Love the details in this book! I am super into craft beer but have never tried homebrewing before. This book made me want to try it but was also just an interesting read for people who like learning more about beer. Would also be a fun gift idea!

Harvard Common Press books always have great illustrations. This guide is helpful in that it explains the basic process of brewing and the terminology you need to know, and then gets into what you need to get started. It also shares some recipes from breweries such as Allagash.

It's only about beer

Do we really need another brewing book? Even a very pretty one that is completely accurate? I don't really think so. The only thing that might differentiate a brewing book from the dozens (? hundreds) available new and used, would be if the authors presented accurate and pretty information on how to produce some of the many other alcoholic and marginally alcoholic brews we also love. I don't drink beer but I make my own ginger beer using the same techniques outlined in this book. There is also kombucha, which would be much safer if people made it following the cleanliness principles outlined here.

If you want to brew stuff, I think you should go to your library or to a good used book store and browse. There's a whole lot of brewing info online too.