books

[frany8472]

right you have convinsed me to go to all grain, i need some books. any recomendations? dont mind buying more than one. i would like one with more details on the equipment and how to build them. receipies of beers and lager. and somthing that covers extract and mini mash as well as all grain. (ive got to build up to it remember!) im really lookinf forward this. im going to put the books on my santa list and start in jan, as i have 2 more kits to do, and a rather large reserve of various kits ready to drink..

[EportJake]

I've got the How to Brew/Palmer. It's pretty good and explains a lot of the theory, but the vast majority of its contents can be found on this forum in various threads. Its also american so everything is imperial which is a bit of a pain. I havent been brewing long but i'd say that having this book has not helped me "get going". If your like me and always have a million questions that you want answering its quite good. If you just want to make beer I would'nt bother buying a book for now.

[hoppingMad]

Books are great, and some folks do better with them so you might be one. However I would suggest that you could get thoroughly prepared for your all grain by using the Net, posting querries here and on other beer forums. If you are nearby another AG brewer it would be a good idea to "sit in" with him on his next brewday too. You can't go too far wrong and remember, 80% is preparation. A good tip would be to not be at all in a hurry on your first couple of batches.
One book I can recommend would be "Brewing For Dummies" sorry about the title, nothing personal. Your local Public Library is bound to have a number of titles.

[SiHoltye]

It's a decision you'll not regret For background I like Ray Daniel's Designing Great Beers, though recipe-wise have a look what's being brewed with great results on here, and pester those who brewed it for any finer points Equipment-wise I'm not any use 'cos I bought a set-up from a shop but there's lots of info in the Brewing Equipment section. Keep asking questions here as you go, and if there's an All Grain brewer that'll offer, having a local brewday together can expel all sorts of myths.

[mrbenbod]

I have a book that has loads of recipes for ales, mostly well known English beers from well known breweries.
I bought it yonks ago but never got round to trying any of the recipes.
It's called 'brewing beers like those you buy' by Dave Line.
I've decided to do some home brewing again so I'm going to try some of the recipes.
I don't know if the book is still available, it doesn't have too much info on equipment etc, but does have
lots of detailed recipes on ales and lagers and stouts.
Including:
Burton
Ruddles County
Fullers London Pride
Marstons Pedigree
Stella
Lowenbrau

I'm sure there must be others on here who have this book. Would be good to know if the recipes work well?

[subsub]

Marc Ollossons book is by far the best for a starter. He's a member here as well

[wetdog]

I'm sure there must be others on here who have this book. Would be good to know if the recipes work well?

I've had this book for 20 years and there are a lot of good recipes in it. The general thought is that you should increase the grains listed by 20% as the author assumes higher efficiencies than are normally achiveable by most home brewers. Dave lines' book is widely available on ebay/Amazon for a few quid and if I lost everything I've got in a fire I'd go out and buy another copy of his book.

before you lob out your hard earned lolly though I'd look here;-
how to brew
and here;-
JBK prize winning recipes
and here;-
Norm's real ale almanac recipes

[Northern Brewer]

And of course, there's a very comprehensive online book available for free here...

http://www.realbeer.com/jjpalmer/SitemapA.html

[frany8472]

thanks for your input guys. Ill look at the suggestions when i get home

[mrbenbod]

Nice one wetdog.
I'm just about to start brewing using mr Lines book so i'll try the extra 20% grain rule of thumb.
Thanks.

[prodigal2]

I started AG brewing 18 months ago, and I used, just the information I gained from the forum. I did this as a experiment to see if it was possible, and Oh yes it is , its all here with the FAQs, techniques, hints and tips and from these you can refine your searches for anything specific. If you work your way through all the pages of info on the top right of the forum page and follow the links too, you will have all the basics to brew a great beer and begin your brewing journey. And if you are on a tight budget, there are always ways and means to get going for under £100(even £50 if you have some stuff knocking around), just avoid some of the american sites or you will leave with the conclusion, that you will need to spend far more than you need to get started.

To begin your brewing journey this is the best place to start, once your going and then craving information/recipes there are a great amount of books out there plus the new Graham Wheeler is round the corner too. There are so many ways in which you can get involved in this hobby.

P2

[prodigal2]

Just noticed this is for your santa list

Any book by Dave line, although you will have to scale the grist, his recipes are spot on once you account for the modern brewer.
Marc Olloson great recipes, all have great feedback here on the forum

John Palmers How To Brew, put me back a few months on starting AG, as it seem sooooo involved. Although once you have started its a good source of info.

Ray daniels, designing great beers


And a good place to goo to is the cba:
http://www.craft brewing.org.uk/

[inthedark]

I'd add Graham Wheeler's Brew Your Own British Real Ale at Home (I think the title's slightly different for the new edition - Brew Your Own British Real Ale) - unfortunately Amazon has the publication date as 14 Jan 09 (a bit late for Christmas) - I've found the earlier edition to be the most useful out of all the books for actually getting on with brewing.

Palmer is worth having, IMO, if you ask the sorts of theoretical questions that I normally come up with. As a manual for getting you brewing, probably give it a miss, as it does go into a bit too much depth (and you can look up much of it in the free online version)

Dave Lines stuff is classic and still in print, but I didn't find it as useful as GW's books - probably due to the age of them I think.