Homebrew Books

This book was just what I needed to help me understand my fanatic friend who can't stop talking about brewing...although I have to admit, the beer is very good!
It is just what I needed to get me started.

I love this book. It manages to be one of the best basic (in this case inclusive of both extract as well as main-line all-grain techniques) brewing books while still touching on a number of advanced subjects. Like another reviewer, I also like Dave Miller's book (Dave Miller's Homebrewing Guide) and regard Palmer's and Miller's books as very complementary and both essential reading for all-grain brewers. I read both again last weekend and value both for different reasons. I also highly recommend the Fixes' book (An Analysis of Brewing Techniques) for its topical coverage. Narrow (few topics), but very detailed and informative.

This is an updated version of Palmer's book. I have the earlier version but recently leafed through the new version and intend to buy it. It has updated and more complete information on a number of topics, notably batch sparging, that make it worthwhile buying the newer edition.

I have made two batches since I bought this book, and they have both come out excellent. I have the "homebrew bible" and while it is a good book, How to Brew just explained things in a way that made me relax about the beer I was brewing. It explains in a more consice way when TO worry about sanitation, and when NOT TO. Overall this is an excellent purchase!

I have to say this is the best book for anyone interested in brewing. Great for the novice and more advanced home brewer.

I originally read the first edition of this book on his website for free. If you can't lay hands on this book, it's well worth it to get what information you can from this book at www.howtobrew.com.

However, if you're a budding zymurgist, or even if you've been brewing for a couple years, this book is well worth the piddly amount they're charging for it. It's saved my butt a couple of times when I've discovered I was low on a certain type of grain or on priming sugar.

Papazian is good, and there are several other books that are good to augment your library, but if you're going to get one book, I highly recommend this one.

Easy to read, informative....it'll help you brew some seriously tasty brews.

This book is not for someone who's never brewed but if you've done it a few times, this book will get you hooked. The methods, ingredients, and everything else about this makes you want to try brewing in ways you probably wouldn't imagine otherwise.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a little adventure in their brewing.

I just started home brewing, and I want more--Randy Mosher's book gives me that. This book gives a full spectrum on brewing, from the history to the chemistry to tons of recipes for creating many different types of beer. This guy has a great sense of humor, and the book is also very visually engaging. This book answered many of my questions about how beer brewing works and what to do and what not to do. Most of the recipes he gives have instructions for beginners and advanced brewers, so this book can definitely "grow" with you. I would suggest brewing a few batches first, before trying the more advanced techniques, and/or purchasing the other books described in these reviews as companions. I was really happy to see that there are so many possibilities for home brew, and the author's enthusiasm motivates me to try them. A great book!

This as my first brewing book and still my favorite. If you get one brewing book, this is the one. While not encyclopedic in brewing details, it shines in inspirational historical insight into what beer IS.
A joy to behold, you will not be disappointed!

This book is fantastic. It has more recipes for extract brewers and all grain brewers alike than you can poke a stick at and each cattegory of ingredient imaginable is placed into a table so you can compare and find out more about what interests you. I found the detailed chapter on hops to be most beneficial to me. There is a chart with all known hop types and how they may be used and what substitutes could be used instead. Well worth having this as a great reference.

I'm enjoying this book immensely. This is my second home brewing book (Papazian was the first, about 15 years ago). Like Papazian, "Radical Brewing" includes plenty of lore in addition to hard core brewing info. And like Papazian this book has lots of humor in it. But Mosher's book is much more current, in terms of both information and viewpoint. And the humor is sardonic where Papazian's humor tends to be more goofy and quaint.
If anything "Radical Brewing" is slightly less practical than "The Joy of Homebrewing." It seems like Mosher focuses on giving the reader inspiration rather than step-by-step instructions, which is very wise considering how individualized each batch of homebrew is. Papazian has a certain recipe mentality, where Mosher is instead setting forth ideas and techniques. Good stuff, particularly for the intermediate or advanced brewer. Highly recommended.

Wouldn't you love to brew an Orval clone? Did you know there is actually more than one Orval beer brewed at the monastery (despite constant articles to the contrary)? There is actually enough information in this book - assuming you know what you are doing in the all-grain world - to pull it off. But you're going to have to introduce Brettanomyces into your brewery to do it ... and there's the awful temptation! As it is with virtually all Belgian beers, never mind the host of wild yeasts and bacteria that go along with them!

Add the wonderful, detailed brewing information to the history and stories and you get quite an unusual brewing book. It may be read for brewing purposes, as a casual read, for historical purposes, for cultural perspective, even for its religious content. Orval, of course, is just one of the Trappist breweries presented in the book.

