This is undoubtedly the best single-volume resource for homebrewers. Whether you're just starting out with your first kit extract beer, or whether you're a relatively advanced all-grain brewer, this book is terrific. Lots of illustrated step by step guides to get you going on the right track, and innumerable and invaluable conversion charts, graphs, and other resources that you will return to again and again. Indispensible.

Being a rookie homebrewer, I found the book to be very helpful. It basically takes you through everything you need to know to brew your first batch, and it helps you improve it and understand what might have gone wrong.
I wouldn't recommend it as the first thing you read when starting up, as you need some basic knowledge in order to fully benefit from the book. But it's really helpful, especially once you've brewed a few batches.

Very simple to read. Has diagrams, pictures and simple to follow instructions. It even has sections ranging from beginner to expert brewer. I learned everything I needed to know about home brewing from this book.

i bought this book for my boyfriends birthday, and he found it very helpful. he is a first time brewer and he read and highlighted many things in the book that helped him make a beer. it tells how to make real beers like bass and other faviorites! a++ book

Wow, what a book!

Having grown up attached to the internet, I'm always skeptical of the need for most books. If you can find it on the web, why would you need/want to pay for a book?

However, this book has answered all of the lingering questions that I had regarding homebrewing. The internet covered some of the basics, but much of the detailed explanations for each and every process can't be easily found on the web. This book covers everything from the most basic hopped extract brewing all the way up to complex mashing techniques. It covers partial boils and their effect on the finished product, late extract additions, and why you add the hops that you add.

If you're technically savvy, this is a great book for you. There are tons of technical explanations to show you exactly what is going on at each step of the process. If you're not interested in those sections, they can be skipped without losing the overall picture.

And note: There is a glossary in the back. Use it.

Fantastic book. It's pushed me to see the limitations of partial boils in these times of scarce hops. I'm holding off on my next batch until I can get the required equipment to do some all-grain brewing.

This is the book to have if you want to brew. Just get it, you won't be sorry.

Great book. No book covers every aspect but this is close. This was my fourth book on the subject and wish I would have started with this one. I would highly recommend this book if you are just getting started in home brewing with extract or just getting started with all grain.

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, The Complete Joy of Homebrewing Third Edition (Harperresource Book). This is a very simple, slow and reassuring book. The author 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 The Complete Handbook of Home Brewing is right for you. The information is straightforward and well-organized and he 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.
If you love worrying, then Palmer 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

Excellent book. It has info on everything you need to know about homebrewing. I keep it by my bedside.

I am Norwegian, just started brewing, only 6 batches. I think this was a very good and informative book, from preparations trough the prosess till the ready-to-drink product. All You need to make a good brew!
janh

I started brewing around Christmas time, and got this to learn a bit more. I am bottling my first partial on the weekend, all grain soon to come!

John uses very easy to understand language, and the scientific sections can be avoided - there are normally summaries if you are not interested. I have found this very useful - if you are new to brewing, you probably will too.

It is hard to say anything about this book that others haven't already said. But I think the book deserves another five star review and I'll just try to explain why I like it so much. This is a book written for a beginner, but it never gets condescending or preachy. Palmer is a first-rate teacher. He gives the new brewer all the right rules and warnings about sanitation, oxidation, autolysis, pitching rates and so forth, but always with a nice sense of perspective. He never gives the impression that the world will come to an end (or even that your beer will be undrinkable) if you make a "mistake." He knows his subject and never waters down his explanations, yet the book never comes across like a textbook. Reading this book gave me confidence that I could make good beer on the first try. When I bought the book, I had no intention of making all-grain beer, but he made it sound so interesting that I ended up doing all-grain batches too. And although I ask more experienced brewers for advice, this book remains the only systematic explanation of brewing that I've ever needed. A really good book!

Great book! Logically presented. Concise. Current.

