Marc's Brew Closet

Over the past six months I've dove head first into beer and brewing.  Here's a list of books I own with descriptions and reviews.

The Complete Joy of Homebrewing, 3rd Edition by Charlie Papazian

Considered to be the Homebrewer's Bible, this book is great for brewers of all levels.  It includes "how to" brewing instructions for the beginner and will walk you through the next steps to brewing partial mash and all grain.  It also describes the science behind the fermentation process and a breakdown of equipment and ingredients like grains, malt extracts, and hops.  Also included is tons of recipes for all levels of brewing including ales and lagers. It is, however, a little outdated.  Since this book was written new equipment and sanitizing agents have been introduced.  This book reminds of my local homebrew shop owner.  He's an old school brewer that only uses bleach for sanitizing and doesn't bother with yeast starters.

Homebrewing for Dummies by Marty Nachel

This is a great book for the beginning homebrewer.  It is actually the first brewing book I read before I made my first beer.  The book is a little less technical than Charlie Papzian's book and is more "newbie" friendly. Nachel breaks down the necessary equipment for each level of homebrewing from extract to all grain.  Part II of this book goes into the different types of ingredients such as the different types of grains, adjuncts, extracts, hops and yeast.  A big plus for this book is the nearly 100 pages of style classifications and beer recipes.  I remember using this book as a reference next to the brew kettle the first time I brewed.

The Alaskan Bootlegger's Bible by Leon W. Kania

As the book states, distilling in the United States is illegal but knowing how to isn't.  This book is written by a hardcore, self sufficient Alaskan Leon Kania.  While this book will instruct you how to make beer, wine and liquor, most established homebrewers would pride themselves in using better techniques and ingredients than some of the ones used in the book.  For example,  the recipe for "Sugar Wine" includes 3lbs sugar, 1 gallon boiling water and a pinch of yeast and the author suggests bottling in screw top soda bottles.  However, its not all that bad.  Other wine recipes go on to includes grapes, flavorings and other fermentables.  All beer recipes are extract or extract and grain recipes and some Prohibition recipes are included as well.  The chapter on making moonshine is quite in depth as it includes multiple recipes and ways to make different stills.  I didn't really buy this book to make moonshine but just to get some exposure to the practice. 

 Barley Wine, Classic Beer Style Series by Fal Allen and Dick Cantwell

 Brown Ale, Classic Beer Style Series by Ray Daniels and Jim Parker

 Belgian Ale, Classic Beer Style Series by Pierre Rajotte

 Porter, Classic Beer Style Series by Terry Foster

 Stout, Classic Beer Style Series by Michael Lewis

 Vienna-Marzen Oktoberfest, Classic Style Series by George & Laurie Fix

Zymurgy - The Best Articles and Advice, edited by Charlie Papazian

This is an informative collection of the best articles from Zymurgy magazine.  It's not a "how to" book and its an easy reader. Articles are categorized into topics that cover every aspect of brewing; beer and brewing history, equipment you need and equipment you can build, ingredients and recipe formulation.  I found this book more informative and a more enjoyable read than the similar BYO Homebrewer's Answer's book.   There is a dedicated chapter to "Homebrewer of the Year" recipes that range from 1981 to 1996.  The last few chapters are Michael Jackson articles, homebrewing stories and "Last Drop" articles including "You know you're a homebrewer when..."  I think I found this book for less than $10 and it was worth every cent.

Designing Great Beers by Ray Daniels

This is by far the most in depth book I own on brewing.  While not exactly for the newbie brewer, the book is written very much like a textbook and is a great source of information for recipe formulation.  Part I is broken down into the brewing process and ingredients.  However it goes into much more detail than other books.  For example, rather than just describing different kinds of hops, Daniels dedicates a whole chapter to hop composition, calculating bitterness and utilization.  Part II begins with an introduction to the styles and then includes chapters on each one of the BJCP styles.  Each chapter begins with the history and evolution of the style and then describes grain bills, brand of malts used, hops types and bitterness levels and water make up.  This book is a must have for any serious brewer especially one interested in brewing according to style guidelines. 

Travels with Barley by Ken Wells

 The Great Beer Trek by Stephen Morris

 North American Clone Brews by Scott R. Russell

 Clone Brews by Tess and Mark Szamatulski

 Brewing Up A Business by Sam Caliogne

The Homebrewer's Garden by Joe Fisher and Dennis Fisher

Want to grow your own hops, malts and herbs?  Then this book is for you.  I bought this book when I decided to grow hops and I find it very useful.  It helps you choose which hops you want to plant and which may be better suited for your environment.  Also included is designs for hop trellises and how to train, water, maintain and harvest your crop.  This book isn't just about hops though.  There is a lot of information on growing and brewing with 42 herbs and fruits from anise to byarrow, blueberry to raspberry, and mint and licorice.  A whole chapter is dedicated to homegrown grains and homemade malts that includes different kinds of grains, how to plant and harvest, and build your own equipment for cleaning the grains before malting and roasting.  The last chapter is filled with almost 30 recipes that include almost every ingredient listed in the book.  Most of the recipes are for beer but there are a few for mead and ciders as well.

Homemade Rootbeer, Soda, and Pop by Stephen Creswell

The Homebrewer's Answer Book by Ashton Lewis

First of all, this book isn't as big as some of you might think.  I couldn't believe how small it was when I got it in the mail.  It's only 6" tall and 4" wide. All of the articles in this book come from "Mr. Wizard's" column in Brew Your Own magazine.  If you've been brewing for a short while then most of the information in this book is old news but it's OK for picking up little tidbits here and there. Most topics are covered in brewing books or considered "newbie" questions in the forums.  Though it does have a pretty good section on yeast, harvesting, and culturing.

The Compleat Meadmaker by Ken Schramm