Customer Reviews

The Complete Handbook of Home Brewing

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There are probably three books that are genuinely helpful for the beginning homebrewer. Which one is right for you depends on how you approach techniques of dealing with things in the physical world.

If the idea of doing anything physical scares the bejabbers out of you, get The Complete Joy of Homebrewing Third Edition (Harperresource Book). This is a very simple, slow and reassuring book. The author-Charlie Papazian- sounds like the friendliest, least intimidating guy in the world. The style is very chummy in a post-frathouse kind of way that some people find very difficult to read and that others find relaxing. In this book you may see the ancestor of the Complete Dummies series. I believe that Papazian, who has made a carreer of coaching homebrewers, has been published on the topic for thirty years or so.
If you're the sort of person who likes the idea of baking his own bread or wiring her own lamp, then probably this book-The Complete Handbook- is right for you. The information is straightforward and well-organized and the author allows for the fact that sometimes you want to make it fast and simple and other times you may want to linger over the details. There's a separate book of recipes ordered by beer style and also by degree of difficulty. I still have notes on recipes that I brewed two decades ago that are just marked: Miller, p55.
If you love worrying, then Palmer's How to Brew: Everything You Need To Know To Brew Beer Right The First Time is the book for you. There are dozens of complications lurking in Palmer's world of brewing and a host of precautions and gadgets gadgets for avoiding them. Palmer is also the book for those who are curious about fundamentals: the hard science of brewing is to be found here.

--Lynn Hoffman, author of The New Short Course in Wine and bang BANG

~Miller has written a book that covers ALOT of info about brewing and the science thereof. For anyone weaned on Pappazian's books, this is the next logical step. Every aspect of the science of brewing beer is covered.~ sometimes funny style, but that doesn't detract from the excellent layout of this book, which leads from simple partial-mash brewing to all-grain mashing via a logical and step-by step progression of ideas and metho

I own four beer brewing books. Three of them are inadequate, inaccurate and cater to brewers who take the short-cut of extract brewing - one would actually be better off without them. Dave Miller's book is the fourth and indispensable one. It describes in detail the equipment, ingredients, science, procedures and recipes. Although Dave Miller prefers, as he should, to take the brewer down the path of mashing, the extract brewer can by-pass these steps and still follow a sub-set of the book's directions and recipes. There is enough theory which can either be read in detail or in conclusion to make the home brewer understand what he/she is doing or should have been doing. The recipes are more than enough for a life-time of brewing and cater to both ale and lager lovers, English ale addicts or German beer buffs. And if 55 recipes are not enough, then the book provides base information and calculation tables for recipe development without having to shoot in the dark.
There may be other good brewing books available, but if you were to have only one beer brewing book, this could be the one. It takes you from being a mere amateur to being a real microbrewer.

When I first started brewing fifteen years ago, I was urged by a home brewing buddy to buy this book and read it before I even start. I did and still refer to this book from time to time. It has everything in it one will ever need to know about homebrewing. It is written in a clear, concise and logical manner. I'll never get rid of my copy of this book as long as I am still brewing my own beer.

This book is great for beginner and experienced homebrewers alike. The basics are there and a lot of the in-depth details can be skipped over until one reaches that point in their brewing career.

I urge anybody considering brewing beer to get a copy of this book and to not let go of it.

Husband has loved this book, it's been very good to get started brewing and understanding some of the science behind the brewing process.

The hard science of brewing may be found here; but without a single mention of iodophor as a sanitizing option. I can only gather that Mr. Miller had never used it prior to the book's publication. Iodophor has been around forever. It stains, so be careful; but it sanitizes in a two-minute dunk, without the danger of 'off' odors or flavors, and is far more forgiving than bleach, although it's best not to get it into the beer. Bleach sanitizing, on the other hand, requires a full ten-minute immersion; and bleach in the wrong places can ruin your batch -- Mr. Miller goes into good detail on how this can come about.

Other than this quibble, it's an excellent book overall. Its particular strength, I think, is in explaining the chemistry of brewing.

I definitely recommend this one for its technical details. It's *not* 'the only book on home brewing you'll ever need' -- but there's no such thing as that anyway. When we can't be brewing, we want to read about it, and most of us have much more time for reading than for brewing. Do read this one if you can. At least get it out of the library and read the chapter on Starch Conversion and Mash-out.

Today I am brewing beer, because eight yaers ago I read Dave's book. This tome got me started quickly and successfully into the fine art of brewing. In reading only the first two chapters, I had begun my first batch, and I have refered to it ever since. I have read many books on brewing, but I always rely on this one when I need to go back to the basics or cure a problem. Whether you have brewed a thousand batches, or are contemplating your first, I highly recommend this book.