You can skim the quick how-tos and get to brewin' in the first chapter and then you can delve into the finer points of how and why in the later chapters.

great for referencing or if you have an idea for a recipe and would like to see how you could make it. Great for helping you do things by yourself and not relying on anyone else. Also has a great section on making your own brewing equipment and a few good recipes to get the novice brewer up and running

Palmer's online guide ([...]) is legendary among homebrewers, but it is definitely nice to have a tangible copy. Much of the initial stuff is information you could get from a 10 minute conversation at a local homebrew shop (I am fortunate to have several in the area), so don't buy it if you just want to dabble and get a couple decent batches. However, the later information on how the brewing actually happens (e.g. the relative roles of malt, hops, and yeast) is very interesting and critical if you ever hope to take brewing from the kits to actual "creation". The sections on partial mash and all-grain brewing are great for understanding how many different ways there are to brew, and the pros and cons to each. It's essentially what strategy guides are to video games: the only real way to get better is to practice, but it will make you feel a little more like you know what you're doing (and convince others that you know what you're doing).

In my opinion this is the best homebrewing book on the market for beginners. Packed with useful information and organized in an easy to read and skim format, you cannot afford to not buy this book.

John Palmer has put together a very instructive and informative book for both the novice, like me, and those who are expanding their brewing techniques. The chapters are divided nicely, so for example, if you are wanting to find more info about Mashing, the chapters concerning all grain mashing are arranged to take you from start to finish. At times their is so much information to absorb, but Palmer does give charts and helpful pictures to show what he is describing. I have kept his book handy for each of my batches, a good first book for the beginner.

I recently got the bug to start brewing my own beer and thought I should read up on the subject before I got too involved. This book came pretty highly recomended, both on line and by brewers I know. The book covers everything to basic sanitation to the more complex all grain brewing and all points in between. There is enough technical and scientific information so you know why you are doing what you are doing, but not so much that it all goes over your head. If you like the Food Network's "Good Eats" with Alton Brown, you'll like this book too.

A MUST READ BOOK FOR THE SERIOUS BEER LOVER VERY INFORMATIVE COVERS THE BASICS THROUGH THE PROBLEMS EXPLAINS DIFFERENT HOPS YEAST AND SUGARS OR MALTS HIGHLY RECCOMEND!!!

I bought the book for my wife. She likes it a lot; and it's full of good information. My problem is that the author suggests using an aluminum pot and tap water. Anyone who uses aluminum to process any kind of food item is a moron. Most tap water has poisonous flouride compounds in it (calcium flouride has some benefit; but the waste material from metal purification that is foisted on our drinking water is toxic). Use stainless steel or ceramic and for Pete's sake use filtered or distilled water if you value your health.

I bought the book for my wife. She likes it a lot; and it's full of good information. My problem is that the author suggests using an aluminum pot and tap water. Anyone who uses aluminum to process any kind of food item is a moron. Most tap water has poisonous flouride compounds in it (calcium flouride has some benefit; but the waste material from metal purification that is foisted on our drinking water is toxic). Use stainless steel or ceramic and for Pete's sake use filtered or distilled water if you value your health.

Palmer's book is the best "how to brew" book on the market for the following reasons. 1). The format enables a beginner to start brewing very quickly; 2). The depth of the book is outstanding. Consequently, as the brewer becomes more experienced, he/she will be able to turn to this book as a reference again and again; 3). The book does much more than tell the reader "how to do it." It tells the reader "why." With this book, the beginning or intermediate brewer will have solid understanding of the science behind brewing. This is essential because one cannot make great beer without knowing the science behind it. 4). Despite teaching some science, this book is not over anyone's head and you don't need to be a scientist or professional brewmaster to gain from this book. Anyone who is interested in the hobby of homebrewing can learn the science of beermaking from this book.
Because of this book, I was able to immediately get into all-grain brewing and other fairly advanced stuff. I would not have attempted this, without this book. I've since looked at other books and I have not found anything that is as good as this one.

It includes lots of pictures and drawings so that the novice like me easily follow up to make a great homemade beer. Even it provides lots of science and knowledge in a very simple way so that everyone can understand! Nice!

