Is it beer yet?

As the song says, "waiting is the hardest part". In the case of homebrewing I find that waiting to see how your beer tastes is the hardest part. Two weeks isn't that long of a time to wait between your brewing and bottling but while you wait you can catch up on some reading.

Here are some great reads for you homebrewers out there.

1. The Complete Joy of Homebrewing: By Charles Papazian, this is the bible for homebrewers and the book that seems to have started it all by one of the men that started it all. 
   
2. Designing Great Beers: The Ultimate Guide to Brewing Classic Beer Styles: This book by Ray Daniels features is designed to help formulate your original recipes. This is on my reading list but I have not gotten to it yet.

3. Radical Brewing: Recipes, Tales and World-Altering Meditations in a Glass: I just got this book by Randy Mosher for Christmas and I am really enjoying this great read. Plus Mosher is from my home town Chicago.

4. The Homebrewers' Recipe Guide: More than 175 original beer recipes including magnificent pale ales, ambers, stouts, lagers, and seasonal brews, plus tips from the master brewer: Another one of my Christmas gifts. This is a recipe book by a group of brewers.  

5. The Homebrewer's Answer Book: By Ashton Lewis this book answered a lot of random questions I had and didn't know I had. Great read to fill in the blanks.

6. Drink with the Wench: The Beer Wench has some great articles on the personalities, trends and other random musings of the craft beer world. I have been lost for hours on her site.

7. Drink Craft Beer: Great site on craft beer and homebrewing. They have a nice 101 on how to homebrew.

8. DRAFT Magazine: A commercial publication on beer, food and travel. I always have a copy lying around the house or in my backpack when I'm on the road. 

9. HopCuisine: These guys have some great tasting, fun, beer based recipes.  

10. HomeBrewTalk: If you can't find the answers you're looking or here...you aren't looking correctly or you're too busy reading. 

11. The Brewing Network: The home of multiple beer podcasts. This is one of the things I listen to while I work out. They have gadget ideas, reviews, talk and cooking shows. 

12. American Homebrewers Association: Saved the best for last. They have a magazine and are the trade association for homebrewing. They have information on how to get your homebrew judged and list a lot of great beer events.