Highly recommended. And I agree with another reviewer that this is the best book in this particular series.

This is another excellent book from Brewers' Publications. Non-brewers will find herein an engagingly written history of Belgian brewing both within and outside the monastary walls. You'll become acquaintaed with the brewers of Orval, Westveletren, Duvel, and others, their history, their personalities, and most importantly, their beers.
For those who are brewers, the book offers even more. Ingredients and specifications (gravity, IBU) are given for commercially available beers whenever possible (and the author has done a *lot* of homework to get his hands on this information). Additionally, full recipes are provided for various Belgian style and Belgian-inspired beers. Even better, the authors of these recipes explain *why* they formulated their recipes as they did, and the author supplements this advice with his own, with advice from professional brewers, and from BJCP judges. This enables the brewer to not just mimic the recipes he finds in the book (though believe me, they are definitely worth mimicing!), but to thoughtfully exercise his own creativity within the rich history and style of the Belgian tradition.
Beginning brewers will find a lot of technical information regarding krausening, PH adjustment, etc. that goes over their heads. But this shouldn't scare anyone off. The technical information is easy to skip over and there's enough in this book for readers of all levels.
This book represents the state of the art in knowledge regarding Belgian brewers and brewing. No matter how long you've been brewing, you will come away from this book entertained, sometimes surprised, and better informed.

Inspiring view into the brewing techniques of the Belgium beer. Outstanding historical look along with what is going on today. A must read if you are into the Belgians.

I highly recommend to this anyone who wants to learn more about Trappist and Trappist inspired ales. Very accessible and thorough.

Imagine that you-an experienced homebrewer-got to gather around a fire with some folks who had years of experience brewing versions of your favorite beer style. It would be hard to have a bad time, harder still not to come away a better brewer for it.
This friendly, if somewhat disorderly book is just that conversation. I love the complexity and depth of belgian strong beers. Occasionally, by dumb luck, I've brewed one. Other times, my efforts have been dull, or over-concentrated or just odd.
In these conversations, we get some clarity about yeast, malt, fermenters, temperature control and bottling.
I think the odds in my favor just went up. This is a book to mine for insights.

Lynn Hoffman, author of The New Short Course in Wine

Bob Vance Moulder spins tales of the South that remind me of listening to stories told at my own family reunions. This is a great read for folks who are Southern and for those who just wish they were.

This book is best regarded as a recipe guide for the competitive brewer. While the styles presented are regrettably limited, the styles that are presented are wonderful. Each style section presents the ingredient incidence and range of ingredient percentages for both commercial examples as well as 2nd round National Homebrew Competition entries. There are very helpful comments on each style as well - mash approaches, comments on the different malt bills, etc. I have to stress the notion that this is a recipe guide - no actual recipes are presented. Rather, the focus is on the different approaches commercial brewers and homebrewers use to brew to style as well as how they are perceived in judging.

As an example, for Scottish Ale, you'll find comments on the use of smoked malts - right down to rauch vs. peat-smoked, roast malt vs crystal, residual sugar levels in different style sub-types, etc. What you won't find is a suggested malt and hops bill along with a mash schedule. Thus the audience is the competitive brewer looking to divine what his competitors are doing, how, why, and how it's being perceived in judging.

The shortcomings of the book are its limited style and sub-style coverage. I also found the upfront chapters (i.e., those preceeding the style sections) of limited value. Finally, I'd like a lot more on mash schedules. The information presented in the style sections is priceless, however. If you are interested in even a single style or two in the book - two primary styles interested me - it's well worth the price. To my knowledge, the comparative recipe information is found nowhere else.

I give it 5 stars for its unique information. I'm tempted to downgrade it for its limitations, particularly since there are some really egregious style omissions, but it's just too valuable in terms of what it does cover.

This book is concise and broken into two major sections, the science and the styles.

The first part, dealing with the math & science of brewing, goes through all of the critical calculations for creating your own recipes, and provides and excellent reference for hitting a target gravity or a desired hop level.

The second part goes through the major styles of beer (focused on the styles as they are seen in competitive brewing), giving a history and summarizing each style as to major constituents (from a grain & hops perspective) as well as good target gravities, bitterness & characteristics.

This book has helped me to create many batches of excellent beer. At this point, I've forgone recipes not my own...