John Palmer's How to Brew is a masterpiece of technical writing. The arrangement, layout and appendices are arranged in natural order such that you could tape the book to your kitchen counter and begin reading and brewing on the spot. The text ebbs and flows through general technique (how-to) and detailed theory (why and what) a lot like natural conversation. It reminds me of sports-talk, how it starts with a team's standings, moves into analysis ("75% of the time the defense plays Cover 2 on 3rd and long"), and then back out again. Palmer's magic is that he stays accessible; everything remains relevant and everything flows.

The only difficulty I have with the book is that a number of discussions don't quite explain the topic to me. For example, "Malliard Reaction" is mentioned a few times in the book but after using the index to read all the related sections, I still don't know what it means. Finding the answer is a few clicks away on the net, so there's no real problem here.

At the end of the day, How to Brew works. It gives you the option to Brew and Understanding, or just Brew, and that's a beautiful thing. You can sit and have some tea, or you can follow the rabbit down the hole. You chose. And in either case you get a carboy of beer out of the deal, so you win, too.

The book is straight forward and interesting. It makes the process easy to follow. It has been sometime since my last batch of beer. I could not find my other book, so I bought this one. Very happy with the purchase.

My wife told me to get a hobby so I bought this book... I am having a blast and it was the worst mistake she ever made.

This book is amazing. It starts with a "crash course in brewing". Truth be told, you could brew good beer after chapter 1 by just following a couple pages of steps and looking at the pictures.

The book then goes onto explain every piece of hardware and ingredient needed to brew excellent beer.

It also detailed information on the process behind the scenes. How does yeast react with sugar? Why do you need to cool wort quickly? What factors determine beer color, gravity, off flavors?

If you are a new brewer looking for everything you need to know about making beer, buy this book. If you are an intermediate craft brewer looking for some helpful tips, buy this book. Heck, if you are just curious about the process of making beer, buy this book.

I am your average Joe. I don't drink all that much, I just like good beer. I thought brewing beer would be difficult. I had a thousand questions before reading this book. This book answered all of them. I was amazed how easy it was to learn how to brew excellent beer. This book makes learning the process fun and easy.

When I started brewing I decided to buy a few books so I would know what I was getting into. Most of the books included the same basic information from different sources. This book was the one that stood out from the rest. It is nicely illustrated and contains a lot of pictures. Of all the books I bought, I still come back to this one for information. Pick it up if you plan to start brewing soon or even if you have been brewing for years!

This is hands down the best book out there on homebrewing. Has simple to complicated instructions about everything. The more you brew, the more info you want, this book has it all. Pictures, too. Just wonderful. Would reccomend to anyone, beginner to advanced, for homebrewing.Cheers!

I bought this book along with Charlie Papazian's third edition of "Complete Joy of Homebrewing." These two books have taught me everything I needed to know to make outstanding beer the first time. My experience was with a standard Pale Ale recipe. With the instruction and advice in this book, the beer was outstanding. he book covers all aspects of beginning homebrewing, including equipment needed, the essential science behind homebrewing, ingredients and a no-nonsense approach to brewing your first batch. I especially appreciated that Chapter 1 was dedicated to the person that wanted to brew his/her own beer immediately. It takes you through the process and then expounds on the process in the following chapters. If you just wanted to brew a batch of beer, Chapter 1 will get you there. If you want to understand the brewing process and why things are done the way they are, read the rest of the book. I feel as I've gained years of homebrewing knowledge by purchasing this book and assimilating the wisdom and experience contained within.

I'm a home brewer. I own Charlie Papazian's book, "The Complete Joy of Homebrewing," third edition. I have read Mr. Papazian's book from cover to cover. However, as a brewer, you are always searching for more, much more. You are always asking yourself, "How can I can I make this beer better?" Well, "How to Brew" is your answer. Read Mr. Palmers book. Absorb it. Highlight it. Sleep with it under your pillow. EVERY question is answered. Mr. Palmer holds your hand and takes you step by step through the brewing process. Once the basics are learned, you are then taught the "how's and why's." If it's not in this book...you don't need to know it. Remember the book, "Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Sex?" Well, THIS is the same, only..."EVERYTHING You Always Wanted To Know About Brewing GREAT Beer." Just buy the book, you'll then understand what I'm talking about!!!
Wishing you all a cold pilsner.

this is an excellent book both for the beginning brewer and more advanced brewer lots of important technical stuff for the advanced brewer.You really can brew right the first time if you read even some of the first chapters in this book!

