For this anniversary issue, I decided to set aside the stack of new publications that have arrived, and instead contact the beer writers whose work I regularly read to ask them which books in their own beer libraries they open most often. Some responded with a short list; others wrote at length about the authors they admire. Set aside about four linear feet of bookshelf space to hold these 50 or so books, and you’ll have a world-class beer library.
Julie Bradford
Most beer books are transitory; too many are just stale rehashes of earlier work. One book that stands the test of time is Michael Jackson’s Beer Companion, his finest work, first published in 1993 but just as valid today as it was a decade ago. The British novelist Fay Wheldon said when she read Isabel Allende’s The House of the Spirits, “Now that’s written the rest of us can all go home.” Michael’s book had a similar impact on me, though –in common with Fay Wheldon—I continue to write!
It begins with the memorable paragraph, “No one goes into a restaurant and requests ‘a plate of food, please.’ People do not ask simply for ‘a glass of wine,’ without specifying, at the very least, whether they fancy red or white, perhaps sparkling or still…When their mood switches from the grape to the grain, these same discerning folk often ask simply for ‘a beer,’ or perhaps name a brand, without thinking about its suitability for the mood or the moment.”
From there he goes on to extol the joys of beer, its methods of manufacture, and then takes us on a dazzling world tour of regions and styles. It is encyclopedic, passionate, lucid, committed and beautifully written—a tour de force that will survive when other beer books have turned to dust.
Tim Webb’s Good Beer Guide to Belgium and Holland is now in its fifth edition and is a remarkable achievement. Tim is not a professional writer (damn his eyes, how dare he write so well) but from his east of England base visits the Low Countries regularly and has built a vast database of knowledge about beers and breweries. He has a caustic eye, vigorously attacks the quick and the shoddy in the beer world, castigates brewers who turn from the path of righteousness, and is often wickedly funny. Here, in 350 pages, is everything you will ever need to know about Belgian and Dutch beers.
