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The Brewmasters Bible by Stephen Snyder

BeerSmith

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Book Review: The Brewmasters Bible by Stephen Snyder

I picked this book up on a whim one day at the local bookstore and to my surprise it turned out to be a pretty decent all in one reference.

While not really a "beginner how to brew" book, this volume does cover a broad series of brewing topics in some detail to include mashing, ingredients and detailed descriptions of many beer styles.

What attracted me to the book was the many ingredient tables, style tables and detailed descriptions as I'm always looking for more hard data on current ingredients.  However as I sat down to read it I also found quite a few good tips on a variety of subjects including kegging, mashing, decoction and styles.

The latter half of the book also includes many dozens of recipes organized by style.  While I have not personally brewed many of them, they appear to be well formed and organized.

Overall I would give this book an 8.5 out of 10 if you are looking for a good all in one volume intermediate brewing reference.  I really enjoyed it!

Cheers!
Brad
 
In my opinion this book is really geared towards the intermediate home brewer.  It contains a lot of general information that is useful to the homebrewer.

Cheers!
Brad
 
You are right about this book I bought it after brewing for about one year, read it from front to back and find I am using it for referance all the time. I really haven't brewed any of the recipes, but use them for guidance when trying to create a specific beer.

Another good book is the Seven Barrel Brewery
Brewer's Handbook by Greg Noonan who is the owner of two Brewpubs making some fantastic beers.

Kevin
 
I have this book and recommend it to anyone. I have read it front to back and have gotten alot of good ideas from the recipes. I still pick it up and re-read parts of it before most brew sessions and it is invaluable when formulating recipes.
 
I bought this book and while I didn't dislike it, I didn't think it was great, either. I think it's indeed great for an intermediate brewer, but I've found all the same info for free online. I liked it better than Charlie's book, but I think howtobrew.com is still the best resource (and you can buy his book).  'Just my opinion.  :-/

So, if you have internet access (and you must if you're reading these ramblings) check out the multitude of brewing websites online (brewery.org, tastybrew.com, kotmf.com, whatever). If you know a PC-Challenged brewer, this book is indeed a good one.
 
I use it for the hops, yeast, grain descriptions, but the recipes are primarily extract and geared toward the intermediate brewer.  As noted by everybody, it's a handy reference book, but certainly not my 'bible".
 
My suggestion for the next edition, because it is a good book that needs revision, is that all references to 1 pkg this or 1 pkg that be changed to an exact measurement...ie Burton water salts come in five different sizes at our LHBS. We shouldn't need to look up in another book what size he probably means....
 
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