Best Home Brew Books?

[themonkeysback]

Hey Guys,

Fairly new to this home brew caper, only a few K+K and extract brews, giving a stovetop BIAB a crack in a few weeks.

Loving AHB, hating the search function - f*cking useless!!!

Anyway, wondering what home brew books people like/find useful/would recommend for a new brewer. This may well have been discussed before but as above - cant find **** with the search function so any links would be appreciated.

I have read palmers online copy of how to brew, is it worth buying an updated copy of this?

Cheers.

Adam.

 

[Kieren]

Start with How to Brew by J. Palmer, online at howtobrew.com. The homebrewers bible.

 

[manticle]

Hey Guys,

Fairly new to this home brew caper, only a few K+K and extract brews, giving a stovetop BIAB a crack in a few weeks.

Loving AHB, hating the search function - f*cking useless!!!

Anyway, wondering what home brew books people like/find useful/would recommend for a new brewer. This may well have been discussed before but as above - cant find **** with the search function so any links would be appreciated.

I have read palmers online copy of how to brew, is it worth buying an updated copy of this?

Cheers.

Adam.

I own the hard copy and find it easier to reference than the online version. There's extra info and it's been updated. Definitely worthwhile for any beginner.

Designing Great Beers by Ray Daniels is another very good book for understanding basics. It helps you understand the fundamentals of putting together recipes rather than just plugging it into a software program with no idea of why the program gives you the figures it does. The only drawback is that all the forumlae etc are in imperial measurements and conversion is mildly painful.

The other one I'd recommend is brewing Classic Styles by Zainashheff and Palmer - lots of easy to follow recipes, many of which are suitable for extract brewers. Despite being written by an American, this book actually contains metric conversions.

 

[themonkeysback]

I own the hard copy and find it easier to reference than the online version. There's extra info and it's been updated. Definitely worthwhile for any beginner.

Designing Great Beers by Ray Daniels is another very good book for understanding basics. It helps you understand the fundamentals of putting together recipes rather than just plugging it into a software program with no idea of why the program gives you the figures it does. The only drawback is that all the forumlae etc are in imperial measurements and conversion is mildly painful.

The other one I'd recommend is brewing Classic Styles by Zainashheff and Palmer - lots of easy to follow recipes, many of which are suitable for extract brewers. Despite being written by an American, this book actually contains metric conversions.

Cheers manticle.

 

[wambesi]

The three books that manticle wrote about are the three ones in my collection that I keep going back to again and again. Highly recommend all three.
Also have you tried the AHB Google search? It is a great deal more powerful than the standard search function especially if you use "" + and - symbols better control your results.

 

[clifftiger]

I recently was given a copy of Brew Chem 101 - The Basics of Homebrewing Chemistry by Lee Janson.

There is a chapter on "understanding and avoiding off flavours" with also a useful guide of specific tastes and odours relevant to a particular fault or characteristic of the beer - I have found this more useful than other books.

Cliff

 

[murrayr]

i've got a fair few brewing books and the ones i keep going back to are:
how to brew - Palmer (as mentioned)
raical brewing - randy mosher
the homebrewers garden - fisher
priciples of brewing science - fix (only if you're really feeling game)
hope that helps. cheers, murray

 

[hefevice]

[snip]
Anyway, wondering what home brew books people like/find useful/would recommend for a new brewer. This may well have been discussed before but as above - cant find **** with the search function so any links would be appreciated.

[snip]

+100 for the advice you have been given so far. Another really good resource is the many Pod/Videocasts available for free on the net. Have a look at this article http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum//ind...;showarticle=63 for more information. My favourites are all of The Brewing Network stuff (two of the authors of the best of the books mentioned so far are regulars), and Basic Brewing Radio/Video.

 

[scott_penno]

+100 for the advice you have been given so far. Another really good resource is the many Pod/Videocasts available for free on the net. Have a look at this article http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum//ind...;showarticle=63 for more information. My favourites are all of The Brewing Network stuff (two of the authors of the best of the books mentioned so far are regulars), and Basic Brewing Radio/Video.

+1 for the BN shows. I'm currently working my way through the recipes from 'Can You Brew It'...

sap.

 

[brettprevans]

Welcome to AHB. But learn to use search function or you'll be told it a lot. There's a few wikis with podcast and even one that reviews a stack of books.

Happy brewing