A Few Book Reviews...

I know I mentioned a few post back a few books that I had picked up over the holidays to keep me entertained while traveling. Figure I will fill in the blanks a bit more and try my best to review a few of the beer related books I have had my nose in recently.

"The Naked Pint" By Christina Perozzi and Hallie Beaune
My folks got me this book for Christmas and I think I plowed through it in about 3 days. A great book for either a beginner beer connoisseur or the seasoned extreme beer fanatic. Nice tasting notes, list beers in chapters starting with beers new comers should try and escalating to advanced beers that will challenge any palate. Has a great section on Trappist Beers. A few great lists are included (a great beers you must drink before you die list) as well as cooking with beer and a nice little introduction section to homebrewing. A must have in my mind for the learned beer drinker. A great gift for someone who is just starting to explore craft beer. If I had to rate it on my pints system it gets a perfect 5 pints out of 5.

"Beer Hunter, Whiskey Chaser" By Various Authors
"The Naked Pint" actually lead me to this book. It is a book put together by several world class beer and spirits writers as a tribute to the late great beer and spirits writer Michael Jackson. A great collection of stories, articles and musings on Micheal's two favorite passions, Beer and Scotch Whisky. The book tends to lean a little more to the Whisky side but all of the articles included are a great read. I am not quite done with it but am glad that I picked it up. Learned some neat things about both Scotch and beer. All of the proceeds from the book go to the Parkinson's Disease Society (UK), so it all goes to a good cause. Check it out, 4.5 pints out of 5.

"Beer" by Michael Jackson
Just getting into this book. Tasting notes and descriptions of several hundred beers to drink around the world. Really looking forward to the section on Belgium. Michael also wrote a beer book devoted just to the beers of Belgium, one that I will have to track down and buy someday. Can't really rate it yet as I am about 50 pages in but it is entertaining and informative so far.

"The Complete Joy of Homebrewing" 2nd ed by Charles Papazian
An older edition that was passed down to me by a fellow homebrewer. A great resource for starting out homebrewing. Has a lot of great recipes in it and does a good job explaining how to go from partial mash brewing to full extract brewing. This is the best of several homebrewing books that I have acquired and will be my go to when I take the plunge on my first all grain batch of beer.

Magazines:
I am an avid reader of two beer related magazines, "Beer Advocate" and "Zymurgy".

I have mentioned "Beer Advocate" several times, it is the monthly publication to go along with the excellent Beer Advocate website. The website is a great resource for finding good beer near you and the magazine always has great writings about craft beer. I usually tear through the mag from front to back the day it gets in.

"Zymurgy" is the official publication of the American Homebrewers Association. An extremely well put together publication. Always has some great homebrew recipes to try, official beer judge tasting notes, good calendar section and great articles about beer styles and what is going on in general in the craft beer scene. If you are thinking of getting into homebrewing this mag is a must pull next time you are at the bookstore, I have always been able to find it at the big megabook stores.

Well that is all for now. Trying to slowly work my way through the majority of my cellared beer. There may be one or two bottles that make it through the purge (North Coast Old Stock '08 and DFH 120 I'm looking at you) but I look forward to comparing the aged beer reviews to my initial ones. I also look forward to the restocking trip that I am slowly planning in my head. Also hope to get back into the homebrewing swing when I get my basement put back together and the kegerator back functional!

As always, Happy Drinking!