This is my number one reference book for designing my new batches of beer, but I'm looking for a better one. This is the book I pick up when I decide to brew a new batch. It has excellent technical info in the first half of the book (*however, I'd prefer an even more in depth discussion of mathematics, since I like to calculate these things for my beers - I end up struggling with converting the equations to ways that I can use - I wish there were more equations and a more complicated discussion of mathematical things such as calculating hop utilization, controlling mash techniques for sugar profiles, fermentation temperature control, and brew chemistry). The second half has a short, well written history and background for each of beer discussed, and compares many recipes within a given style, providing the reader an adequite understanding of the style so that you can design one for yourself. Useful tables and graphs are available for every type of beer discussed, such as the percentage of beers that used a particular type of grain, and the range of % malt bill for each grain. **I wish the 2nd half of the book would have a seperate section for each of the 20-something beer style categories. I highly recommend this book. I wish he would design a 2nd volume that would delve a little deeper, though.

gives a great base to create your own recipes based on the style you are looking for. should be easy to adjust your second and third batches if need be

It is a very technical book with lots of graphs and charts. If I ever have any technical homebrew questions, I will pull out this book. I might need to go back to college and get a masters degree to understand it, but I do now own it. Until I need it, it will just collect dust as part of my homebrew book collection.

I really like the way this book is laid out and the recipes look good. Its especially nice to have extract, PM, and all grain recipes in one book. The only big downside for me is that it does not have my favorite beers. Breweries like Rogue, Dogfish Head, Left Hand, etc.. are almost totally absent. I don't have the book in front of me but I can't remember any recipes from most of the wonderful craft breweries in this country. If you more into the larger 'premium' breweries, this book is for you.

The recipes are easy to follow, and tasty. Overall a great book. Try it yourself. A definite must for the zymurgist's library.

Although this book is slightly dated now (some of the ingredient manufacturers needing an update), I found it very useful & informative for using tried and tested recipes & formulating recipes simular to the types of brews I like to drink. I would recommend it to any novice seeking to replicate their favourite beers at home.

I've only tried one recipe so far and was very happy with it. I partial mash and I modified their recipe to include more grain and less extract. So many brews . . . so little time!

After you're done with your introductory beer book and you've made a few batches, you may find that you want to brew something that reminds you of your favorite commercial beer.
This is almost the book for you.

The selection of recipes is heavily slanted toward beer that many homebrewers may find unexciting. But the authors have a very good point: by brewing imitations (maybe we should say tributes) of commercial beers, you learn how beer tastes are built. You get to refine your own sensibilities and taste. And you can't help but end up a better brewer.

Lynn Hoffman, authorNew Short Course in Wine,The

very good book, i really liked the part on the wine, and the all the different types of stills. That was the best party the beer part was ok, not the best. but if you would like to read about beer get a book on Homebrew. I really like the books and it was very simple too. thanks for the info

This book is a perfect book for anyone who is looking to start homebrewing. They give you a step by step process on how to make anything from pruno wine to honey wine to lager beers, whiskey, moonshine you name it. Also a great educational book on how the process of brewing began. Highly recommended read.

I found this book great! It took the mystery out of homebrew and wine making. The cost of the book is well worth the money you would save if you are serious about making your own. The first project I did was to make wine and I did not need to special order anything to get started. I had everything I needed already. It was all found in my kitchen. The book tells you how to get started on the cheap and how to avoid the rip offs of home brewing. It has been one of the best do it yourself books I have purchased.

I bought this book because it was recomended everywhere I looked. I was looking for information on distilling ethanol. It is loaded with much more information. It is a guide for people trying to manufacture beer, wine, spirits and liquours. It is a great reference and the writer is funny and very knowledgeable. The only downside is that some of the diagrams and photos are dated. They are black and white. They are ok and the book is great. If you are ever stuck in the woods with a book... This is it. If you are looking to make any alchoholic drink from scratch. This is a great start. Also has a ton of recipes to make your favorite liquors from scratch. (Baileys irish cream and Kahlua) Many More. Highly recomended.

Well, yes, I guess it is, but as we all know, making alcohol is illegal. So, I haven't actually tried any of the recipes. They do, however, look good and I'm tempted. :)

My wife bought this and a True Brew kit for my birthday (I know, you're thinking, "she rocks!"). Anyway, I've just started reading the book and I love it. There is a ton of GREAT information in the book and I would encourage anyone interested in brewing to buy this book.

This book is THE ONE to have for home brewers. The information will take you from brewing in the simplest of forms to all grain and everything in beteween. It was written in an easy to understand style that skips throught the nonsense and gets you to the point. Full of recipes, anecdotes, suggestions and resources, it should be required reading for all homebrewers.

