How to Brew

I read Palmer's first version of the book on his website. Considering the depth and quality of the website, I was a bit skeptical of buying the book. How wrong I was to doubt this holy tome of brewing goodness

It will get you up to speed on all of the major brewing techniques and then provides additional explanations and concepts behind the science of brewing. The amount of information is staggering and Palmer does an excellent job of providing scientific ideas and research in laymen terms. (full disclosure I'm an engineer with a bit of a background in chemistry and the like, so it may have been easier for me to understand)

My only complaint is color photography would have been nice and a few odd editing choices. The information contained will far surpass the expectations of a novice or intermediate level brewer. If you read this book all the way through, you could probably talk your way into getting a job as a brewer without ever having made a batch before.

Great explanations, great tips, great book. Buy it!

(Posted on 2/12/12)

Different types of Hops, Grains and Yeast are explained in here which I've been looking for for a while. Perfect for the beginner and advanced brewer. Must have.

(Posted on 2/27/11)

When I first began home brewing I struggled to find a resource that explained the what, how and why of what I was doing. Then, I stumbled onto the online original version of this book. It really brought things together (for beginner or advanced). He explains the whats, hows, and whys. John easily walks you through extract, grain steeping, partial mash,and all grain brewing. Grains, hops, beer styles, sample recipes, mashing, sparging, equipment, science, physics, thermodynamics, calculations, water analysis, etc. are all presented (readable and understandable). It would be impossible (and probably undesirable) to cover the full science and techniques of brewing in a single text, but this book is a great place to start and quite a bit more. I've referred to this book many times on my journey from extract to all grain brewing. It always seems to contain useful information.

(Posted on 2/19/11)

This is not only the best book sold here, but the best book out there anywhere for the beginner through advanced intermediate home brewer. John Palmer has earned the great reputation this book has received from the brewing community! This is the third edition of the original online book that he published for free, which is still available for free at http://www.howtobrew.com/ as a searchable resource... but the newest hardcopy has several updates and better pictures to explain every detail necessary to get you brewing "right the first time". A must have book, especially for the new brewer.

(Posted on 8/21/10)

If anyone were to ask me which book they should buy first, this would be the book. This book explains everything from your basic extract-only brewing, all the way up to all-grain brewing, water chemistry, beer chemistry, and building your own equipment. I constantly refer back to this book whenever I have a question. The author has a good sense of humor and is very, very knowledgeable about the subject. Definitely the best book sold here!

(Posted on 6/18/10)