Favorite Homebrewing Books

Just as there are a lot of books and resources for learning about beer, there are nearly as many dealing with homebrewing. My homebrewing library, while far from complete, holds a number of books that I consider essential for the homebrewer.

How to Brew by John Palmer. This is a must-have book for both the beginning and the advanced homebrewer. Palmer has walk-throughs for extract brewing (what is normally the first step in homebrewing) and all-grain brewing. In addition, he explains the science behind mashing for the layman. I've only made one of his recipe (Oak Butt Brown Ale) which I made following his all-grain directions (it was my first all-grain batch, and turned out quite good). His appendices also have clear-cut directions for building things like mash tuns.

Extreme Brewing by Sam Calagione. Yes, that's Sam Calagione from Dogfish Head Brewery. A lot (but not all) of the recipes in here are of the high-alchohol, extreme flavor--hence the title, and many are from the DFH brewery themselves. Not as essential as the Palmer book, but still a very good book mostly for beginners. It's a high gloss production, a lot of good pictures but some consider it low in substance--for instance, all the recipes are extract based. Still, it does give a lot of good recipes. A friend made the "Round the World Tripel," and it was one of the best homebrews that I've ever had. One knock against it (and the Mosher book that I describe below) is that many of the recipes call for exotic (read hard to find or expensive) ingredients.

Radical Brewing by Randy Mosher. Mosher's book is more geared to the intermediate to the advanced brewer. That is, those who are at least partial mashing or doing all-grain brewing. It is possible to brew the recipes given using extracts, Mosher describes how very well. I've made at least two beers a dubbel and a porter if you must know) from this book, and both turned out pretty good.

Designing Great Beers by Ray Daniels. This is definitely directed to the advanced homebrewer: one who is making their own recipes and entering them into beer judging contests. Daniels conducts a statistical analysis of the winning or placing beers (by style) at the National Homebrew Competition for several years, and analyzes the grain bill, hop bill, and yeasts used. It also has some good history for each style.

In a nutshell, that's about half of of brewing library. Actually, maybe less--I've lent books out so I'm not really sure what else I have.