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How to brew… a noob's book review

Post #1 made 14 years ago
by Binoclard
– disclaimer: I like to read. Very much. And so every time a discover a new hobby/interest, I pick up books, and I have read my fare share of difficult/technical books –

Seriously, the book is subtitled "Everything You Need To Know To Brew Beer Right For The First Time", but I rather think it should be "All the stuff that will ruin a beginner's enthusiasm and convince him to never ever attempt to brew" :headhit:

I can't believe this thing is so highly praise everywhere on the internet as THE book to learn.

Sure, the guy knows a lot of stuff, and is most certainly a good brewer, but he is certainly not a good writer nor a teacher!

The nerdy-geeky technical datas about just everything is overwhelming for a beginner, the layout is a pity, the information's hierarchy is quite inexistant, there is redundancy or copy-pasted paragraphs every three chapters.

The first chapters about the very basics are written as if the reader has 6 years old, and then… blaaaam, in your face: frightening tables full of numbers with 7 decimals, hermetic mathematic functions, tiny nitty picky details everywhere making you feel like every single step is directly taken from a NASA procedure manual.

Sure, it is most certainly interesting to know that a certain peculiar variety of hop will release a certain tiny amount of diesterpolybarbithulenimolassinol (between 0.000345µ/ml and 000349µ/ml) at a certain temperature for a certain gravity, depending of the cycle of the moon and the color of your cat… but as a beginner, I really don't need/want this kind of stuff to be thrown at my face by entire tables, even before I learned what a fucking hop is :idiot:

Seriously? the influence of yeast cell count in billion in your starter? right after "clean your fermenter well" and before "don't forget to put sanitizer in your airlock"… come on…

I am sure after a few dozen brews, I'll come back to it and read with pleasure and interest… but for now, I'll keep this site and the homebrewtalk wiki.

Post #2 made 14 years ago
by PistolPatch
Couldn't agree more Bino. I too have no idea why anyone would recommend it to a beginner. Great as a reference book etc on advanced topics though.

Glad to hear I'm not the only one :peace:.
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Post #3 made 14 years ago
by hashie
I've never read it!.

I read a few pages on the net, that I thought were relevant, but the rest...

Maybe it's for those who want to work for the big boys?
"It's beer Jim, but not as we know it."

Post #4 made 14 years ago
by jimmysuperlative
I own it ...hard copy!

Bought because it was "the recommended" beginner's bible. I love books about brewing, so I can't bag it outright, but I agree, it's not for the newbie brewer.
I liked the chapters about recipes and working efficiencies, and the technical info on mash pH ... but, really if this was the first book I had picked up, I doubt I would be brewing all grain now, let alone understand the process.

It probably found a niche a few years ago as one of only a handful of accessible references on the craft of beermaking. Thankfully today we have a wealth of online information - none better than BIABrewer - that gives us direction and understanding.

I do still love a good book to read ...in the middle of the Sam Caligione's "Brewing Up A Business" at the moment. Not bad once you get past the constant little man versus the world rhetoric!! But, still, good reading for the shitter ;-)
Everybody's waitin' for the man with the bag ... K Starr (1950)

Post #5 made 14 years ago
by stux
I own it and love it, but I'd agree it's an intermediate to advanced book

Although, a newbie *could* learn everything they need (for a strange definition of need!) to know from it
Fermenting: -
Cubed: -
Stirplate: -
On Tap: NS Summer Ale III (WY1272), Landlord III (WY1469), Fighter's 70/- II (WY1272), Roast Porter (WY1028), Cider, Soda
Next: Munich Helles III

5/7/12

Post #6 made 14 years ago
by dick
I bought a hard copy of this book after reading quite a bit of it online. I think it is a great book but yes, it does go well past what a beginner needs to know. I got this after quite a few years of kits and bits brewing, so I already knew some of the basics, and I was moving on to BIAB. It was the right book for me at that time and I still refer to it quite often.

Post #7 made 14 years ago
by PistolPatch
A great book for new all-grainers or BIABrewer's is the book that John Palmer wrote with Zamil Zainasheff, "Brewing Classic Styles." I think this is a far better book for beginners and a 'must-have,' for most brewers.

So, I think use, "How to Brew," as an excellent online reference (sorry John, hope some money comes to you via the minimal ads) and "Brewing Classic Styles," as the first book to put on your shelf.

PP
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Post #9 made 14 years ago
by Ralphus
Interesting. I read it as a complete beginner as well. I hadn't even seen a brew day when I read it, but yet I found it excellent.

I seem to remember that the author pretty clearly states that you can skip and gloss over as much information as you want and still make good beer. The crash course in the first chapter will get you there. Everything else is just more detail - but again, he stresses that you can skip it all at your leisure and read it when you are ready.

Obviously no one book is going to fit every beginner's needs - but for me, it was exactly what I needed.

Post #10 made 14 years ago
by PistolPatch
Ralphus wrote:Interesting. I read it as a complete beginner as well. I hadn't even seen a brew day when I read it, but yet I found it excellent.

I seem to remember that the author pretty clearly states that you can skip and gloss over as much information as you want and still make good beer. The crash course in the first chapter will get you there. Everything else is just more detail - but again, he stresses that you can skip it all at your leisure and read it when you are ready.

Obviously no one book is going to fit every beginner's needs - but for me, it was exactly what I needed.
That's a great post Ralphus. What probably happened to me when I was starting out was I was most likely referred to an advanced part of the book. Perhaps if I had read from the beginning and noted what you have written above, I would have developed a totally different perspective.

Your post will lead me to reading the first chapter with this new perspective.

Thanks!
PP
Last edited by PistolPatch on 22 Jun 2011, 22:09, edited 5 times in total.
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Post #11 made 14 years ago
by BrianOR
I read it as a complete beginner too, and loved it.
I liked the idiots guide layout of the first few chapters, just so I could get the basic steps to make a batch of extract beer.
I then jumped around a bit, so read the Priming & bottling chapter when ready for my first bottling session, and later came back to yeast and hops when I was ready for more detail.

Post #12 made 14 years ago
by WhiteRhyno
How to brew was one of the first books I read, I accidently stumbled across it while trying to find ways to clean and sanitise.
The first 2 chapters of section 1 I would recommend to beginners who are doing k & k. Then things ramp up a tad.
I think it is the sort of book that you should only take the bits out of that apply to you, trying to read it cover to cover could easily do your head in, unless you like that sort of thing ;)

Personally, I really like the book and have purchased the hard copy. Cant say I understand everything in it though, but I find it is a great book to keep re-reading as I progress as a brewer
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