The Complete Joy of Homebrewing Third Edition

I love my Beer Bible. It is simple, instructive, practical, and fun.

After getting the desire to homebrew, and spending countless hours in the library reading various different books on homebrewing, I was becoming frustrated with the lack of information available . . .Then I stumbled across this book in a homebrew shop. It was EXACTLY what I needed as a first time homebrewer. I had no one to show me how to do it, but this book proved to be an excellent guide. It is a fun book to read, helps you to understand all the basics, and gives you more in-depth information later on if you want it.This book provided me with everything I needed in a simple-to-understand format, and answered all my questions. I've been brewing for 10 years now, and never needed to buy another homebrew instruction book. It even contains a good number of recipes from many different styles, and I've never found one I didn't like.

~As a typical homebrewer I enjoy reading as many books about the art as I can find. I was a big fan of the 2nd E of this book. That book got me started. Unfortunately it did go out of date... I am now happy to report that C.P. has done a great job updating his book. It has new information on extracts, hops, yeast, the works. Yet, the basic brewing technique is relatively unchanged. Papazian's writing is easy to read and I enjoy the laid-back style. The tables make more sense now (some~~ minor changes) and the recipes are also nicely revamped. I recommend this book to anyone interested in getting started with homebrewing.~

I started the home brewing hobby with Charlie's books and tried switching to Dave Miller's upon a friends recommendation. I'm now back to rereading the Papazian books that I have in my library. I think both authors are great in there own way, but Charlie by far is the more entertaining author of the two. I also feel that Charlie assumes nothing, meaning he explains everything in great detail. In reading Dave Miller's books, I sometimes got the feeling that he was assuming I already knew how to propagate yeast properly, or how crush grains to get the maximum yield out of them and so on. I also felt as though Miller's books lacked detail in certain areas and could have benefited from more information and pictures as well. Papazian does sometimes recommend bad habit forming advise in the early chapters of this book in the sack of keeping it simple, but later corrects himself leaving the choice up to the reader. I think this book is a "must have" for a beginning home brewer. Advanced home brewers, whether all grain or partial mash, may also find Charlie's writing entertaining and informative (just skip the first few chapters, because some of his recommendations may make the advanced brewer cringe!). The later chapters in this book have very good information on all aspects of brewing, from aeration to yeast propagation. I would recommend this book to anyone that doesn't have a copy of it in their home brewing library.

I have a whopping 2.5 gals of surprisingly good brew in my logbook (that makes me a rank beginner, folks!). I bought this book because I wanted to improve my techniques and make better (but not necessarily more complex) beers. This book never let me down - it has everything and seems best suited for the beginner to novice brewers (because 99% of intermediate to advanced brewers have already read it!). This book is divided into 3 sections - beginner (all extract), intermediate (extract plus specialty grains), and advnced (all-grain). However, this doesn't completely describe the layout of the book. For instance, Papazian talks about brewing techniques and components of beer (and how they interact) in EACH section, but he delves deeper and deeper with each progressive section. Thus, he unravels the mysteries of beer at a comfortable pace and only to the degree to which the reader cares to explore. But perhaps the thing that makes Papazian's books so beloved by homebrewers is the perfect balance between technique and fun! Even when describing the most technical subject, Papazian never disguises his enthusiasm for and love of homebrewing. He never forgets to remind his readers to ENJOY what they're doing - no matter how technical it may be (oh, and Papazian is exceptionally knowledgeable about homebrewing). Papazian's enthusiasm has rubbed off on me and has ignited my curiosity. I recommend this book to ALL homebrewers who have not already read it. To those who are curious about homebrewing, look no further - BUY THIS BOOK! It's worth it. This is nearly unanimously THE best general treatise on the FUN of homebrewing! Try some of the recipes he includes - I did!Relax... Don't Worry... Have a Homebrew!