diff --git a/doc/sphinx/compiling.rst b/doc/sphinx/compiling.rst
index 654813f65..5d5524d6e 100644
--- a/doc/sphinx/compiling.rst
+++ b/doc/sphinx/compiling.rst
@@ -118,19 +118,50 @@ Downloading the Cantera source code
 Stable Release
 --------------
 
-* Option 1: Download the most recent source tarball from `SourceForge
+* **Option 1**: Download the most recent source tarball from `SourceForge
   <https://sourceforge.net/projects/cantera/files/cantera/>`_ and extract the
   contents.
 
-* Option 2: Check out the code using Git::
+* **Option 2**: Check out the code using Git::
 
     git clone --recursive https://github.com/Cantera/cantera.git
     cd cantera
 
-  Then, depending on the desired branch, run one of:
+  Then, check out the tag of the most recent stable version::
+
+    git checkout tags/v2.2.0
+
+  A list of all the tags can be shown by::
+
+    git tag --list
+
+Beta Release
+------------
+
+* Check out the code using Git::
+
+    git clone --recursive https://github.com/Cantera/cantera.git
+    cd cantera
+
+  Then pick either **Option 1** or **Option 2** below.
+
+* **Option 1**: Check out the tag with the most recent beta release::
+
+    git checkout tags/v2.2.0b1
+
+  Note that the most recent beta version might be older than the most
+  recent stable release. A list of all the tags, including stable and
+  beta versions can be shown by::
+
+    git tag --list
+
+* **Option 2**: Check out the branch with all the bug fixes leading to the
+  next minor release of the stable version::
 
     git checkout 2.2
-    git checkout master
+
+  This branch has all the work on the 2.2.x version of the
+  software.
 
 Development Version
 -------------------
@@ -138,8 +169,16 @@ Development Version
 * Check out the code using Git::
 
     git clone --recursive https://github.com/Cantera/cantera.git
+    cd cantera
+
+  Note that by default, the ``master`` branch is checked out,
+  containing all of the feature updates and bug fixes to the code since
+  the previous stable release. The master branch is usually an "alpha"
+  release, corresponding to the ``a`` in the version number, and does
+  not usually get a tag.
+
+* Update an existing clone of the Git repo::
 
-* Update an existing clone of the Git repo:
     cd /path/to/cantera
     git fetch
     git rebase origin/master