If you could buy just one brewing book what would it be?

[Nizmoose]

Hi guys I want to buy a book that can serve as a bit of a bible when it comes to quickly referencing something I'm either interested in or unsure on. With the exception of 'How to Brew' which is fantastic, what book would you purchase if you could pick only one? I'm interested to see what has served people well over the years and what is still relevant and up to date. Cheers.

 

[seamad]

Hard to narrow it down to one though.

 

[real_beer]

These days it would be:

http://www.amazon.com/Mastering-Homebrew-Complete-Brewing-Delicious/dp/1452105510

 

[Blind Dog]

Depends on where you are on your brewing journey and I doubt you could narrow it down to one.

Palmer's is good as a primer, but I much prefer Randy Mosher's Mastering Homebrew as I prefer his writing style, it delves a little deeper whilst still keeping it simple, has relevant & numerous graphical content which is really useful, has an irreverence I find enjoyable and it stresses the importance of visualisation in recipe development and critical assessment of beers in order to improve them. If I could only have one of the brewing books I currently own, this would probably be it.

Once you;re brewing AG reasonably well, Gordon Strong's Brewing Better Beer is a good read, although again his style may not be to everyone's liking and he is a bit of a traditionalist

If you're into invention and pushing the boundaries (and even if you're not), Randy Moshers Radical Brewing is excellent and full of great little anecdotes which are fun (and hopefully true!). If you want to research particular styles there are specialist books (the IPA one is a good read in its won right).

Of the ingredient series, I have all 4 and only reread Yeast and Hops. I found both Malt and Water boring and tedious

And Beer by Charles Bamforth is interesting

There are loads of others as well. Personally, I'm always on the look out for the next brewing book that might add to my knowledge and enjoyment.

 

[Blind Dog]

These days it would be:

http://www.amazon.com/Mastering-Homebrew-Complete-Brewing-Delicious/dp/1452105510

$2, two f******* dollars!!! Paid a fair bit more than that for my copy. Still, can't grumble as its an excellent book

 

[Nizmoose]

Depends on where you are on your brewing journey and I doubt you could narrow it down to one.

Palmer's is good as a primer, but I much prefer Randy Mosher's Mastering Homebrew as I prefer his writing style, it delves a little deeper whilst still keeping it simple, has relevant & numerous graphical content which is really useful, has an irreverence I find enjoyable and it stresses the importance of visualisation in recipe development and critical assessment of beers in order to improve them. If I could only have one of the brewing books I currently own, this would probably be it.

Once you;re brewing AG reasonably well, Gordon Strong's Brewing Better Beer is a good read, although again his style may not be to everyone's liking and he is a bit of a traditionalist

If you're into invention and pushing the boundaries (and even if you're not), Randy Moshers Radical Brewing is excellent and full of great little anecdotes which are fun (and hopefully true!). If you want to research particular styles there are specialist books (the IPA one is a good read in its won right).

Of the ingredient series, I have all 4 and only reread Yeast and Hops. I found both Malt and Water boring and tedious

And Beer by Charles Bamforth is interesting

There are loads of others as well. Personally, I'm always on the look out for the next brewing book that might add to my knowledge and enjoyment.

Fair call for trying to narrow it down to one haha, I said one as I'm basically looking to start somewhere and buy something useful and good all round. Should definitely have mentioned where I'm at brewing wise. AG for about a year, comfortable with my system,with my methods, finishing my honours for my science degree (should be doing a thesis as I type this) so comfortable and very interested in the chem and biochem associated with the process especially fermentation and mash science. Looking for something that can really get into the whys of processes as opposed to the whats. There we go thats a much better explanation of my question haha

 

[real_beer]

Oops I Double posted!

 

[micblair]

Handbook of Brewing: Processes, Technology, Markets. Hans Michael Esslinger

 

[real_beer]

$2, two f******* dollars!!! Paid a fair bit more than that for my copy. Still, can't grumble as its an excellent book

BD that's for the Kindle version, I don't think the book would look too good on it. The Book Depository would be the best value for Australian buyer's because of free shipping http://www.bookdepository.com/Mastering-Homebrew-Randy-Mosher/9781452105512 If I every bought another copy I'd get the hardcover version, I didn't realise there was one until after I'd bought mine. :beer:

 

[Blind Dog]

BD that's for the Kindle version, I don't think the book would look too good on it. The Book Depository would be the best value for Australian buyer's because of free shipping http://www.bookdepository.com/Mastering-Homebrew-Randy-Mosher/9781452105512 If I every bought another copy I'd get the hardcover version, I didn't realise there was one until after I'd bought mine. :beer:

Works fine on Kindle - well Kindle for iPad anyway - as they actually bothered to format it correctly. which is one of my big bugbears with most

 

[real_beer]

Works fine on Kindle - well Kindle for iPad anyway - as they actually bothered to format it correctly. which is one of my big bugbears with most

You capitalist pig! :lol: I've only got a Kindle 2 Black and White screen, great for novels and audible books but impractical for most other things. It's good to know it works well and I could always invest in a copy to use on the computer :icon_cheers:

 

[Blind Dog]

Fair call for trying to narrow it down to one haha, I said one as I'm basically looking to start somewhere and buy something useful and good all round. Should definitely have mentioned where I'm at brewing wise. AG for about a year, comfortable with my system,with my methods, finishing my honours for my science degree (should be doing a thesis as I type this) so comfortable and very interested in the chem and biochem associated with the process especially fermentation and mash science. Looking for something that can really get into the whys of processes as opposed to the whats. There we go thats a much better explanation of my question haha

If you're into the real science (not the distilled versions in most books referenced above), then you're looking at some serious coin. I've dipped into 'Brewing and Malting' by Kunze but the cheapest I've seen it is US$320 which I can't justify, even though it has a great reputation. the George Fix book 'principles of brewing science' gets decent reviews (not read it yet, but its on the list) although I seem to recall a couple of members here questioning its accuracy (can't recall the issue)

 

[Bridgey23]

These days it would be:

http://www.amazon.com/Mastering-Homebrew-Complete-Brewing-Delicious/dp/1452105510

+1 on that. Great book

 

[michaeld16]

Brewing classic styles is my most dog eared and used book im keen to check out gordons strongs new book

 

[tavas]

Designing Great Beers by Ray Daniels

 

[pajs]

Mosher's radical brewing book is probably the one I go back to most, in recent times. I've found Brewing Classic Styles and How to Brew both useful.

Gordon Strong's new book on modern homebrew recipes and techniques looked good enough to order.

 

[Mardoo]

Kunze, as mentioned by BD. That is, if I could afford to buy Kunze in the first place. Had a look at a mate's copy a couple years ago and was floored. Been saving dribs and drabs towards it for a long time.

 

[NikZak]

Thanks for the suggestions folks, I've been thinking about investing in some hard copy information myself and this thread helped greatly

Ordered Randy Mosher's Mastering Home Brew and John J Palmer's Brewing Classic Styles

Figure that'll be a good bunch of reading to get me going a bit more confidently

 

[JB]

Designing Great Beers by Ray Daniels

+1, still refer to this one often

 

[Mardoo]

Honestly, other than How To Brew, the book that's contributed most to my basic knowledge is Yeast, by White and Zainisheff.