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Miller manages to improve upon his earlier book--itself one of the finest advanced brewing books available--by updating and better organizing the information. While the Homebrewing Guide does provide a cursory introduction to basic brewing techniques and a sampling of supplementary topics (kegging, filtration), its real value is in the thoroughness and clarity with which all-grain brewing is described. Grain mashing, for instance, is discussed in three different chapters: a summary of various mashing techniques, a description of the underlying biochemistry, and a step-by-step description of the mashing process. By compartmentalizing the information into short chapters and carefully organizing their sequence, Miller creates a guide that can be read straight through as an initiation to advanced brewing or easily referenced for specific information on brew day. --Todd Gehman
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Despite the comments of some other reviewers, one doesn't need to be an all-grain brewer to find this book useful. I'm creating my own recipes using extracts and specialty grains, and find this book to be very helpful.
However, Miller is pretty repetitive. It is only a slight exaggeration that there are 3 chapters on each topic: on each on theory, equipment and method. I find that there is a moderate degree of repetition of material across these chapters. A consolidation of each topic into 1 chapter could well result in a 1/3 reduction in pages for the book.
I'll echo another reviewer, who commented negatively on the recipes towards the back. They are really just lists of ingredients, without discussion on method (eg. mash temperatures) or variables.
Having made these mild complaints, I'll go on picking this book up every day or so as I think about what to do for my next brew.
There are many pages dedicated to the organic chemistry surrounding the brewing process. There are plenty of other pages that explain things a bit simpler.
Good book overall.
I tried to read this book from the prospective of a non-all grain brewer and felt that if I hadn't been familiar with the process already (through Papazian, local home brew club, personal experience, etc.), then I may not have been able to follow this book very well. There are very few pictures to reference and some very important areas are vague and could use more detail, such as yeast propagation and culturing.
I think Papazian, although sometimes recommending bad habits to beginners, does the best job of explaining the process of brewing to a beginning home brewer. Papazian will later correct some of the bad habits he suggested in earlier chapters in his book, but at least he'll get a beginner going. I also think Papazian is much more entertaining to read and also includes a lot more detail in various areas, along with pictures to help you understand what he's talking about a little more.
At any rate, I would recommend this book to anyone that's an intermediate to advanced brewer who is either looking into or already brewing all-grain beer. Dave is a pretty dry writer, but his views sometimes provide a different way of looking at the brewing process. I also like the fact that Dave preaches sanitation the way he does (although, again, not really going into much detail on the many types of sanitizers that can be used), as this is the most important aspect in brewing, in my opinion.
The book is well organised, and it is no problem using the book while brewing.
The main problem with the book is its unappealing design. The paper quality is not reference grade and the illustrations are not good.
But these remain minor things. Miller is in my opinion the best start for a homebrewer.