I bought this book as a gift. I have the same book, only the third edition. If its like the third edition its got all the answers, and is easy to read.

If you've ever even THOUGHT about brewing your own ales, lagers, stouts or porters, this is the book for you. Papazian is extremely knowledgable and has a writing style that makes the process fun and easy to follow. It is essentially the "bible" for home brewers.

My 3 cents (wasn't it worth more then 2?)

I got this book on recommendation from my friend Aaron when we were brewing at his house this weekend. We brewed a variation of the "Goat Scrotum Porter" on page 200.

The book is however much more than a recipe book for beer. It is divided into three major sections:

Pgs 1-39 give a basic outline of brewing history and the knowledge you need to brew a beer from a basic kit.

Pgs 40-240 are the meat of the book. This intermediate brewing section goes over every aspect of brewing from yeasts to sanitizing your equipment. It also includes many recipes for ales and lagers as well as ideas on how you might adapt any recipe for your own tastes.

Pgs 241-388 really get into the science and math behind brewing. I have only skimmed this section, but it seems to be a fantastic reference guide for the advanced brewer.


What sets this book apart is the well written and funny style that Papazian brings to everything from water mineral content to the human migrations that transport Viennese lagers to Mexico. Most appreciated is his constant reminder that if you are feeling stressed about the minutia of brewing "Relax, Don't Worry, Have a Homebrew." This seems to be both his philosophy and the first step of all of his recipes.

Unless I am mistaken this book has some recipes that were in his other Clone books. I have seen the Liberty Ale recipe before. Still this book is well worth having, if you are looking for a clone recipe book with some great and varied recipes. The layout is very well thought out giving you: Extract, Mini Mash and All Grain versions of each recipe.
I have worn out the other Clone books I have by Him and His Wife.

I have brewed upwards of 15 of the recipes in this book... some of my favorites are:
- Victory Hop Devil
- Sierra Nevada Bigfoot
- BrigePort IPA
- Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale
- Whitbred Pale Ale
- ANY of the stouts!

Great book!

Wonderful book for homebrewing with beer recipes, food / beer matching and description of each of the brewing stages.

If you want to brew great beer at home with great recipes, you need this book. It not only covers nearly every style that there is, it also has very detailed charts for hops, grains, and yeast. Even a chart to help you replicate the water used for brewing a particular style. I have won several ribbons with these recipes and know many other people that have done the same. Including several best of shows and brewers cups.

This is an awesome book. I bought the book about a year ago after making my first extract beer kit. This book (and the previous Clonebrews) opened up a new world for me. From Belgium Trappist ales unavailable in this country to Craft brew favorites I've succesfully brewed many of Mark's and Tess's recipes. Being an extract brewer the recipes are easy enough for a novice while producing world class brews. Recipes are also given for mini-mash and all grain.
Also included are detailed charts on hops, grain and malt usage and tables for water modification. There's even food recipes including an awesome chocolate stout cake.

Browsing through the 80 recipes in this book was a great source of inspiration for my next batch of home brew. If you can't decide what to do next, pick up this book. There is bound to be something you haven't tried.

The title is misleading, the sub-title would be more accurate. It is primarily recipes. The book contains short introductory chapters on ingredients and brewing that other books have covered in more detail. If you don't know what terms like lovibond, OG, FG, and IBU are I would read an introductory how to brew book first.

The recipes are primarily setup for all grain brewers. For extract based brewers the recipes are modified to `fit' the style. I get the sense the authors are all grain brewers who wanted to broaden the market for their book by adding the extract formulations.

This is a great book to browse and see what a style has in common in terms of grains, hops and yeast.

larry 'at' brewersfriend 'dot' com
http://www.brewersfriend.com

Easy to read and follow. Gives extract versions of recipes and conversions for all grain as well.

This is a fantastic book, I've been brewing every week since I got the book 7 months ago. Fantastic recipes, brilliant advice.

Brewing Classic Styles: 80 Winning Recipes Anyone Can Brew

This book is less than the price of an extract kit ... but contains recipes and advice that are worth so much more. I've brewed the Kolsch, the Belgian Wit, and just received my grain for the British Bitter.

I brew the all-grain versions but John and Jamil include extract and partial-mash versions of each recipe. They give you great pointers for each style and give you the exact fermentation temperatures for each recipe.

I have already brewed several of the beers from this book and have had outstanding results. You will need a primary book for the beginner, but if have brewed before and want to get away from kits this is definitely the way to go. You can get most of the recipes free via podcast, but there is other information included in the book that the podcasts miss. I would definitely recommend adding this book to your brewing repertoire.