The Beer Guide [Paperback]

Josh Oakes (Author, Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 15, 2006

Recently updated, this is most comprehensive guide to ales and lagers sold in the United States: More than 2,700 beers are described and rated, based on tens of thousands of reviews on RateBeer.com, the country's foremost beer judging website. 'We found RateBeer to be the most reliable,' says Men's Journal. Includes bonus food-pairing guide by award-winning beer writer Stan Hieronymus, as well as descriptions of major beer styles. Makes a perfect -- and highly affordable -- gift for the beer geeks on your list. Updated June 2008. Celebrator Beer News magazine calls it ''a handy reference guide to beers from around the world. Its 2,700 reviews are by Rate.Beer.com's top evaluators. Each entry includes the beer style, brewery information and a description of the beer.'' Unlike most other guides, this one only reviews beers available in the United States.

Editorial Reviews

Review

''Brutally honest, brilliant food-to-beer guide and a good deal of hilarious commentary. Studying it can only improve your beer''

-- Jim Wilmer, Beer Critic, Dayton Daily News

''Have you ever tried to remember the name of favorite craft brew from another city, but couldn't quite remember what it was, or why you liked it so much? Do you like to argue the merits of particular beers, and wish you had some info to back you up every now and then? Would you like a travel size, comprehensive Zagat-like guide to over 2,700 of the best beers the world has to offer? For a reasonable $9.95? If your answer is yes to any of the three questions above, buy a copy of The Beer Guide edited by RateBeer.com s long time editor Josh Oakes for a mere $9.95. The 296-page, 'The Beer Guide,' which fits nicely in a backpack or a back pocket, has short but authoritative descriptions on over 2,700 beers. The descriptions were edited and selected by Oakes from RateBeer.com's vast archive of public reviews. RateBeer.com has over 30,000 contributing members. The Guide also has a handy chapter on beer style descriptions, tasting notes, and food/beer tasting guide. 'The Beer Guide' could earn a permanent place in your bathroom, briefcase, or bar top. It also will make for a good stocking stuffer this Christmas.''

-- Patrick Orr, ''The Beer Nut,'' The Idaho Statesman, Boise

''The Beer Guide has a great beer-food pairing cheat sheet.'' ----Don Russell, ''Joe Six Pack,'' Philadelphia Daily News

''It allows you to take along the thoughts of 30,000 RateBeer.com contributors in an easy to carry package. The book also includes a beer and food pairing guide by Stan Hieronymus. The neat thing about the book is that you can quickly get ratings for everything from Schlitz Malt Liquor (one star: 'It's like watching a mime get run over') to Westvleteren Abt 12 (five stars: 'Wonderfully madeirized malt with raisins, prunes and dates in aroma and nice spices wafting through.').''

--Rick Lyle, Lyke 2 Drink Blog

''''The Beer Guide has a great beer-food pairing cheat sheet.'' ---- Don Russell, ''Joe Six Pack,'' Philadelphia Daily News --Peter LaFrance, columnist, ''Beer and Food''

''Raise your beer brainpower: The latest edition of Web site RateBeer's 'The Beer Guid;' is just out as a pocket-sized edition from Fort Worth's Savory House Press, with tens of thousands of beer drinkers putting together Zagat-style reviews, often dead-on and perceptive and sometimes hilarious, like this zing at Pabst's NA: 'Smells absolutely awful, rotting vegetables, festering bread and regurgitated corn.;' The little publishing house, incidentally, is run by Barry Shlachter , who in another life is a highly decorated reporter for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram'' --Patrick Beach, Austin American-Statesman

''Some beer drinkers like to read. For them, a good resource is: 'The Beer Guide,' edited by Josh Oakes, which describes and rates 2,700 domestic and imported beers.'' --Dick Kreck, Denver Post

From the Publisher

Please change publisher from Great Texas Lines to our national imprint:

Savory House Press

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 296 pages
• Publisher: Savory House Press; 3rd UPDATE 2008 edition (October 15, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1892588161
• ISBN-13: 978-1892588166
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 4.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #574,972 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Handy Reference Guide for Speciality Beer Shops, November 26, 2006

By 

J. Furiosi (Poconos, PA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Beer Guide (Paperback)

This is exactly what I need when I go to a beer store which has an extensive selection or see something at a local beer distributor which I have not recognized before. Before I printed out pages from the RateBeer web site of top beers but never had something I could hold in my hand. Now I have what is an exhaustive guide of what purports to have "2,700 domestic and imported beers" "sold in America."

Except for sections on types of beers, beers widely distributed in the US, beer rating and beer-food pairing, this is pretty much a graphic-less bare bones guide to beers that have been rated on [...] with selected quotes of descriptions from members and a star system instead of the numerical system used on the site.

Personally, I prefer the numerical system rather than the star system but I find the descriptions helpful. The introduction, however, seems misleading when it states that these ratings reflect the consensus of the whole community on each beer because there are many beers which have less than 100 ratings in this guide. Yes, the community claims over 30,000 visitors but I think they should have mentioned how many people rated each beer.

Distribution seems to be another issue as the cover states these reflect imported beers and the Westvleteren beers are mentioned. The monks prohibit the sale of this beer outside of their abbey. Why not just create a guide that lists all the site's beers instead? Most of the beers are available at specialty beer shops from what I can see. Another minor glitch I saw was the listing of Wagner Valley as in Lodi, NJ instead of NY. One other criticism I have is that sometimes beers are listed by the name and sometimes by brewery.

But other than my nit-picking, Josh Oakes did a fine job of locating select quotes which describe the beers in this guide. Beer lovers who prefer major beers like Bud, Miller and Coors will not like a guide which slams these macro beers but the beer aficionado folks will love having this for reference and casual reading. I've purchased beer rating guides in the past and have never seen one more exhaustive and packed with beers as this.

This is a must have gift for any beer lovers that you know!

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unbeatable Dictionary of Beer, February 4, 2007

By 

Arch Llewellyn "arch-l" - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Beer Guide (Paperback)

In case you haven't heard, beer's the new wine, and RateBeer's been guiding drinkers of Milwaukee's finest through the microbrew revolution for seven blurry years. "The Beer Guide" basically puts the best of the website in your pocket, with reviews of nearly 3,000 brews that range from Bud Ice to Zywiec Porter. Everything's ranked alphabetically, with an easy (if brutally honest) five-star rating system, listing of alcohol content, and short descriptions that are as funny as they are informative.

I especially liked the section in front with brief, helpful definitions of the different styles of beer (a crash course on learning your lagers from your lambics) and a Food-to-Beer pairing guide in the back that suggests, wine-style, what brews go best with which meals. There's also a Judging Sheet in the back to help get your own tasting chops up--you too could be a RateBeer star. Sized to fit in the palm of one hand (presumably with a pint in the other), it's the ideal guide for sudsers of any level looking to elevate their game.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is the beer bible, March 17, 2009

By 

W. Dietrich "WD" (Las Vegas) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Beer Guide (Paperback)

I love beer and always look forward to trying new ones. Nevada the state I live in does not have a great selection, so I am forced to buy beer when I travel. Than I run into the problem so many new beers and I have to transport them back home. This is where the Beer Guide comes in, they do a great job rating beers and I can pull out the Beer Guide for ideas on what to get. I find my tastes run smiliar to the Beer Guide's raters and have never been disappointed.

No Beer Guide will be complete and it is important to get something that is current as beers change over time or go out of business. The Beer Guide is current and comprhenisive. A great buy for any beer lover.