Brew Your Own British Real Ale - Graham Wheeler

[Aleman]

Well what can you say?

Now in its 3rd incarnation, with a lot of new beers, and a lot more sensible ingredients.

It has a usable section on brewing techniques, with nothing really too complex, and the recipes are sound. The other really good thing is that quantities are given in a variety of batch sizes and in 'Imperial' (For US brewers) and metric.

Certainly one to have on the brewing shelf (With the other two editions as well

There were some printing errors in the first couple of impressions

Below I've cut and paste the corrections that I sent to CAMRA for a new reprint of BYO that is in progress now. Whether or not they have incorporated the corrections remains to be seen.

Page 120 Belhaven 80/- Replace Some Hops with: Whitbread Golding Hops
Page 136 Camerons Strongarm Replace Some Hops with: Golding Hops
Page 147 Ex Valley Dobs Best Bitter Replace Some Hops with: Golding Hops
Page 156: The subheading: “Post-boil Hops” should be bold.
Page 166 J. W. Lees Bitter Replace Some Hops with: Golding Hops
Page 171 Marstons Pedigree Replace Some Hops with: Whitbread Golding Hops
Page 183 Timothy Taylors Best Bitter Replace Some Hops with: Golding Hops

 

[Muddydisco]

Well Aleman beat me to it after hobbling around looking for the book :thumb:
One of the books that i got when first starting out, I had previous knowledge of brewing but still read it, Makes a good read with lots of info for beginners.
Have done several of the recipes, Although several still use sugar I just rejigged the malt bills to remove it.
Great book for someone starting out

 

[Runwell-Steve]

It's the book I would recommend to anyone starting out Brewing Beer.

If you want to buy your first book, then this is the one to get. It hasn't got all the answers, and doesn't go into too much detail, but that is probably the beauty of this book.

A lot of books about brewing beer make it sound incredibly complicated, which can put you off. This book gives you a good high level overview of how to make beer and a good selection of recipes too.

Anyone can make beer following this book, well I did.

There are plenty more books that will go into the detail later on, and an excellent Home Brew Forum to ask for further advice.

 

[Dave1970]

I'd agree with the other reviews, first brewing book I bought and it was exactly what I needed. Lots of good AG clone recipes of commercial beers, a lot of them with extract versions as well.

 

[richc]

IMO this may be a reasonable book for a beginner but it is lacking a lot of information for a more advanced or adventurous brewer.
The recipes are missing a lot of pretty important information, such as the yeast used and fermentation temperatures. Pretty much all the mashes are identical, 66C for 90 minutes.
Don't get me wrong, this isn't a bad book, it is just not the great book I was expecting.

 

[dennisking]

Agree it's a great book, I have all 3 editions. Hopefully the revised version of his more advanced book, Home Brewing, will be out later this year. I know he abandoned the idea last year because of pressures from CAMRA. But Amazon are putting a release date of October on it and on he's own forum he has stated that may be realistic.

 

[dennisking]

IMO this may be a reasonable book for a beginner but it is lacking a lot of information for a more advanced or adventurous brewer.
The recipes are missing a lot of pretty important information, such as the yeast used and fermentation temperatures. Pretty much all the mashes are identical, 66C for 90 minutes.
Don't get me wrong, this isn't a bad book, it is just not the great book I was expecting.

I have always looked at the book as more of a recipe book than an instruction book. I know he has made a point of not stating any yeast because the only way to make an exact copy was to use the actual yeast from the brewery. While you might be able to get some yeasts for home brewing, i.e. whitelabs WLP0002 for Fullers, in most cases it's not possible so the idea of the book is to make a beer in the style of said beer.

 

[critch]

the book that properly got me into brewing!! an excelent text for the beginer, i cant recomend it highly enough, EVERY brew library should have it!!!!, i started with cjj barrys works on all grain....... this was so much better it hurt, i now UNDERSTOOD what was going on, i then cosequently understood mr berrys books, went onto reading (many) others and am currently doing very well for myself thank you very much!

 

[diablo120]

I totally agree with critch this is a great book. Many books go into so much detail you get muddled up. I have read the first edition cover to cover (a loan off a friend) and bought the third version. Brewed a couple of them and they turn out good beers. :thumb: :thumb:

 

[Baz Chaz]

... Hopefully the revised version of his more advanced book, Home Brewing, will be out later this year. I know he abandoned the idea last year because of pressures from CAMRA. But Amazon are putting a release date of October on it and on he's own forum he has stated that may be realistic.

Will be looking out for this, I'm another that used BYOBRA as a starting point, still comes out regularly when looking for ideas

 

[t0m]

I recently read the second edition of Wheeler's "Home Brewing" and although the reprint is copyrighted 2001 I suspect that it is all but identical to the original 1993 pressing. It certainly reads like it was written 20 years ago. I was pretty underwhelmed. There is some stuff in there on specific subjects to interest me as an intermediate brewer. But for an advanced brewer I would think it is just too dated, and for a beginner it is next to useless as a practical guide.

 

[evanvine]

Can't understand why you would want either of his earlier editions if you have his latest!

 

[Hawks]

BYOBRA was the first brewing book I bought - totally agree with people on here, I thought the level of detail was just about right for me at the time and the recipes started to develop an understanding of what went into various 'style' beers. I have recommended it to anyone I know who is taking up brewing. :thumb:

 

[50quidsoundboy]

this is my first brewing book and i like it a lot. the level of detail seems right, it answers pretty much all of my most immediate questions and fills in many gaps i haven't been able to pick up from the internet. the recipes look really promising and i can't wait to get started (after my next kit brew).

 

[BIGJIM72]

Can't understand why you would want either of his earlier editions if you have his latest!

There are a few recipes that got lost from the 2nd to 3rd edition eg Willie Warmer,Phoenix XXX. Agree that the older editions do look dated but for a couple of quid second hand they are worth a punt.

 

[dennisking]

I have all 3 books and some of the recipes that are in all 3 books are slightly different in each edition. I still prefer the double dragon in book 2 to the others, only very slight and you would have thought would make little difference.

 

[beerguzzler8518]

I recently bought the latest version purely for the recipes, mainly the Cumberland Ale one.

Having looked at it, I'm beginning to wonder whether the Cockerhoop and the Cumberland are the wrong way round.

Only one way to find out I guess, make em both

 

[Buster]

Just got a copy of this myself, excellent book and the 3rd edition, well recommended for the recipes and guides on How Too. Got mine on Amazon for 7.99.

 

[BarnsleyBrewer]

I've got the books but never brewed the recipes as I enjoy my own, question is.. Do they taste like they should or is it just educated guesswork on Mr.Wheelers part ? :hmm:

BB

 

[graysalchemy]

I use them as a guide to make my own by changing a few things. I have never brewed a clone recipe exactly as is I have always tweaked, usually by making it northern..........adding wheat malt :lol: :lol: