What book should i buy?

Frenchie Laurence · Post by **Frenchie Laurence** » Tue Mar 04, 2008 11:12 am

Hi all,
i have Berry's book which is great reference, but as a beginner who want to get to the more advanced level of AGB, what book would you recommend. I also want to know more about tasting my batches. Thanks for any advice!

carpet · Post by **carpet** » Tue Mar 04, 2008 11:53 am

SWMBO got me The Complete Joy of Homebrewing Third Edition by Charlie Papazian for christmas which started everything off for me.

It's really good if you like to know some of the science behind the brew and like lots of charts and stuff.

subsub · Post by **subsub** » Tue Mar 04, 2008 12:19 pm

I'll champion Real ales for the homebrewer by Marc Ollosson. Easy to understand and good recipes

agentgonzo · Post by **agentgonzo** » Tue Mar 04, 2008 12:58 pm

The Big Book of Brewing by David Line is the one that I've got. Has a few recipes in it, and then lots of information on each stage of the brewing process. First introductory so you know what you are doing, then in detail as you learn more and want to know exactly the enzymes in the mash are doing.

booldawg · Post by **booldawg** » Tue Mar 04, 2008 1:31 pm

I bought the Dave Lines book too, crammed full of loads of info but unfortunately reading a book from cover to cover isnt the way I learn!

TBH all my brewing knowledge and experience has come from here, posting questions specific to what I need to know at the time and also reading others peoples threads that are of current interest to me.

Post by **Aleman** » Tue Mar 04, 2008 4:58 pm

Its American but John Palmers How To Brew is not to bad . . . . Better than papazian anyway

Neither are up to Wheelers Homebrewing: The CAMRA guide. . . . . Berry's books I'd bin . . . . . Or compost

Martin the fish · Post by **Martin the fish** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 9:40 am

I don't have any brewing books. I wouldn't mind one as i would like some recipe's.
I find all i need right here on the forum. Plus if you don't quite understand something in a book you can't really ask it something? Whereas on this forum if you don't understand just ask. There's always someone ready to help.
Like DaaB, Aleman, V1, Mysterio etc...

Frenchie Laurence · Post by **Frenchie Laurence** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 10:08 am

mmm....looks like i am going to same some money and buy more grains with it instead of buying a book

Thanks to all, and yes i did make some mistakes with Berry's book, bless him! like adding 400g of black malt in my 4gallons porter, mind you i love cooking with beer, nothing like a good beef stewed in strong porter!

Martin the fish · Post by **Martin the fish** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 10:23 am

400g of black malt in 4 gallons of porter

If thats in a book burn it.

I've read some horrendous things in fishkeeping books, i suppose it's the same with many hobbies.

Frenchie Laurence · Post by **Frenchie Laurence** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 2:37 pm

wonder if that could also explain partially why i couldnt get my FG to get lower than 1020?

charlie · Post by **charlie** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 2:43 pm

Martin the fish wrote:I don't have any brewing books. I wouldn't mind one as i would like some recipe's.
I find all i need right here on the forum. Plus if you don't quite understand something in a book you can't really ask it something? Whereas on this forum if you don't understand just ask. There's always someone ready to help.
Like DaaB, Aleman, V1, Mysterio etc...

or Graham Wheeler or Marc Olloson but I don't remember Marc posting for a while.

Frenchie Laurence · Post by **Frenchie Laurence** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 3:18 pm

ah so i shouldnt worry about conditioning it now then. I have learnt my lessons!
Also i got the Brupaks guide for Grains off the net and found it really really helpful, with good flavor and action description together with the max % to add.

mysterio · Post by **mysterio** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 3:20 pm

Either Graham Wheelers Homebrewing the CAMRA guide, Brew Your own British Real Ale at Home or Brew Classic European Beer at Home (by the same author). I wish I'd had one of these when I was starting all-grain. The reason I would recommend these is because they are easy to follow, cover all of the important bases and have aged well. I personally wouldn't bother with any of the other books for begining AG. If you can't find any of these, I would use either Jim's, Daab's or Horden Hillbilly's site on here.

When you get more into it, Ray Daniels 'Designing Great Beer' or Palmer's 'How to Brew' are excellent resources, but they would certainly put me off getting stuck into AG, which is the best thing you can do learn.

charlie · Post by **charlie** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 2:38 pm

charlie wrote: or Graham Wheeler or Marc Olloson but I don't remember Marc posting for a while.

maybe that's because we've bought all of Marc's books.

I'll get my coat.

scarer · Post by **scarer** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 5:25 pm

I'd go with the Graham Wheeler books, if you are patient they come up on ebay from time to time or secondhand on Amazon but don't pay silly money for them. You may be able to get them from your library.

I've just started and I have bought several books, the David Line Big Book of Brewing is ok but a little out of date now and The Complete Joy of Homebrewing by Charlie whatsit I found really annoying

too much "relax have a homebrew" every bloody page.

There are a lot of American books out there which are probably fine but I found having to convert the weights and measures a bit tedious especially as a beginner, I just want it as straight forward as possible.

As a beginner I refer to the graham Wheeler books nearly everyday and they are very straight forward and informative in a relaxed way, just keep checking ebay and Amazon for a bargain.

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What book should i buy?

What book should i buy?