Here’s a few books I read recently about beer making, and (briefly) what I thought of them (in no particular order).
The Home Brewer’s Guide to Vintage Beer
by Ronald Pattinson
Relatively quick overviews of where our modern beer styles came from and what the contemporary beers would have been like. Absolutely chock full of historic recipes. Highly recommended despite some lax editing here and there.
Yeast: The Practical Guide to Beer Fermentation
by Chris White and Jamil Zainasheff
A great guide to what yeast does in beer making. Some of the “sciency” bits went over my head but there’s enough practical information throughout the book to make this a worthwhile read to any intermediate to advanced/pro brewer.
Authored by Chris White (of White Labs) with Jamil Zainasheff (Mrmalty.com), so you can be pretty sure they know what they’re talking about.
American Sour Beer
by Michael Tonsmeire
A great overview of the history of sour beers, sour beer producing craft brewers in the US, and a guide to different sour brewing techniques. Highly recommended to any brewer interested in brewing sour beers, whatever their skill level.
Full disclosure: All the book links go to my book price comparison site, Piranhas. If you buy a book via Piranhas, I get a small commission (usually ~5%).