Customer Reviews

The Homebrewer's Companion

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

After publishing the best introduction to home brewing Papazian released this unenlightening tome. His snappy style, so essential in his first book, sounds dull and contrived. One third of the book is complete filler as he lists 60 pages of various beer styles along with their specific gravities, etc. This information could have been presented in a two page spread. Additionally, he offers little in the way of advanced brewing technique. The one saving grace of this book is the recipe section, with interesting ideas like a lambic barley wine and a raspberry imperial stout. If you are looking for a book that offers a firm overview of all-grain brewing then I can recommend 'Dave Miller's Homebrewing Guide' or Noonan's 'Brewing Lager Beer.' Papazian's book will most likely be a complete disappointment.

I bought this along with The Complete Joy of Homebrewing, also by Papazian. I think both books are a must-have for any homebrewer. _Companion_ is more of a reference text, while _Joy_ is more introductory. Both books have indispensable information about the basic ingredients and processes of brewing.

When formulating a recipe, I refer back and forth to both books. Each has a variety of recipes in myriad styles that provide a good jumping-off point. For customizing the recipes, I refer to the table in _Companion_ that summarizes the various malts and their contribution to specific gravity, then I go to the table in _Joy_ that catalogs the different varieties of hops and their contribution to bitterness and flavor.

Complete Joy of Homebrewing is awesome, and that book has been updated with the times. This companion book - while containing lots of useful information - suffers from dated information (check out the "list of homebrewer yeasts" which is under 2 dozen... a number not accurate for over a decade).

Much of the book is designed on the premise of expanding to intermediate and advanced brewing, with great DIY instructions for building mash tuns, etc. However when you get to the recipes, they do not fit the book's scope because many require malt extracts. (I'm not suggesting that extract indicates beginner, but rather that by calling for 'branded' extracts... cans of Coopers, etc. the recipes lose a lot of their value. It would have been far better to list pure all grain recipes, then provide supplementary tips for converting those recipes to generic extract + steeping grains).

Worth having, but a better "companion" is "Learn To Brew" by John Palmer, and the best-written recipes can be found in "Brewing Classic Styles"by by Jamil Zainasheff and John Palmer.

As a new brewer, this book has more advanced information in it than I need at the moment. It will be a good reference as I progress through brewing and gain more experience. If you only have one book on brewing to purchase, get Charles Papazian's first book on home brewing.

I have read "The Complete Joy of Homebrewing" and was extremely impressed with it and was equally impressed with this book. It is more in depth and detailed than the previous and covers more issues. Highly recommend it.

I agree with some of the other readers that this book is not as entertaining to read as "The New Complete Joy of Home Brewing." Papazian's wittiness, which was fun and comfortable in his first book, now comes off as sharp sarcasm (ex. "if you haven't figured that out by now, maybe you're relaxing a bit too much"). However, you're probably not reading this because you're looking for an entertaining read. If you're like me, you want a book that's more in-depth, that'll fulfill your need to become more involved in brewing than you once were. Well, all in all, if that's what you're looking for, you may find that you use this book less than you expected. It has very good information for those who are getting into such things as filtration and artificial carbonation. There is also pretty detailed information on ions in water and their effects. However, the mathematical information presented is somewhat incomplete, and therefore hard to use with this book alone. If you are a beginner, this book is certainly not for you. Get "The New Complete Joy of Home Brewing" (by Papazian) instead, as it will guide you through an unbelievable range of brewing skill levels. If you're an intermediate brewer, and want to take it to the next level (grain-brewing, original recipe formulation, etc.), I recommend Ray Daniels' "Designing Great Beers." There are quite a few things Daniels covers that Papazian doesn't, and Daniels seems to present it in a more concise, complete, and easy-to-use way. Don't get me wrong, Papazian is a great writer and a legend in homebrewing, but this second book falls short of the standard he set with his first.

If your happy just doing kits and not really caring about all the extra little things you could be doing or the in depth process of beer making then you might not want this book.

It is however an excellent book to get if you love making beer and like to learn all about it. Lots of information. Extra things you can do to make a good beer, great.

This is my 6th Homebrew book and it is a great book. But before you get this, make sure you get Charlie Papazian's first book, "The Complete Joy of Homebrewing" and other classics like John Palmer's "How to Brew". This book comes across as a compilation of Charlie's ideas that didn't make the cut for the first book. But don't let this scare you-- it's a great resource and written in the same excellent style as Charlie's first and most famous book. A huge recommendation for homebrewers, just make sure you have the classics first.

This is Charlie Papazian's second book on the subject of homebrewing, following the in the footsteps of Papazian's immensely popular and useful debut, The New Complete Joy of Homebrewing. This book offers a lengthy guide to homemade beer, complete with reference material about the different styles of beer; how they are made, how strong they typically are, and other basics.

Part of the reason Papazian's first book was so much fun was due to its writing style and humor. This, the follow- up, is more technical in nature and not quite as entertaining to read. It sticks mostly to the facts and leaves out much of the fun, making it a little more likely to induce sleep than inspiration. Nevertheless, this book is still useful as a reference tool and it does have some good beer recipes. Cheers!

What can I say about one of the most important books ever written for the art of home-brewing? The information is extremely helpful and it also has some great recipes!