Homebrew Beyond the Basics: All-Grain Brewing and Other Next Steps

by Mike Karnowski

Make your next beer your best beer with this guide that every brew-lover needs!

How do you brew the best beer ever? Start with this book's photo-intensive guide to all-grain brewing, or skip ahead to advanced mashing techniques and malt selection. Then explore whatever calls to take a crash course in water chemistry, try whirlpool hopping, brew a fruit beer, capture wild yeast, make your first Berliner Weisse, or kick the bottles and start kegging. Unique recipes cover everything from traditional parti-gyle stouts to a style-bending American wild ale.

Genres: Brewing, Beer, Nonfiction, Cookbooks

192 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2014

Reviews

[Ramon van Dam · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the better books on homebrewing I've read. Mike Karnowski clearly knows what he's talking about and isn't just repeating what everybody else says; when he's in doubt, he describes the tests he has performed himself with the double-blind test results.

It contains a lot of useful information for the intermediate to advanced homebrewer, as well as some interesting recipes.

[Flávio Sousa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Despite all the red flags: The bland, unrevealing title, unfamiliar author name and plainly just beaten to death topic; I cannot recall the last book on matters Zymurgy where the read was so entertaining and the information so neatly organized.

The book exposes and obliterates a blatant gap in brewing literary resources, as I can honestly say this is the best intermediate brewing book I have come across. Read this after reading Palmer's or Papazian's seminal works and you'll be ready to tackle even the most intimidating brewing books.

The other big merit of this book is in how engaging it is. It never drones on, explaining expertly and concisely the topic at hand. It is also filled with gorgeous imagery and interesting factoids, making this a great coffee table read as well.

In my opinion, totally deserving of a place at the brewing literature canon.

[Oliver Nelson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very informative book that does exactly as the title elicits: bringing your homebrewing skills beyond the basics.
If you are new to homebrewing, I would highly recommend "How to Brew" by John Palmer, as that text goes into incredible detail of each step of the process; I continue to use that book as my goto reference material when looking for exact figures, such as mashing temperatures, determining IBU, or
Now, if you have a few brews under your belt and are looking to expand to All-Grain (I find the exercise of brewing became immensely more satisfying once I stepped foot into the Grain Department of my local brew store :)) then this book will definitely help answer any questions about defining your process, as well as teach you what questions you should be asking when you the brewer are wondering what you need to work on to better your brewing.

[Jon Lefor · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is put together like a coffee table book, so it is full of great pictures. The content of the book is quite good, it has just enough information on everything in it to be really helpful, it covers a lot of information very well, the style it is written in is great and easy to follow. I feel like I got a lot of new and great knowledge from this read and would recommend it to any homebrewer looking to take the next step into all grain, or even the all grain brewer looking for tips tricks and recipes.

[Jess · Rating 2 out of 5]

I got this because my boyfriend has brewed his own beer before and I wanted to learn a little bit more about the process. I did get some clarification on some procedures but all in all, I was a little overwhelmed by everything. I enjoyed looking at the pictures of the beer more than trying to comprehend the process.

[Thea · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would compare it to Gordon Strong's Brewing Better Beer. A good resource for more intermediate / advanced issues. Nicely broken down by topic or issue. Will definitely refer to various sections again. Yet a very easy plainly written book ( a good thing).

[Cody · Rating 5 out of 5]

After three five gallon extract batches and a couple mini-mash batches this was exactly the book I needed. It skips over the boring stuff and get right to the intermediate information I need. Practical advice, great photos, and interesting recipes... I really enjoyed this book!

[Daniel Gonzales · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good reference for comparison of brewing techniques, equipment, and instructions. Good recipes throughout, including one with New Mexico green chile.

[Tom Studer · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are interested in home brewing this book is a quick must read. Loaded with the process additional resources and some tasty looking recipes!

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great info and charts and photos.