I have started brewing a little more regularly lately. Now that the weather is cooling off finally, I have several brews planned before the year taps out. While pulling gear in and out of crates and bins I keep stumbling and moving back and moving back and forth boxes of brewing magazines and books. I started to look through some of the books during the mash of my last brew session. I found a couple great books that I used to really admire. I thought I would put them here for show.
Now, everyone always talks about Palmer’s “How to Brew” and Jamil’s “Brewing Classic Styles“. Ray Daniels “Designing Great Beers” is a favorite too for anyone that has a few years of brewing under their belt. However, these books may be ones that you haven’t seen, but if you have them let us know. I wonder if anyone else references these books are part of their growth process as a brewer. Anyway, check these out.
“The Brew Masters’s Bible” Stephen Snyder. This book is a great book with simple recipes for inspiration. The main reason I really like it is that its filled with good tables and reference charts. It has recipes compiled form many , many homebrew shops all over the country. Its a little dated, but the reference material is still valuable.
“The Homebrewers Recipe Guide” Higgins, Kilgore and Hertlein. This book is full of recipes, as the name implies. Many of the recipes are extract bases, but each covered style section ends with a handful of all grain recipes too. The book covers converting to from extract to all grain. It also has many little highlight sections with tips on things like bottling, aeration, fruit additions and more. I like to flip through this book when I am looking for inspiration on what to brew next.
I present these as just some option if you are browsing for a new brewing book sometime and you want something different than the big three I mentioned above.
BREW ON!
michael
That “Designing Great Beers” sounds intriguing. Is that basically a primer on the various styles of brews and the essence of how to make and tweak them to create your own unique twists?
Mike
Its a great book. It actually reviews winning recipes for each major style at the National Homebrew Competition and compiles what ingredients and techniques seem to win awards. It also does a great job giving historical overviews of each style. The only down side to this book is that its a little dated. Ray Daniels has plans to write a second edition but he is very busy with Cicerone program these days. Still its a great reference tool
jwb
A few to add to the list perhaps…..
“Brew Like a Monk”, Stan Hieronymus and “Farmhouse Ales”, Phil Markowski for Belgian/farmhouse fans. I also think Gordon Strong’s “Brewing Better Beer” is a great resource for those wanting to get more involved in style appreciation and competition too.