Customer Reviews

The Brewmaster's Bible: The Gold Standard for Home Brewers

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book was exactly what I was looking for: a reference with a lot of recipes and descriptions of the different types of hops, malt, adjuncts, etc. Beer styles are presented in a table giving you an idea of what types of ingredients are used and options that are available. This is a handy quick reference if you want to "wing it" with a little bit of a safety net. Then, about half of the book is specific recipes of varying dificulty, also organized by style.

I gave this book four stars instead of 5 because on the back it says it's the only book you'll ever need. If you're just starting out, I disagree. There are a few chapter's on the basics, however, this book would have been a little confusing if I hadn't first read Papazian's Complete Joy of Homebrewing. The Complete Joy of Homebrewing will get you going. The Brewmaster's Bible will keep you going. If you're looking for a good reference, I highly recommend this book.

An excellent reference. I haven't worked up to all-grain yet, but the wealth of information on yeasts, hops, styles, adjuncts, you name it, is golden! The recipes are, in my opinion, nearly useless as they seem to be culled from can labels and extract kits, have bad advice (as someone has already noted) that directly contradict Snyder's instructions, and often have bizarre or proprietary items in the list of ingredients. Marty Nachel's Dummies recipies are much better. Actually, the two books complement each other nicely.

Best part of the book: the table of style components. Very handy for constructing a recipe; grain, extracts, water, yeast. Fabulous!

The book is somewhat misleading - if you're a beginner homebrewer, I don't necessarily suggest this book. I would suggest something more along the lines of The Complete Joy of Homebrewing, as this book does not go into great detail of beginning steps.

However, it is an excellent reference for recipies. Not only does it have hundreds (I'm not sure how many) of actual recipies, it also has great description of each type of beer and approximate starting and ending specific gravities.

I am a beginner and use the recipies to decide what kind of beer to make next. So I do use this book before I go to the brewstore to pick up supplies everytime. All in all, it's a decent book.

I own many of the standard brewing books, TNCJOHB, etc, but this is the one I always pick up for the answers. Hop profiles, yeast profiles and extensive style guides, not to mention the vast amount of recipes. This is truely my bible!

As a novice Homebrewer I found everything I could Imagine. Helpful hints and ways to brew from malt extract syrup to starting from raw grains. Easy and informitive.

I've read all the other brewing books, and though Papazain, and homebrewing for dummies may be easier reads, this is the only book that has a complete list of style characteristics, details on ingredients, and fairly complete instructions for more complex methods, such as decoction brewing. Yes, as one reviewer pointed out, much of the book comprises recipes, but the tables and lists are invaluable. I've been brewing for 15 years, and still refer to this book each time I make a new batch.

Even the "lame recipes" are useful to get an idea how people approach the different styles (I never duplicate these recipes, but they are useful for synthesizing one's own recipes).

This is the book for geeks and engineers. If you know what reverse polish is, then buy this book.

Excellent; I refer to it more often than any other brewing book. There are perhaps three hundred partial extract recipes; a good detailed collection from around the world. The book starts with a history, then a description of ingredients and types of beers. The yeast and hop profile section is real good. There is a convenient brewing record evaluation form. There are Tips on all grain and decoction mashing. Yield probabilities are also very helpful. The back contains weights, measures and formulas. Highly recommended.

Wish you well
Scott

Steven Snyder's, The Brewmaster's Bible is a complete reference with information that compliments any skill level. He describes the how and why of proper brewing, and provides enough information on the ingredients of that perfect pint to allow advanced homebrewers to formulate their own recipes. The last half of the book is mostly recipes, it would take a lifetime to brew all of them. Unfortunately the book falls a little short of all-grain recipes, as many rely on using malt extract. With a some experimentation it is easy to get around this downside, and after all experimentation is half the fun of brewing.

If you are interested in starting your own homebrewing this will get you started right. Although this book is NOT as easy to read as Papazian's Book it is much more diverse. As an advanced all grain brewer this book has a lot to offer me still in all the reference's to malt data, hop data and recipies. Good value for your money.

This book has a clever name, but is hardly the "Brewmaster's Bible" (unless he means to say you need FAITH to use this book to brew). Of its 400 pages, 300 are recipes. Much of the other 100 pages consists of reference tables, while only a few poorly organized sections explain concepts or tell how to brew.

Better to get the Papazian book (for beginners) or Greg Noonan and Ray Daniels books (for advanced brewers).