Hi all, new member, learning the ropes. Got a question: What are the top books for someone who has done a bit of extract brewing and wants to learn more?
Brewing Classic Styles, a good start.
I recommend to you book by Greg Hughes - "Home brew beer". You can find there everything about home brewing + a lot of recipes.
"How To Brew" by John Palmer. Has a layered approach so you can read what you need.
How to brew is excellent for starting off
I recently bought Radical Brewing by Randy Mosher and How To Brew by John Palmer mentioned above. I find them a great pair. Mosher's style is relaxed, funny and conversational while John Palmer is more factual - great for when you want/need the cold hard facts that Mosher mightn't cover (and vice versa)
Theres loads of errors in Radical Brewing.
Google for errata before commiting Grist to Tun!
Quote from: johnrm on August 12, 2015, 10:05:13 AM
Theres loads of errors in Radical Brewing.
Google for errata before commiting Grist to Tun!
Really? Good to know! Still a good book for an overview of brewing I think as well as broadening the horizons beyond the BJCP styles
Really enjoying 'Sustainable Homebrewing' at the moment.
Great collection of recipes.
You can find it on amazon here http://www.amazon.com/Sustainable-Homebrewing-All-Organic-Approach-Crafting/dp/1612121233
Highly recommend.
I enjoyed reading Home brewing: a complete guide by James Houston
Brewing Classic styles had allowed me a starting point to try and jump into clever stuff
If ya want to take a break from beer reading
http://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/feeding-the-rat-9781408842775/
Quote from: Ciderhead on August 13, 2015, 08:02:24 PM
Brewing Classic styles had allowed me a starting point to try and jump into clever stuff
Great book to use as a starting point for a lot of styles. I remember Brewtus also used to have a book he used for British ales to compliment it, though I can't for the life of me remember the name.
Think it was Graham Wheeler's Brew your own British Real Ale. I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with this book.
For beer styles that are so dependent on yeast strain, the book makes light of yeast, adopting a "just use whatever you have" attitude.
Being a CAMRA publication, it's also highly disparaging of American brewing. Not only does Wheeler recommend to avoid liquid yeast cultures sourced from the US, due to the fact that they've endured a long journey. But he also gets high and mighty about American hop varieties. He barely makes a mention of American hops, only to say that they don't have the subtlety and depth of flavour of English varieties. The book is still a worthwhile read, however, it is definitely targeted towards those CAMRA members who think anything other than british ale is shit.
Love his European beers book too