This week I’m going to continue my discussion of my homebrew library. In the prior two weeks I’ve discussed Beginner titles and Intermediate/Advanced titles. This week I’m wrapping up with a few titles related to the commercial brewing world. These are great titles for the wanna be commercial brewer or for those of us that dream of making money from our passion someday. I’ll do a quick summary of each but this week I’m going to skip the ratings and say that all of these titles are nice to have titles for the homebrewer hobbyist. If you are considering taking things to the next level then these are all must have titles.

Starting Your Own Brewery (Various Authors)

This is an interesting book put out by the Brewer’s Association. It is a collection of articles related to, you guessed it, starting a brewery. It is edited by Ray Daniels. I think this is a great book for all of us who have dreamt of opening your own brewery or brewpub. First, it can help ground your thinking about such an adventure but more importantly it dives into the commercial brewery, its operations, management, structure, marketing and funding. I’ve found this valuable to the homebrewer as it helps you think beyond the typical homebrew setup and potentially incorporate some ideas into your homebrew process. That said, for the typical home brewer this book is not all that necessary. I would rate this book a nice to have.

The Craft of Stone Brewing (Greg Koch & Steve Wagner)

Stone is one of my favorite beer companies and I was interested to learn about their start. This book is a great story of the start of Stone Brewery and comes in a hardback version with full color pictures at a very reasonable price. Learn about the startup, the logo art, and the awesome story behind Arrogant Bastard Ale! However, there is more to this book than the story of the startup. It also contains tons of clone recipes for Stone beers along with excellent food recipes from their brewpub and the appropriate beer pairings for each. I would rate this a nice to have for the average home brewer, but for the Stone beer lover it is a must have!

Beer School (Steve Hindy & Tom Potter) (Not pictured, from the public library)

Another brewery startup title, this is the story of the start of Brooklyn Brewery. It is an interesting story because the two owners of Brooklyn Brewery were not all that experienced in commercial brewing, yet they fought and overcame many obstacles to become one of the most successful breweries in America. There are some entertaining stories including a run in with organized crime, how they got into distribution, and where Garrett Oliver came from. In addition to a great story the authors also offer some practical advice on business in general, which they learned along the way.

Brewing Up a Business (Sam Calagione)

Love him or hate him Sam Calagione is one interesting character. I first was exposed to him via the movie Beer Wars in which he plays a central role as they follow him through his brewery expansion. As a side note I was amazed that he often answered the phone when people called to comment on Dogfish Head beer. Getting back to the book, this is another interesting story of a startup brewery turned huge success. Sam walks you through his story and provides his business philosophy along the way. The book is far more focused on starting a business than the Stone or Brooklyn titles which is why I liked it. There are great examples of using guerilla marketing, struggling through the hard times, and doing whatever it takes to make it happen. If you are interested in making the jump from Homebrewer to Pro Brewer this is a great read, especially since Sam jumped from beginning brewer to Pro brewer. Some day....we can all dream...

Frankenbrew (Tom Hennessy) (DVD)

Want to start a brewery on the cheap? This is a documentary for you. This is super cheesy videography made in the 90’s but has tons of great information on how to take old dairy equipment and turn it into a functional brewery. The author owns Colorado Boy Pub and Brewery in Ridgway Colorado and has successfully started multiple breweries using this equipment. In my city there are at least two breweries that have used this technique.

I’m constantly exploring new titles and reading about brewing, be it homebrew or commerical brew. That said here are some additional books that are next up on my list that I think are worth checking out but I have yet to read:

1. Tasting Beer (Randy Mosher)

2. The Oxford Companion to Beer (Garrett Oliver & Tom Colicchio)

3. Beer is Proof That God Loves Us (Charles Bamforth)

4. The Homebrewer’s Garden (Joe Fisher & Dennis Fisher)

5. The Homebrewer's Companion (Charlie Papazian)

6. Michael Jackson's Beer Companion (Michael Jackson)

Until next time, Drink up and Brew on!