It's never too late for Christmas Beer!

Local (well, Philadelphia) beer reporter & blogger, Don Russell's book, Christmas Beer: The Cheeriest, Tastiest, and Most Unusual Holiday Brews, is a terrific read. In it, he reviews over 50 holiday ales and lagers, with some of my favorites for the season, a quick history of Santa, and the history of the Christmas beer style; and I am happy to report that Maryland is well represented on his list! Don's been around the block once or twice, and he certainly knows his way with the pen; the book is very well written and edited.

The actual construction of the book is solid and impressive. I loved the color photos and the paper stock was one of the most beautiful, heavy-weight that I have seen in a long time: I wish more books were published this way.

All in all, this is a timeless book. I believe that if you enjoy the occasional beery night cap, then this book deserves to be on your shelf. It would make a great gift for a beer lover you know, too.

10/10.

Here's a link to Don's website: Joe Sixpack

Book Review: The Beer Guide

The Beer Guide, edited by Josh Oakes

Published by Savory House Press, Fort Worth, Texas.

Have you ever had the experience of walking into your local beer purveyor, checking out their selection, settle in on a sixer and ask yourself, "is this a good beer?" For most of you, I would imagine the answer is a big fat yes. Luckily, I received a copy of The Beer Guide, from Savory House Press, and it seems to solve this very issue!

Josh Oakes, the editor of RateBeer.com, pulled together 2,700 reviews based on user feedback (30,000+ members) from the website, into a well thought-out and portable hand guide. Imagine what the Zagat Survey is to restaurants, this is to beer. What makes it neat, is its size; it can easily fit into the glove box of your car (or your back pocket) making it really handy to take into the store.

The majority of the reviews are spot-on and very witty. "This is the only beer that managed to travel through my esophagus in both directions at the same time," Corona Extra; and of Dogfish Head World Wide Stout, "something to be savored."

There are some hits and misses, such as reviews that don't match the rating (a one to five-star system), or missing ABV figures, but they don't detract from the overall book.

The selected entries do a great job of covering a wide selection of beer. Not every beer makes a showing in the book, but with nearly 3,000 unique reviews, you would be hard-pressed to find a brewery that is not represented. And, let's be honest, this book would be HUGE if it had everything.

At the end of the book are three nice appendices: updates & corrections, and two pairing guides, written by Stan Hieronymus. The first for pairing food to beer, and the second for pairing a beer style to food. Both have an easy to use cross-index by style and cuisine/drink. This is very, very handy if you are going to a restaurant that caters to a specific style of food. Crab for dinner? Try a Belgian blond. Only have porter on hand? How about steaks, or some Gorgonzola cheese for a tangy twist?

Overall review
It tastes great: super convenient size, extremely affordable ($9.95, The Beer Guide @ Amazon.com), makes for a clever gift.

It's less filling: minor grammar/spelling issues, a few mismatched ratings--all of which can be corrected in a future edition.

It's last call: Buy. A must-have for those on the go and who are serious about their beer.