How to Brew,

John J. Palmer, Brewer’s Publications, Boulder, Colorado, 2006

Every home brewer should own this book. John Palmer has a degree in Metallurgical Engineering and has worked in a failure analysis lab for the space program. He is also a home brewer with extensive experience. He published an on line edition of How to Brew in 1993, self-published it again in 1995 and 2000 and has now found a publisher for this important book. The well written book contains over two decades of home brewing experience driven by an engineer’s attention to detail and ability to distill things to their essentials. Palmer gives the impatient enough to jump right in while providing more detailed explanations for the more cautious. He covers extract and all grain brewing and covers the important points that make the difference between success and failure. He covers all the important processes and follows Albert Einstein’s dictum: “Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler.” Palmer provides a handful of recipes and a chapter on developing your own recipes. Those who want a recipe book, look elsewhere. Those who want to understand home brewing and brew good beer, Palmer wrote this book for you.

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