This book has the same information of nearly every other beginning book. I had hoped it might have a little extra, but it is VERY basic. A disappointment. I can recommend it for someone just beginning, but even then, I prefer Joy of Homebrewing. This one just didn't have the same fun tone, and also didn't have anything new or updated. I returned it.

It's up to date, well organized, has good photographs, and is filled with useful information for beginners and more detailed data for those wanting more. I also read Charlie Papazian's book first, but now, on my fourth batch, and still trying to learn as much as possible as quickly as possible, I find myself referring to Palmer constantly and Papazian almost never.

I haven`t had time to read whole book , but what I have read is great , I dont know of a beer brewing book out there , thats give`s you all the fact`s, this one come`s very close . well worth the look .

This is the book to have. I started out with the Joy of Homebrewing and didn't realize how much brewing has progressed. It wasn't until I got this book (6 batches into brewing) that I learned that I was oxidizing my wort instead of aerating it, and why my attenuation rates just weren't getting to where they were supposed to be.
I also really like John's style of writing; chapters simple enough to get started and others detailed enough to give the brewmeister too much to think about. If you like your brewing information straight-forward, well thought out and completely explained, then this is the book you want.

This book serves several purposes well. For the absolute beginner who is anxious to brew his first batch and to brew it right, this book helps give him a good shot at succeeding. And for the beginner with a little more patience, who wants to really understand all of the basics, including the how-and-why of all aspects of brewing, the ins and outs of the ingredients, etc, before making his first attempt, this book serves that purpose well, too. The book is so full of great information that you'll probably find yourself referring back to it over and over again as a reference.

The first half or so of the book covers all of the basics of beginning to intermediate homebrewing in a nicely layed-out, readable format. The last half of the book, which gets into the more advanced method of all grain brewing is more complex, but well-written and full of great information also. When tackling complex topics, Palmer usually breaks the discussion into two separate chapters: a practical chapter that tells you what you really need to know, and a more theoretical one that really gets into the technical details. This lets you skip all the technical details if you are not interested, without missing all of the good practical advice that can make a big difference in your results.

The appendices are very useful, too. One appendix, for example, covers many of the typical problems that may be encountered when homebrewing, what their causes are and how to fix the problem the next time around. It is a very practical guide full of useful information.

If you want a book that gives good detailed practical instructions as well as very readable explanations of the how-and-why of homebrewing, I'd say this book is an excellent choice.

I have been brewing for about a year now and although I had both "The Complete Joy of Homebrewing" and "Homebrewer's Companion", I still felt like I couldn't easily access relevant information. I looked at John's book as published on the internet and decided to get the current edition. I couldn't be happier. He unfolds the brewing process from the simplest details to some very complex science. I can delve just as deeply as I want and review just the details I need. I have already refined my brewing process and look forward to the results. I would consider this a core book for any brewing library.

This is an excellent book for anyone just getting into home brewing, for extract brewers getting into all-grain, or for all grain brewers who want to dive into the more technical aspects of brewing. The text is well written and organized, the author provides good illustrations and pictures to help the reader understand the process and covers everything from the most basic to very advanced topics. This is a must for any brewers library, 5 + stars.

a must have, i read it in 2 days and refer to it constantly

I bought the 2nd edition a year ago when I first started brewing. I knew absolutely nothing about the subject. This book got me started and I am still learning the further I get into it and the more I play around with brewing possibilities. The new edition brings it up-to-date since homebrewing is becoming more popular, meaning more 'stuff' on the market for brewing. this is the only book I have read on brewing but I have never had to look elsewhere for answers. I refer to it often. I gave the 2nd edition to my buddy and bought this one.