Recommend a book for a newbie brewer.

guildofevil · Post by **guildofevil** » Wed Feb 07, 2007 12:18 pm

Hi All,
I am in the process of writing an article about starting up home-brewing and I was wondering what books people would recommend, for a complete newbie.

I think Palmer's How to Brew is great, but it has the disadvantage of being American, so the units are all in US archaic. Can anyone recommend a book from this side of the Atlantic? One with metric units in it?

Thanks,
SÃƒÂ©an

steve_flack · Post by **steve_flack** » Wed Feb 07, 2007 12:24 pm

The Wheeler book is generally seen as the bible on this side of the Atlantic. Some parts are a bit out of date (especially regarding equipment) and some parts some people would disagree with but it's still a good book.

I think it's out of print at the mo though but Graham is apparently thinking of doing a new edition. It does sometimes pop up on ebay.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Camra-Guide-Bre ... F8&s=books

guildofevil · Post by **guildofevil** » Wed Feb 07, 2007 12:47 pm

Oh, I'm aware of Wheeler's book, but the article I'm doing is aimed at the complete novice, so I was hoping to be able to link to a title or two on Amazon.

SÃƒÂ©an

tubby_shaw · Post by **tubby_shaw** » Wed Feb 07, 2007 1:43 pm

I personally don't know of a book that I would recommend to a complete novice. The books that I have seen aimed at the novice are either completely innacurate or out of date

If you were planning to add links to your article why not link to the Hints and tips page on this site or to DaaB's site ?
They both have excellent advice for the begginer and aren't going to cost them anything either

Just my point of view

guildofevil · Post by **guildofevil** » Wed Feb 07, 2007 2:11 pm

I have my own instructions, detailing the basics, I was just hoping to recommend a book for those who want a little more detail.

steve_flack · Post by **steve_flack** » Wed Feb 07, 2007 2:13 pm

I have to say that the best brewing book I've got is 'Radical Brewing' by Randy Mosher. It's not really a beginners book - more intermediate and above

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Radical-Brewing ... F8&s=books

Matt · Post by **Matt** » Wed Feb 07, 2007 4:29 pm

This is a tad lame, as there only used copies available, but this book got me going and I'd recommend it Ã¢â‚¬Â¦

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Great-Beers-Wor ... F8&s=books

It covers kit brewing and AG brewing equally thoroughly, along with recipes for the main types of ale and lager, and in metric.

niall · Post by **niall** » Wed Feb 07, 2007 5:10 pm

Homebrewing for Dummies gets good reviews (no, seriously

) I haven't read it myself, I imagine its very US centred but it should be aimed at novices.

Frothy · Post by **Frothy** » Wed Feb 07, 2007 8:09 pm

I love Palmers HTB, not sure if your's is an older verion GuildofEvil but my 2006 edition has both metric & imperial units in it. He explains how to carry out metric IBU calculations, only thing that is 100% still in US imperial is the AG efficiency calcs in Points/lb/Gal which is annoying.

I'd certainly recommend people to do as much reseach they can on the internet. I'd already got the grips of most of the brewing techniques this way before buying a book - but the book certainly helped clarify a few things i.e. recipes

This forum has certainly been a great help.

Frothy

tim · Post by **tim** » Wed Feb 07, 2007 9:40 pm

Got to say I go by Wheeler (and would also add in his British Real Ale at Home and Classic European Beers at home - although more "intermediate" there are repeats in summary of the basics in the earleir book). Also agree re the Dave Line Books and find his style more readable - but imperial / metric conversions are a bind.

Whether or not Wheeler does a new book remains to be seen, though what you've highlighted GOE is the need for something accessible, comprehensive and practical to help budding brewers to take the plunge

... maybe you should think bigger than an article - do a book!

Or compile / edit a series of articles! ... there's plenty of talent here

What I've found most useful (now on all grain 46) is an introduction to the basics then support to help me problem solve with my equipment / brewspace / temperatures / storage ... Etc. Got to say the best resources so far have been this forum (browsing old posts as well as live issues) and CBA
Go for it!
T

Bigster · Post by **Bigster** » Thu Feb 08, 2007 12:04 am

agree with daab about Dave Lines books. Be careful though on the BBLTYB , half of the book came away from the binding and I have only opened it about 10,000 times since I bought it last year.

Matt · Post by **Matt** » Thu Feb 08, 2007 11:28 am

I work in Publishing DAAB. My experience is that the publisher won't object if you call them and ask them to send you a replacement copy. They'll have a quantity hanging around the office which gets used occasionally for this purpose.

guildofevil · Post by **guildofevil** » Thu Feb 08, 2007 12:48 pm

I have heard bad reports about Homebrewing for Dummies. Apparently some of the information is a bit dodgy.

I agree that the internet is a much better way of learning how to brew than buying a book. I have a few books myself, ranging from How to Brew, to Brew like a Monk, with quite a few in between, but I don't know of a book, that is in print, I would recommend to a beginner, on this side of the Atlantic.

Maybe I will write a book...

beardybrewer · Post by **beardybrewer** » Sun Feb 11, 2007 11:22 am

Wait, I'm confused. What's wrong with Papazain? Too out of date? I thought it was a fantastic, funny, easy to read book structured perfectly for a novice.

http://www.amazon.com/New-Complete-Joy- ... 0380763664

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Recommend a book for a newbie brewer.

Recommend a book for a newbie brewer.