What book would you recommend for a beginner hoping to start with extract recipes or from an extract kit?
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3From FAQ: "Avoid asking subjective or argumentative questions." One book per answer means you are voting on /books/ not /answers/, which makes this question inherently subjective. Please review the six guidelines for great subjective questions - http://blog.stackoverflow.com/2010/09/good-subjective-bad-subjective/ – Mike S Nov 09 '10 at 15:36
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John Palmer's "How to Brew" is one of the most recommended books for anyone starting out with brewing. He goes over the process, the ingredients, and everything else you need to know to start out.
It's available online for free, or for about $15 on Amazon.
Jeff L
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It's also great if you're switching to all-grain brewing. John knows his stuff. – Jeff L Nov 09 '10 at 01:12
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I read this online for my first brew, then bought it outright. I'm a cheap college student, but this was completely worth it. – Fishtoaster Nov 09 '10 at 03:52
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I bought this when I was first starting out and have it on hand during every brew session just in case. Its great for a quick reference and/or for a read through. – LoganGoesPlaces Nov 09 '10 at 15:46
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A lot of detail, especially if you're just starting out. I find myself going back to get any time I see gaps in a recipe. – mummey Nov 16 '10 at 19:00
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Well worth the purchase price. I consider this the home-brewer's "bible". The author goes into a lot of detail and explains everything that is happening and reasons why, yet you can still use it as a quick reference when you want to skip the beer-geeky stuff. You'll learn enough to improve your kit basics, and be well prepared to do your first all grain when you're ready to really flex your home-brew wings. – S.Robins Jan 03 '12 at 04:44
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I would like to note that Chapter 1 of How to Brew is a "quick start" that explains practically everything you need to know to make your first extact batch in 11 pages. Because of that fact alone, I think it is the best first book for any homebrewer to own. – Chino Brews Dec 30 '13 at 18:01
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Joe Phillips
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You may want to condense your answer posts into one if you wish to be up-voted. – Mike S Nov 09 '10 at 01:17
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Charlie Papazian also wrote "The Homebrewers' Companion", which fills in the gaps of "The Complete Joy of Homebrewing". Awesome author.
Nick
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The Brewmaster's Bible by Stephen Snyder
ISBN: 0-06-095216-4
Nathan Koop
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1This is definitely a great book! Taught me so much 6 years ago and is still teaching me today. – Room3 Nov 09 '10 at 21:57
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Tim
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I agree, this is a sweet book, but it is pretty heavy reading for a beginner homebrewer. – Joe Lencioni Nov 16 '10 at 15:22
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The Complete Joy of Homebrewing by Charles Papazian seems to be a perennial favorite that is more colloquially written.
How to Brew: Everything You Need To Know To Brew Beer Right The First Time by John J. Palmer is the cautious beginners guide.
The Complete Handbook of Home Brewing by David Miller is a classic guide
Obviously everyone will have a personal preference, but those three seem to be fairly prolific and well reviewed in the community. If you just want to brew a kit and get started, the Internet and/or the guide that comes with equipment kits will likely suffice.
Mike S
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1Please provide only one book per answer. Feel free to grab the image from my answer and then I'll delete mine – Joe Phillips Nov 09 '10 at 01:11
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We started with The Complete Joy of Homebrewing and it's very good and a very easy read. Definitely recommended. – Matt Kellogg Nov 09 '10 at 01:42
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@Joe Please see my comment on the question. I was attempting to answer a subjective question as objectively as possible. I was trying to stay in line with the first guideline of subjective questions - "Great subjective questions inspire answers that explain “why” and “how”." by providing rationale for /why/ each text would be good for a beginner. Thank you for the up-vote. – Mike S Nov 09 '10 at 15:40
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I see your point. I don't see a problem with one book per answer as long as there is reasoning to go along with it. – Joe Phillips Nov 09 '10 at 17:25
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@Joe I completely agree that there is no problem with an answer that only lists one book. However, I am unsure whether it is appropriate as a requirement. I would think that a great answer would aggregate the rationale from multiple one book answers to guide the reader to the book that is best for them. We should probably move this discourse to meta.homebrew.stackexchange.com, but I don't quite know how to ask it as a question :-) – Mike S Nov 09 '10 at 21:20
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My favorites are:
- How to Brew by John Palmer (http://www.howtobrew.com/)
- Homebrewing Volume 1 by Al Korzonas (http://www.amazon.com/Homebrewing-I-Al-Korzonas/dp/0965521907)
- The Complete Joy of Homebrewing by Charlie Papazian (old classic)
Any one of the above should be adequate, but having a few different ones for reference is a good thing.
The Palmer one is available online, but I much prefer my paper copy.
Jeff Roe
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