I picked this book up to help with homebrewing. The chemical processes it describes are a great introduction into the biochemistry of what happens during the brewing process. It is more detailed than Papazian and some of the others. The book is black and white, and also discusses a lot of the processes micro and macro breweries use during brewing. If want to improve your level of brewing knowledge, pick up this book. If you want to get your feet wet, look else where.Worth the price, no regrets.