The Big Book o' Beer: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About the Greatest Beverage on Earth [Paperback]

Duane Swierczynski (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2004

If you're looking for another stodgy, holier-than-thou "connoisseur's" book, you've come to the wrong place. The Big Book o' Beer celebrates the wide world of beer in all its shameless glory -- from the highbrow to the Lowenbrau, from trendy Belgian microbrews to the famous "old man bars" of Las Vegas. It's packed with amazing photographs and fascinating beer-related information about history, geography, science, arts, crafts, and more. Want to tour the ten biggest breweries on the planet? Interested in making dazzling arts and crafts from old beer cans? Need a recipe for beer-flavored ice cream? Want to know the science behind beer bellies, beer goggles, and beer foam? The Big Book o' Beer has it all-plus drinking games, drinking songs, vintage cans, classic advertisements, an "atlas of beer," and too many other features to list here. It's an inspiring tribute that every cervezaphile (a.k.a. beer lover) will cherish!

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Beer may have gone a bit upscale in recent years, what with all those microbrews and Belgian ales, but Swierczynski (The Perfect Drink for Every Occasion) is more interested in the history of Pabst Blue Ribbon and the trivia of hangovers, not to mention the physics of a flying bottle cap, the world's weirdest beer flavors (he's found banana and white chocolate mousse, among others) and beer label art. He divides this visually captivating compendium into a six-pack of chapters, covering history, geography, crafts, the sciences, the arts and even connoisseurship as they relate to readers' favorite hop-flavored brew. The "Bonus Can" chapter appears to include stuff that wouldn't fit anywhere else (e.g., Web sites and drinking songs). Swierczynski has amassed quite a collection of images: vintage Milwaukee's Best cans, jars of pickled eggs, Heineken mugs, drinking funnels and even beer can votive holders are all on display, and the random sidebars and diagrams will help hold readers' attention. Despite all this, the book is largely a jumble of only loosely related facts and lists, and virtually no subject gets more than a paragraph of text. It's too disorganized to serve as a reference book, and too choppy to be read all the way through, yet too attractive and entertaining to put down for long.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author

Duane Swierczynski is a senior editor at Philadelphia Magazine and contributing editor at Men's Health magazine. He has also written for Details , Cosmopolitan , Mademoiselle , George , and The New York Post .

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Quirk Books (April 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1931686491
• ISBN-13: 978-1931686495
• Product Dimensions: 10.6 x 6.6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,098,339 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Duane Swierczynski is the author of several crime thrillers, including SEVERANCE PACKAGE (St. Martin's Press), which has been optioned by Lionsgate films. He also writes the X-Men spinoff CABLE for Marvel Comics as well as IMMORTAL IRON FIST. He lives in Philadelphia with his wife and children.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I'll Drink to That, June 14, 2004

By 

Ben Jaggars (Minneapolis, MN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Big Book o' Beer: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About the Greatest Beverage on Earth (Paperback)

The Big Book O' Beer; the title says it all. I recieved this precious gem as a gift and I am proud to own this intelligent, witty, and surprisingly informative conglomerate of beer facts. For those who consider themselves beer fanatics to those who indulge in a few barley pops every now and again, I highly encourage you to get your hands on a copy of this book. The only thing that excites me more than this book is free beer. Cheers and happy reading:)

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beer is the Answer, April 29, 2004

By 

Jon Johnson "sirjonjohnson" (Portland, CT) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Big Book o' Beer: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About the Greatest Beverage on Earth (Paperback)

A great book for any beer drinker, be he connoisseur, brewer or armchair quarterback. It's a fun read, with anecdotes, history and all your favorite quotes from TV and media. It leaves you wanting more, a feat for books of this nature. Highly recommended to anyone who enjoys either the finest cheap beer to those incredibly bizarre microbrews.

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Extremely knowledgeable, fun reading throughout, October 4, 2005

By 

F. A. Lage Filho (Sao Paulo, Brazil) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Big Book o' Beer: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About the Greatest Beverage on Earth (Paperback)

This is a fun reading throughout, with the big plus of being very enlightening. The author seems very knowledgeable. Also a lot of beautiful and/or fun illustrations. Just great !