Garrett Oliver

I love this book. As a beer drinker, I was never a great fan of wine, but never had the courage to admit it. I have always been a great fan of the beers in Germany. Sadly, I have never had the opportunity to travel much in Belgium but I have had some of their marvellous beers.

Garret brings beer to life in this book. However, I sometimes did wonder if he was being a bit unfair to wine at times. The wonderful range and complexity of beer shines through in this book, and I absolutely love the show more way that he tells the tale of the various beer traditions. This brings beer to life.

The sections on pairing with food are fantastic, and the afterword is essential, especially if you want to know the temperatures at which to have beer.

Glasses. This is something most people completely miss, and it is a shame. Having beer in the appropriate glass is critical.

All in all, a superb book. Well written, and a great service to beer drinkers like me.

Now, all Garret needs to do, is to open a good microbrewery in Gurgaon, India! show less

I have only had this a short time, and I may never actually read all 960 pages, but my dips into it so far have been a lot of fun. This is a very well written, occasionally technical, look at beers, breweries, brewers, and everything related to the same. It is not an encyclopedia, however. Despite its length, its coverage is selective--Paulaner yes, Shiner Bock no.

This book really stepped up my appreciation for beer and proper pairings with food. Not to give short shrift to the stories and information in the primary text, but the appendix of food and beer pairings is probably worth the price of the book. I've consulted it regularly to see which beer in my fridge would go best with a dish. The results have been excellent.

So much info in this book, but it's not one you'd want on the coffee table for browsing unless you're a brewer yourself. Still, lots of info and well done. For those with an interest in beer, this is a good read, but unless you're needing a scholarly tome/cyclopedia on beer, it's not an essential purchase (only because its price point doesn't lend it to being of broad appeal).