Palmer's How To Brew recipes

Palmer is known best for being a translator of brewing science to homebrewers and less for being an expert crafter of beers and recipes. Not that I doubt his abilities in these regards, but I don't read a lot about people using recipes from How to Brew and have not used them myself. They are probably fine.

Palmer collaborated with Jamil Zainasheff to write Brewing Classic Styles. That book published ~80 recipes that were developed by Jamil and each allegedly was the basis of an award. Almost every recipe has an extract and all grain option; most should be accessible to beginners. I've found this book helpful in two ways. Because I have some confidence that the recipes are good, it helped me fine tune other aspects of my system, allowing me to focus on process. It also helped me recognize what good recipes can look like for a style and gives me a point of departure to develop my own recipes.

 

I haven't looked at the How to Brew recipes in a while, but from what I remember they were good basic recipes. A very good start for a new brewer, but you can also find lots of good recipes in other books like Brewing Classic Styles or Radical Brewing.

 

I've brewed the pale ale recipe a few times and it is excellent. The recipe I use now is not too far off.

 

You mention "good, especially for a beginner". I think you'll get more bang for your buck just brewing un-complicated styles and recipes to get your process down. It's my opinion that if you are a beginner, you'll see a bigger lift in your beer quality from solid technique and process. Worry about more complicated recipes later.

 

All else being equal...beginners cannot go wrong brewing "How to Brew" recipes.

Not following directions...poor sanitation...impatience...and free-styling are where beginner's get in trouble.