shipped email is; It appears I have only bought the ingredients needed to brew an IPA (extract kit) . . . I figured that I would take some advice from this threads response and buy a kit. bought just the ingredients. Any thoughts on a proper set of tools to do this with. If you were me, what would you buy as equipment to begin this with. I went to Northern Brewers as suggested. not a big deal I just thought I was getting a good deal on equipment . . . now I need the equipment.

Lots to consider...What size batches do you want to do? What method? How much do you want to spend? Do you want to invest in a high quality setup or just a minimalist setup to make beer? Best thing to do is go to a home brew shop and talk to someone who can walk you through everything. Otherwise do a search, I am sure there are threads on it.