|
Here's a few recipes that have gotten me good results.
Brewing books on my shelf:
- A Sip Through Time by Cindy Renfrow - An interesting look at 'period' medieval recipes.
- The New Complete Joy of Home Brewing by Charles Papazian - A good book to get you started.
- Dave Miller's Homebrewing Guide by David Miller - A good source for more advanced and in-depth information.
- The Compleat Meadmaker by Ken Schramm - Great book on mead, one of my favorite resources. Provides a brief overview of the beverage's history and then goes extensively into ingredients and process. Capped with a few good recipes at the end.
- Making Cordials & Liquers at Home by John P. Farrell - Lots of great cordial recipes, some aimed at duplicating commercial products and others presented for historical perspective. A bit of history as well.
- Designing Great Beers by Ray Daniels - The first couple chapters alone are an excellent source of info on hop varieties and characters as well as malt types and their characters. Subsequent chapters are each devoted to a particular classic style and discussing its history as well as modern traits, both commercially and for the homebrewer. An excellent source for any advanced brewer (knowledge of processes and brewing chemistry is assumed by the author).
- Cider: Making, Using & Enjoying Sweet & Hard Cider by Annie Proulx & Lew Nichols - Great resource on the history and complete process of making cider from start to finish - i.e. choosing and picking your apples through pressing to fermenting and blending. Includes instructions to build your own press.
- Homemade Root Beer, Soda & Pop by Stephen Cresswell - A fun look at making soft drinks and some of the history behind them.
- The Homebrewer's Garden by Joe & Dennis Fisher - Tons of great info on growing and preparing your own hops, grains and other brewing herbs. Useful for anyone with a green thumb and/or the desire to start your beer from the very very beginning.
- Homebrew Favorites: A Coast-To-Coast Collection of over 240 Beer and Ale Recipes by Karl Lutzen & Mark Stevens - Tons of inspirational recipes.
- Making Wild Wines & Meads by Pattie Vargas & Rich Gulling - If you take their recipes with a grain of salt (they really push the use of campden tablets, etc) there is quite a bit to work from here. Ignore the rest of the book.
- Bock: Classic Beer Style Series 9 by Darryl Richman - Tracks the history of the style as well as providing great info on how to produce it.
- Home Winemaking Step by Step by Jon Iverson - Focuses closely on wine chemistry: sulfites, finings, acid levels, and more sulfites. While this would be applicable to wines from any source, particular focus is placed on fermenting fresh vinifera grapes. Good discussion of oaking and barrel care. Appendix of grape varieties is useful.
- Brewing the World's Great Beers by Dave Miller - Oddly enough this book came across as the into point for the totally neurotic beginner who needs their hand held through the entire process ("...rinse the bottle three times..."). All the information is there and well presented, but it really feels like the title should be "brewing for dummies".
- The Brewmaster's Bible by Steven Snyder - (not yet read)
Other books I've gotten my hand on:
- First Steps in Winemaking by C.J.J. Berry - Interesting read as it's from a British perspective, presents all of the basics well. Best aspect of this book is that recipes are organized by month based on what ingredients are in season.
- The Homemade Beer Book by Vrest Orton - Interesting historical info and recipes.
- The Homebrewer's Recipe Guide by Patrick Higgins, Maura Kate Kilgore & Paul Hertlein - lots of inspirational recipes.
Brewing websites:
|
