Here are a few of my favorite resources for all things homebrewing. This is in no way exhaustive, but rather a starting point for learning the craft. I will update this list over time, as I find new and interesting brewing resources. Of course, Googling can answer many of your questions, but use the following books and sites as more comprehensive, authoritative sources of information.
Books
- How to Brew, by John Palmer. If you have only one book on brewing, this should be it. Also, check out his website, which includes a free digital copy of the first edition.
- Brewing Classic Styles, by Jamil Zainasheff and John Palmer. This is an excellent guide for brewing most well-known styles of beer, along with sample recipes.
- Designing Great Beers, by Ray Daniels. A great resource for recipe development, and learning the techniques necessary to make great beers.
- Yeast: The Practical Guide to Beer Fermentation, by Chris White and Jamil Zainasheff. Respect your yeast, and it will do wonders to your beer.
- American Sour Beers, by Michael Tonsmeire. If sour beers are your thing, or you want them to be, you need this book.
Blogs
- Brulosophy – Marshall and the gang design and execute different ‘exbeeriments’ on a weekly basis, submit them to double blind testing, and report the results of each test. Fantastic.
- The Mad Fermentationist – Michael Tonsmeire’s blog, with plenty of sour beer recipes and additional information that complements the book well.
- ScottJanish.com – beer blog by the website’s namesake with a heavy scientific tilt. I often have to reference my old biochemistry textbooks to fully understand Scott’s research. Mostly focused on clean, hop-forward beers.
Forums
- Homebrewtalk – countless threads on everything beer and homebrewing. Some topics are dated, but still a great place to start.
- Probrewer – a forum for commercial breweries. However, professionals encounter many of the same issues as us homebrewers, and often get into more technical conversations than on homebrewer-focused sites, which I can appreciate.
- r/Homebrewing – reddit is fast becoming my go-to source for homebrewing discussions, due to its dynamic nature and myriad contributors. The internet is a wonderful thing!
Additionally, one of the most important resources for improving your homebrewing skills is interacting with other homebrewers. Join a local homebrewing club or Facebook group. Go to a meeting and find out about other local homebrewing events. Many homebrew club members will invite other members over for a Brew Day. Attend, and ask lots of questions. As I’ve mentioned, this is a social hobby, and the socialization aspect will help you tremendously.