Useful Books for Homebrewers

I have picked five books from my brewing library which are invaluable and easy to find:

1)  Lewis, Ashton.  The Home Brewer's Answer Book.  North Adams, MA:  Storey Publishing, 2007.

     --This book was written by a columnist for Brew Your Own magazine.  Lewis has maintained his Q&A format in this book and organized the questions into ten different chapters including "The Basics of Homebrewing," "Homebrew Troubleshooting," and everything else useful to the homebrewer of any level. 
      --When I first got this book, I read it cover to cover during a series of three minute sessions as each question and answer take up very little time.  Now, I leave this book on the coffee table and pick it up at odd moments of the day.  I usually open it to a random page and read a quick 45-second Q&A which may fill in a gap in my brewing knowledge.  That said, if you have a problem with off-flavors in your lagers, this book has an answer for it.  It is an excellent troubleshooting resource.





2)  Snyder, Stephen.  The Brewmaster's Bible.  New York, NY:  Harper Perennial, 1997.

      --This book is the ultimate brewing reference book.  It begins with the basic process of extract brewing then takes you through every process you could possibly use to get the beer to the consumer.  This book also has approximately 200 pages of recipes from homebrewers and homebrew shops fromaround the country and every reference chart you'll ever need.
      --I use this as a reference book for matters such as carbonation, gravity reading corrections, and brewing-specific measurement conversions.  I also often use the sections which describe the characteristics of particular grains, hops, and strains of yeast.





3)  Mosher, Randy.  Radical Brewing.  Boulder, CO:  Brewers Publications, 2004.
       --Radical Brewing is an impressive beer history and culture book from the standpoint of a knowledgable brewer.  Not only will you find recipes for obscure 300 year-old brews, but you will be exposed to why it is, how it is, who drank it, how they drank it, and how to practically replicate it yourself.
       --This book is very useful for expanding general beer knowledge.  I peruse Radical Brewing when I want some inspiration which will keep my thinking outside-the-box.  Our current tastes in brewing are like the current music on the radio; a microcosm of what will have occurred upon looking back.  This is a fun, interestingly-written overview of the brewer's history of beer.









4)  Daniels, Ray.  Designing Great Beers.  Boulder, CO:  Brewers Publications, 2000.

       --Daniels takes a technical, statistical approach to brewing within stylistic guidelines.  The first part of Designing Great Beers provides a lot of insight into the technical side of the brewing process, including the characteristics of ingredients and particulars which improve brewing.  The second part of the book goes through each of the styles of beer and describes how to approach replicating them as authentically as possible.  He addresses the ingredients used in recipes by referencing the occurrence of particular ingredients by participants of the National Homebrewing Competitions of 1993 and 1994.  At the end of each chapter there is a convenient gray box which sums up the major points of each chapter, from hop usage to the brewing of authentic german style ales.
       --I love the approach of showing what successful brewers put into their brews.  Daniels leaves the decision making up to you while giving you a great idea of what works.  When brewing a certain style I usually dissect the gray box at the end of the style's chapter to make sure I'm not forgetting anything.  If I really want to make something authentically I read the whole chapter as part of my research.  The first part of this book which breaks down the brewing process and its ingredients to a technical level is extremely useful if you're prepared to wrap your head around it.





5)  Papazian, Charlie.  The Complete Joy of Homebrewing.  New York:  Harper, 2003.

         --Papazian is the father of American homebrewing.  Done.  His line "Relax, don't worry, have a homebrew!"  is well known, because everyone has this book.  The Complete Joy of Homebrewing is written so that it sounds like Charlie is talking to you and coaching you toward the satisfaction of enjoying your homebrew.  This book includes everything you need to get started and to, later, improve your processes and goals.  It is very practical and easy to use, as well.  He has a supplemental publication called The Homebrewer's Companion.
          --I used this book far more when I was first brewing than I do now.  I occasionally reference some of the tables or recipes, but this book is more for homebrewers who are really getting started.  If you've recently started brewing or if you haven't read it yet, you must have it.



These books are all staples in any homebrewer's library.  As always, if you have a book which must be mentioned, post it up.  Enjoy!